Address Book

Author: Liang Zhangju (Qing) and written by Feng Huimin, Li Zhaoxiang, et al.
Publisher:
Publishing Date: November 1, 1996
Features: This book includes two ancient classics, The Book of Address Forms and The Records of Kinship. The Book of Address Forms was written by Liang Zhangju of the Qing dynasty. Zhangju, styled Hongzhong, was also known as Qianlin or Qianlin; in his later years, he took the posthumous name Tuan'an. His ancestral home was Changle County, Fuzhou, and he moved to Fuzhou in the early Qing dynasty. Later in life, he resided in Pucheng and passed away in Hangzhou. He was born in the year Yiwei (1775) during the 40th year of the Qianlong reign and died in the year Jiyou (1849) during the 29th year of the Daoguang reign, at the age of 75. He passed the imperial examination in the year Wumao (1802) of the Jiaqing reign and served as a military censor, later becoming the prefect of Jingzhou. He held various positions, including the provincial censor of Shandong (), acting governor of Jiangsu, governor of Jiangsu, acting governor of Jiangsu, governor of Guangxi, and governor of Jiangsu with concurrent duties as governor of the Jiangnan Military and Financial Administration. He served in official posts for nearly four decades and, while engaged in governance, never abandoned writing. He left behind dozens of works that were widely circulated among the people. Zheng Zhen's motivation for writing The Records of Kinship stemmed from the fact that address forms related to clans and (marriage connections) had increased with customs but lacked comprehensive books for reference. Additionally, he considered that works like The Explanations of Kinship in the Erya often contained errors and that other texts such as Cheng Yaotian's Notes on the Funerary Attire and Shao Jinhan's Commentary on the Erya and Hao Yixing's Explanations of the Erya were not without omissions. Therefore, to examine rituals and customs, establish Confucian ethics and social hierarchy, and correct these inaccuracies, he wrote this book.