Yunlu Manzhao--Tang and Song

Author: Zhao Yanshu (Song Dynasty), edited and annotated by Fu Genqing
Publisher:
Publishing Date: Not available
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 imperial family of the Song Dynasty. 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 self-preface dated to 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 titled 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" (General Catalogue of the Four Treasuries). 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, its discussions on astronomy, geography, and institutional customs are often comprehensive; its collection of dialects, folk sayings, and records of poems and literary works also hold significant reference value. For example, the original Map of Chang'an by Lü Dafang is lost, but this book preserves its essence. The letter from Zhang Yuan (son of Zhang Xian) to Dongpo, which has long been overlooked, as well as fragments of Han Yu and Ouyang Xiu, and Lü Benzhong's Map of the Jiangxi Poetry Society, are preserved here. The latter is also commented on, reflecting contemporary perspectives. However, some of its contain errors.