Notes on the "Dream of Splendor in East Capital" (Volumes 1 and 2)

Author: Meng Yuanlao (Song Dynasty) compiled, annotated by Yi Yongwen
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2006-08-01
Features: The Dream of Splendid Splendor was published in the 17th year of the Shaoxing era of the Southern Song Dynasty (1147). From the preface of the book, it is known that the author was Meng Yuanlao, but little is known about his life. During the Qing Dynasty, the elderly scholar Chang Maolei of Kaifeng proposed that Meng Yuanlao was actually Meng Kui, the Minister of Revenue who supervised the construction of the Geng Prison. This theory was criticized by Mr. Deng Zhicheng as lacking sufficient research. In 1980, Mr. Kong Xianyi followed Chang Maolei's line of reasoning and deduced that Meng Yuanlao was Meng Xue, who served in Kaifeng during the late Northern Song Dynasty. Kong's evidence is heavily speculative and difficult to establish. I believe it is unnecessary to identify Meng Yuanlao as Meng Xue. It is more likely that Yuanlao used a common name of the Song people as a pseudonym. The person might have been a noble of the Meng clan or a wandering scholar in the capital, recording customs to evoke the joy of the old capital, and then had the book printed for dissemination. Shortly after the Dream of Splendid Splendor was published, many scholars of the Southern Song Dynasty imitated its style to continue writing similar works, such as The Records of the Capital by Niande'ong, The Splendor of West Lake by the West Lake Elder, The Dream of Liang by Wu Zimou, and The Old Tales of Wu Lin by Zhou Mi. After that, in the Yuan Dynasty, there were The Records of the Yuan Clan's Harem by Tao Zongyi, The Splendor of the Imperial Court by Fei Zhuo, and The Reminiscences of Qiantang by Liu Yiqing.