Biographies from the Han Collection Liexianzhuan (<i>Biographies of Outstanding Transcendents</i>) and Their Analogues in the Manuscript of the Same Name from the Collection IOM, RAS

Abstract

This publication is a Russian translation of four biographies from the unique 19thc. manuscript Liexianzhuan (Biographies of Outstanding Transcendents), kept at the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts, RAS (NOVA collection, H56). The biographies selected for translation go back to the Han era (206/202 BC— 220 AD) work of the same name (from which, however, manuscript differs considerably both in scope and contents), traditionally attributed to the high official and writer Liu Xiang (77–6 BC). Moreover, since the biographies from the manuscript are much larger than their prototypes from the Han collection, their translation is accompanied by a translation of the original biographies from the latter, which allows us to evaluate the editorial work carried out by the anonymous compiler of the manuscript. The heroes of the translated biographies are characters from the times of legendary antiquity: the “rain master” Chisongzi, the horse veterinarian Mashi Huang, the “Rope Father” Chijiang Ziyu and the pine nut lover Wo Quan.