THE STRUCTURE OF THE YI ZHOU SHU AND ITS FORMATION HISTORY

This chapter examines the textual history of the Yi Zhou shu, combining a reappraisal of external textual evidence with a critical examination of the contents of the collection. The Yi Zhou shu underwent complex transformations during the medieval period, including conflation of different recensions, loss of material, and multiple rearrangements of the chapter sequence. These complex developments are partially concealed as a result of antiquarian restoration, which gave the collection a semblance of conformity with the ancient bibliographic record of the Han shu. Different parts of the collection were affected to different extents. The complex dynamic evolution of individual chapters