Yunlu Manzhao (Tang and Song Historical Records)

Author: Zhao Yanshu
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-03-01
Features: This book is a collection of notes. Compiled by Zhao Yanshui of the Southern Song Dynasty. Yanshui's courtesy name was Jing'an. He was from Junyi (now Kaifeng, Henan), with an unknown birth and death date. He was a member of the Song imperial family. Initially, he served as an assistant in Wu Gate, renowned for his knowledge and considered an "outsider who was an inner scholar, a learned person of practical use" (from the preface of "Yong Xian Xiaohua"). During the Shaoxi period, he served as the magistrate of Wucheng and later as the assistant magistrate of Huizhou. This book has a preface written in the second year of the Kaixi era (1206), signed by the governor of Xin'an, but his subsequent official career is unknown. "Yunlu Manchao" was originally named "Yong Xian Xiaohua," consisting of 10 volumes, which were later combined into 5 volumes and renamed as it is today. Its content "records one-third of miscellaneous events from the Song Dynasty and one-seventh of the examination of famous objects" (from the "General Catalog of the Siku Quanshu"). The book contains many materials helpful for literary and historical research, such as records of the silver mines and miners' lives in Songxian County, Jianning Prefecture (Volume 2), the rivers of Eastern Zhejiang and the lives of boatmen (Volume 9), the routes and distances of missions across the country (Volume 8), and the financial expenses for welcoming and sending Jin envoys (Volume 6). Additionally, his research on astronomy, geography, and institutional systems is often comprehensive; his collection of dialects and folk sayings, as well as his records of poems and literary remnants, also hold significant reference value. For example, the original text of "Chang'an Map" by Lü Dafang is lost, but this book preserves its essence. The letter from Zhang Yuan (son of Zhang Xian) to Dongpo has long been overlooked, yet the book preserves fragments of Han Yu and Ouyang Xiu, as well as the "Jiangxi Poetry Society Genealogy" by Lü Benzhong, which is also commented upon, reflecting contemporary perspectives. However, his research is occasionally flawed.