Record of In-Depth Probing into Mysteries 洞冥记

Also known as Emperor Wu of the Han's Records of Penetrating the Mysterious or Records of Penetrating the Mysterious of Other Kingdoms.

The old edition attributes its compilation to Guo Xian of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

Record of In-Depth Probing into Mysteries

Scholars of the Ming, Qing and modern periods have mostly suspected that the book was a work falsely attributed to him by writers of the Six Dynasties. The Bibliography of the Sui Shu has already recorded it as one volume, while the two Tang Bibliographies listed it as four volumes. There are numerous surviving editions today, and it is included in the Tenth Collection of The Daozang Essence Series.

The preface written by the author at the beginning states: Emperor Wu of the Han was wholeheartedly devoted to Taoism, desiring to explore all matters concerning immortals. Foreign lands from afar presented him with rare and exotic treasures as well as practitioners of Taoist arts. Dongfang Shuo thus used witty and fanciful words to admonish and rectify him, revealing the profound mysteries of hidden traceless things to the light.

Therefore, the book records fairy tales and strange legends associated with Emperor Wu of the Han, bizarre anecdotes, divine mountains and fairy lands, alchemical prescriptions and panaceas, as well as local customs and products of foreign regions. Among them, the strange stories about Emperor Wu of the Han and Dongfang Shuo encountering immortals are mostly unrecorded in other books. Its narration is elaborate and hyperbolic, with ornate and flowery language, hence it has been frequently quoted by literati in their ci and fu poems in later generations. The book is also listed in Catalogue of the Missing Scriptures in The Daozang.