"Qiaoxiang Xiaoji" is a notebook-style work written by He Xiu (also known as Junzhuo and Li'an), a scholar in the Qing Dynasty. The manuscript is included in the "Qinding Sikuquanshu".
The whole book is divided into two volumes, with about 120 articles. The book takes "textual research" as the main line, and also covers many fields such as classics, text exegesis, rhyme, historical events, allusions and other fields. In the chapter on classics and meanings, He Xiu carefully examines the classic articles one by one, corrects the mistakes of predecessors, and puts forward his own unique insights; in the exegesis and philology section, he deeply explores the changes in glyphs and meanings and the misinformation of literature.
For example, in the article "The word bald follows the meaning of he", he raised objections to the interpretation of the word bald in "Shuowen Jiezi", believing that its interpretation did not meet the original meaning; and in the articles "hunting for Lin in the West in the Spring and Autumn Period" and "those who rush to Zhou Li can't help", he analyzed and reflected on the traditional interpretation of pre-Confucianism and unearthed overlooked details in the classical annotations.
The language of "Qiaoxiang Xiaoji" is simple but profound in knowledge. It not only shows the author's rigorous attitude, but also reveals his eclectic scholarly style. It does not have a unified theme like modern works, but like "Miscellaneous Talks", it lays out the author's thinking and research in scattered points. It is a rare reference for readers who study classics, history, texts, allusions, ancient book annotations and other fields; for those who like ancient Chinese notes and academic interests, they can also feel the scholar's perspective of "seeing things in the smallest detail". If you like to find surprises in the small cracks of ancient books, this book is worth reading.
