Nanxiang Town Chronicle

Author: Zhang Chengxian
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2003-07-01
Features: The South Xiang Town Chronicle consists of twelve volumes, compiled by Zhang Chengxian of South Xiang Town during the reigns of the Qing emperors Qianlong and Jiaqing. It was originally named The Zha Xi River Chronicle or The Zha Xi River Village Chronicle, comprising three volumes, edited by Yang Zhida of South Xiang Town and completed in the 51st year of the Kangxi reign (1712), but it was never published and circulated. Around the 41st year of the Qianlong reign (1776), Zhang Chengxian continued the compilation based on this work, still using the same title, but it was also not published. By the 11th year of the Jiaqing reign (1806), Cheng Youxi, building upon Zhang Chengxian’s manuscript, revised and expanded the content, adding nearly three decades of historical records, and renamed it The South Xiang Town Chronicle. It was published by Xunle Cottage the following year. In the 12th year of the Republic of China (1923), Chen Tong meticulously collated the Jiaqing woodblock edition and manuscript copies, publishing the book in lead type by Feng Zhu Tower.
This book is organized into eight sections: Territory and Settlements, Primary Education, Officials, Elections, Notables, Literature, and Miscellaneous. At the beginning of the volume are included The Map of South Xiang Town, The Map of the Three Zha Water Conservancy, and The Map of Yunxiang Temple. Additionally, there are four prefaces: one by Wu Huan, the magistrate of Jiading County in the 11th year of the Jiaqing reign; one by Li Gengyun, the prefect of Jiaxing; one by Cheng Youxi, the reviser; and one by Chen Tong, written in the 13th year of the Republic of China (1924). The two manuscripts of The Zha Xi River Chronicle or The Zha Xi River Village Chronicle by Yang Zhida and Zhang Chengxian, over two hundred years old, are now lost. Cheng Youxi’s twelve-volume The South Xiang Town Chronicle is also extremely rare. According to the Shanghai Library Local Gazetteers Catalogue (compiled in 1979), the Shanghai Library holds one set of the Xunle Cottage edition, one set of manuscript copies, and one set of the 12th-year-of-the-Republic edition. The Tokyo Imperial Household Library in Japan also preserves one set of the Xunle Cottage edition. Comparing the Xunle Cottage edition with the 12th-year-of-the-Republic edition, it is found that the latter is more comprehensive in content and meticulously collated, making it a superior version.
This work is based on the 12th-year-of-the-Republic edition, with collation against the Xunle Cottage edition. Additionally, it references the Jiading County Gazetteer of the Ming Wanli era, the Jiading County Gazetteer of the Qing Kangxi era, the Supplementary Jiading County Gazetteer, the Jiading County Gazetteer of the Guangxu era, and other relevant historical sources. A small number of variant characters in the text have been corrected to standard forms for easier reading. Other obvious errors have also been corrected without annotations.
The South Xiang Town Chronicle is a relatively comprehensive local history. It records the historical evolution, rise and decline, and cultural customs of South Xiang Town, holding significant value as an important document for studying the humanistic history of Shanghai.