Han shi waizhuan (simplified Chinese: 韩诗外传; traditional Chinese: 韓詩外傳), translated as Exoteric traditions of the Han version of the Songs, Illustrations of the Didactic Application of the Classic of Songs, or "The Outer Commentary to the Book of Songs by Master Han", is a book written in the Western Han dynasty, attributed to Han Ying (Chinese: 韓嬰 fl.
It is a collection of some 300 anecdotes and stories chosen to highlight the poems of the Shi jing (Book of Poetry).
[1] The Book of Poetry, said to have been edited by Confucius, was among the texts suppressed during the Qin dynasty, but survived in four slightly different versions.
The Han shi waizhuan collects stories or quotations to illustrate and interpret these quotes.
[2] Han Ying's biography in the Historical Records of Sima Qian says that he compiled two commentaries, the neizhuan (inner) and the waizhuan (outer), whose interpretations "very much differed" from the Mao School and other schools.