Yunlu Manzhao

Author: Zhao Yanshu (Song Dynasty), edited and annotated by Fu Genqing
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1998-05-01
Features: This book is a collection of notes. Written by Zhao Yanshui of the Southern Song Dynasty, Yanshui styled Jing'an. Born in Junyi (now Kaifeng, Henan), his birth and death years are unknown. He was a member of the Song imperial family. Initially, he served as an assistant in Wu Gate, renowned for his knowledge and regarded as "an external official who is 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 deputy magistrate of Huizhou. This book has a preface written in the second year of the Kaixi period (1206), signed by the new governor of Xin'an, but his subsequent official career remains unrecorded. "Yunlu Manchao" was initially 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 national missions (Volume 8), and the financial expenses for welcoming and sending Jin envoys (Volume 6). Additionally, his research on astronomy, geography, and institutional customs 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 it contains fragments of Han Yu and Ouyang Xiu, as well as the "Jiangxi Poetry Society Genealogy" by Lü Benzhong, which have been preserved. The book even includes comments on the latter, reflecting contemporary perspectives. However, some of his research also contains errors.