The answer first: the Xiangcheng annotated translation on this site follows four rules — 1. State the base text and the reference editions consulted; 2. The "original text" on the page is an organized compilation punctuated and paragraphed according to modern conventions, not a verbatim photocopy, and public-domain photocopy links are provided for comparison; 3. The translation, "gist," and "excerpts" are strictly labeled in layers, and do not pretend to be a verbatim definitive edition; 4. Textual variants are always given collation notes, characters are never changed arbitrarily, and doubtful points are marked "to be verified." These rules are written here so readers can judge how trustworthy each passage we present is.
Key points
- The base text is the commonly circulated organized edition of the Xiangcheng, collated against the Wenyuan Ge Siku Quanshu edition, the Siku Huiyao edition, and various Qing manuscript copies.
- The "original text" is an organized compilation (punctuated and paragraphed according to modern conventions), not a photocopy; each juan's collation notes include authoritative photocopy links.
- Four-part structure for each juan: original text (organized compilation) → vernacular translation and annotation → notes → collation notes.
- Textual variants are not changed in the text but explained in collation notes; differences in place names, drug names, and units of measure are frequent sites of variants.
- Doubtful points are marked "to be verified"; where ancient and modern names and realities do not correspond, modern explanations are noted, and legends are not treated as historical sources.
The Xiangcheng has been transmitted with the Ming Chongzhen-era printed edition as its ancestor; extant today are the Wenyuan Ge Siku Quanshu edition, the Siku Huiyao edition, and various Qing manuscript copies. Our approach is:Use the commonly circulated organized edition as the working base text, collated against the Siku edition。
Why not use the Ming printed edition from the start? Because although the Ming printed edition is earlier, it is costly to obtain and read through, while the commonly circulated organized edition has already undergone a round of collation and is suitable as the baseline for web translation and annotation. The point of reference collation is: when something in the organized edition seems doubtful, go back and check the Siku edition to see where the variant lies.The base text is not the "oldest edition" but the "edition most suitable for work" — this distinction must be made clear.
At the bottom of each juan's page there is a section, "Collation Notes · Edition and Editorial Statement," which clearly sets out that juan's basis, the scope of reference collation, and that juan's special variants. This is not formalism — readers have the right to know where the passage they are reading comes from.
This is the point most easily misunderstood, so it is addressed separately.
The "original text" on our pages is an organized compilation: punctuated and paragraphed according to modern conventions, traditional characters converted to simplified, and variant forms unified where appropriate.It is not a photocopy of the original book, nor a "collated definitive edition" in the strict sense.
Why do it this way? Three reasons. First, web reading requires readability; ancient books have no punctuation and no paragraphing, and typesetting them directly is unfriendly to most readers. Second, we do not have the conditions to produce an academic definitive edition — that would require collating all extant editions and providing verbatim collation notes, a project for professional ancient-book editorial institutions. Third,Rather than pretend to be a definitive edition, it is better to honestly state that it is a compilation。
Therefore, in each juan's collation notes, this statement is retained, along with external links to authoritative public-domain photocopy resources for readers who need verbatim comparison. To quote the original words from this site's juan 1 collation notes:
The "original text" on this page is an organized compilation (punctuated and paragraphed according to modern conventions), not a photocopy of the original book; if verbatim comparison is needed, please consult authoritative public-domain editions... This site does not fabricate ancient book layouts, so it substitutes links to authoritative public-domain photocopies.
Each translated and annotated volume is fixed in four sections, allowing readers to skip as needed:
The purpose of this structure isto separate "facts" from "interpretation". When you cite our translation, you know it is our understanding; when you cite the original text, you know it is a compilation, not a definitive edition. Keeping the two layers separate makes the responsibility clear.
Variant readings are routine in the collation of ancient texts. In the translations and annotations on this site, variants frequently occur in three types of places:
First, the transliteration of foreign place names.For example, "Zhancheng" is sometimes written as "Zhanpo." Ancient foreign place names originally had no fixed characters; both writings are not wrong. Our approach is to follow the original citation in Xiang Cheng and note the variant writing in the textual notes,without altering the characters。
Second, alternative names for aromatic substances.Linglingxiang was anciently called xuncao; the referential scope of gansong and huoxiang has also drifted between ancient and modern times. Such variants are not merely different characters; they involvechanges in the correspondence between name and substance. In handling them, besides providing textual notes, we also explain the modern name in the annotations.
Third, units of measurement and numbers.The "liang," "qian," and "fen" in incense formulas are most prone to errors in transcription. Our practice is to retain the original characters and indicate in the paraphrase that "it should be read according to proportions," without arbitrarily changing the numbers—changing one character could destroy the proportions of an entire formula.
The one-sentence general principle for handling textual variants:We may explain, but we must not presume to alter.We would rather let readers see "there are variants here, the various editions disagree" than give a version that looks clean but is in fact our own decision.
In the main text we use three kinds of annotation, with different meanings:
These three kinds of annotation are a different matter from "quotation of the original text."Anything bearing one of these three annotations must not be cited as verbatim original text—this is a point we emphasize repeatedly, and also where many online incense culture(香学) articles most easily go wrong: someone's translated paraphrase is taken as the ancients' own words, and passed from one to ten, until it becomes "the ancients said."
These "things we don't do" essentially come down to one principle:Let the reader know where the boundaries lie.The work of annotating and translating ancient texts—its value lies not in stating everything definitively, but in making uncertainties clear.
If you find anything debatable in the annotations of any volume, you are welcome to point it out—call 400-809-1913, or come to the shop and talk in person. Proofreading a book is like sweeping fallen leaves: you sweep once and they fall again; this is simply the norm.
You may quote it, but please note it as "compiled and edited" and cite the source on this site. The "original text" on the page is an edited version with modern punctuation and paragraphing, not a verbatim reproduction of a scanned copy, nor is it equivalent to a scholarly critical edition. For formal research or publication citations, we recommend cross-checking against public-domain scanned editions (external links are provided in the collation notes of each volume).
Textual variants refer to differences in the same passage across different transmitted editions, which are extremely common in ancient texts. We adhere to "explain, but never alter without authorization": variants are recorded in collation notes, the original characters are retained, and readers judge for themselves. Arbitrary standardization causes loss of information—later generations would not know that a divergence originally existed here, which amounts to making the decision for the reader.
"Translation" and "vernacular annotation" are modern Chinese paraphrases of the original text, kept as close to the original meaning as possible; "summary" only outlines the gist without pursuing sentence-by-sentence correspondence; "excerpt" indicates that only a fragment is quoted. None of the three is the verbatim original text, and none may be treated as the ancients' own words when quoted.
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