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The Yinhualu 因話錄 "Tales of repayment and retribution" is a collection of short stories from the Tang period 唐 (618-907) written by Zhao Lin 趙璘 (jinshi degree 834). The semi-historiographical stories are arranged in 6 juan "scrolls" with five parts, whose titles follow the five notes in traditional Chinese music. The first part (gongbu 宮部) is related to rulers, the second (shangbu 商部) to high ministers and officials, the third (jiaobu 角部) to eminent persons not holding an office, the fourth part (zhibu 徵部) records a lot of literary quotations, and the fifth part (yubu 羽部) includes miscellaneous material.
Because Zhao Lin was a grandson of Counselor-in-chief Zhao Zongru 趙宗儒 and a relative of the powerful Liu family 柳, he had a great interest in literary quotations related to the higher court officials. The book is therefore, although categorized as a collection of novellas (xiaoshuo 小說), also of historiographical value. It also contains information about the literature estimated by the higher class of society. Especially noteworthy are his comments about theatre plays.
The Yinhualu is included in the collectaneum Baihai 稗海. In 1991 the Shanghai guji press 上海古籍出版社 published a modern edition.
Source: Zhu Jincheng 朱金城 (1986). "Yinhualu 因話錄", in: Zhongguo da baike quanshu 中國大百科全書, Zhongguo wenxue 中國文學, vol. 2, p. 1171. Beijing/Shanghai: Zhongguo da baike quanshu chubanshe.
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