Yangzhou Football Chronicle

Author: Jiao Xun (Qing Dynasty), edited by Xu Weiping, annotated
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-09-01
Features: Record of Yangzhou's Footprints, compiled by Jiao Xun of the Qing Dynasty. Jiao Xun, styled Litang, also known as Litang, later styled Litang Laoren, was a native of Ganquan County (now Yangzhou, Jiangsu) in the Qing Dynasty. Born in the 28th year of the Qianlong reign (1763) and died in the 25th year of the Jiaqing reign (1820). Jiao Xun was knowledgeable and discerning, renowned for his profound scholarship. After passing the provincial examination in the Jiaqing era, he became disinterested in official career and devoted himself to studying and writing in his later years, gaining fame for his extensive and in-depth academic pursuits. He excelled in classics, history, mathematics, phonology, and etymology, and was well-versed in poetry, prose, medicine, opera, and the works of various schools. He was particularly adept in the study of the Hand Yi (a form of divination), representing the Yangzhou School of Learning and earning the title of "Versatile Scholar." Record of Yangzhou's Footprints collects 300 works related to Yangzhou by scholars, literati, and reclusive scholars from the late Ming Dynasty, early Qing Dynasty, and the Jiaqing era. These works include biographies, prefaces, postscripts, annotations, letters, chronicles, inscriptions, memorials, proclamations, tax records, surveys, dialogues, and eulogies, among various genres. Jiao Xun gathered these works through three methods:
First, collecting existing published editions.
Second, including some unpublished works, though some of these collections later became lost. For example, the Complete Works of Lin Huichang included Wang Fangqi's Postscript to Wu Yuan Ci, the Songquan Collection included Wang Youdun's Eulogy for the Grand Secretary of the Imperial Academy and Minister of Personnel, Posthumously Honored as Wen Su Wang, the Zhang Family Genealogy included Zhou Yi's Biography of Zhang Deyuan and Song He's Biography of Zhang Jin and Epitaph for Zhang Deyuan. These works were not listed in the Art and Literature Catalogue of the Qing History Draft, the Supplement to the Art and Literature Catalogue of the Qing History Draft, or the Art and Literature Catalogue of Jiangsu·Yangzhou Volume.
Third, single articles that had not yet been compiled or published. Some of these works were by renowned scholars of the time, such as Zhu Yizun, Cheng Yaotian, Zhang Xuecheng, Wang Chang, Sun Xingyan, Ruan Yuan, and Shi Zhao. Some of their works were not included in their published collections. For instance, Ruan Yuan's Biography of Chen Tai Shi, which records the actual events of Chen Huyao being summoned by the Kangxi Emperor for an algorithmic examination and appointed as a compiler of the Imperial Academy, was not found in the Collected Works of Yanjing Studio. Thanks to Record of Yangzhou's Footprints, later generations can still access many rare or lost historical documents.