Wuyi Zhi Changzhou County Zhi

Author: Chen Qidi
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2006-03-01
Features: At least 25 county annals of Wu County (including Changzhou and Yuanhe County) have been compiled in history. The earliest can be traced back to the Wu County Chronicle compiled by Gu Wei of the Wu Kingdom during the Three Kingdoms period and the Wu County Illustrated Gazetteer compiled by Luo Chuyao of the Northern Song Dynasty, both of which are now lost. The first extant county annal is the Annals of Wu County in 16 volumes compiled by Yang Xungji, which the Siku Quanshu describes as "more precise than other county records." Following this, there were four Annals of Wu County compiled during the Chongzhen, Kangxi, Qianlong, and Republican periods. The Chongzhen edition has 54 volumes, with volumes 30-31 on officials, volumes 32-38 on elections, volume 39 on official achievements, and volumes 40-54 on biographies, all falling under the category of biographical records, with detailed accounts, especially of figures from the late Ming Dynasty, making it widely regarded as an excellent annal. In the preface to the Qianlong edition of the Annals of Wu County, Yang Shengwu wrote: "The compilation of the annals of Wu County began with the Ming Dynasty's Yang Yiqun, and none were better than the old annal compiled by Niu Lingshu during the Chongzhen period, nor were they better than the new annal compiled by Sun Peiyao during the Kangxi period." The reason is that the Kangxi edition "contained discrepancies when compared to previous annals, and the level of detail was not always appropriately coordinated" (as stated in the preface by Ye Changyang to the Qianlong edition of the Annals of Wu County). The Annals of Wu County compiled during the Xuantong period, originally titled Combined Annals of Wu, Changzhou, and Yuanhe County, were limited to the year 1911. As for the manuscript of the Republican Annals of Wu County published by Chengwen Publishing House in Taiwan, it is the original draft of the Republican Annals of Wu County and not a separate book; the Joint Catalogue of Chinese Local Gazetteers lists it as Draft of the Continued Annals of Wu County. Additionally, Wu County by Qiao Zengxiang, Local Gazetteer of Wu County by Lu Wenbing, and Overview of Wu County County Administration compiled by the Wu County government office are brief records and overviews. The current collation is based on the (photocopied) edition of the Jiajing edition from the Selected Continuation of Ming Dynasty Gazetteers from Tianyi Pavilion, with reference to some other old annals, and an appendix of the Siku Quanshu preface at the end.