Chapter 7 Section 3 Prosperous Family of Local Records

China's local chronicles are not only considerable in number, but also have many different types according to the scope of their descriptions. There are complex and simplified, divided and combined, forming a large family of local chronicles with clear layers and a complete structure. There are three categories of members of this local chronicle family: The first category is the general annals of the whole country, also known as "one unified annals".It takes the administrative regions of each dynasty as the outline, and uses the style of local chronicles to describe the situation of the whole country.The well-known national general chronicles include "Sui District Yu Tu Zhi" in the Sui Dynasty, "Kuo Di Zhi" in the Tang Dynasty, "Yuanhe County Tu Zhi", "Taiping Huanyu Ji" in the Song Dynasty, and "Yuanfeng Jiuyu Zhi" , and the "Yi Tong Zhi" of the Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties.

The second category is regional chronicles, which specifically describe a certain region.Regional chronicles account for the vast majority of local chronicles, and there are various types according to the administrative divisions of different dynasties, such as: provincial annals.The province-level administrative division was set up in the Yuan Dynasty. At that time, it was called "Xingzhongshu Province", or "province" for short.The compilation of local chronicles within the scope of provinces also began in the Yuan Dynasty.Most of the provincial annals in the Ming Dynasty were called "General Chronicles" or "Tongzhi", and in the Qing Dynasty they were generally called "Tongzhi".For example, the annals of Henan Province compiled during the Chenghua period of the Ming Dynasty are called "Henan General Chronicles", and those compiled during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty and the Shunzhi, Kangxi, and Yongzheng years of the Qing Dynasty are all called "Henan Tongzhi".In Huguang Province in the Ming and Qing dynasties (including the current Hunan and Hubei provinces), there were "Huguang Zongzhi" compiled during the Jiajing and Wanli years of the Ming Dynasty and "Huguang Tongzhi" compiled during the Kangxi and Yongzheng years.

Fuzhi.Such as "(Chenghua) Hangzhou Fuzhi" (Hangzhou, Zhejiang), "(Yongzheng) Fuzhou Fuzhi" (Fuzhou, Jiangxi).In the Tang Dynasty, only the place where the capital was established was called a mansion. In the Song Dynasty, large counties were gradually promoted to be a mansion. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the mansion was the next level of administrative division of the province. state annals.The state as a first-level administrative division began in the late Eastern Han Dynasty.There were two kinds of prefectures in the Ming and Qing dynasties, most of which belonged to prefectures and were called Sanzhou; some belonged directly to provinces and were called Zhili prefectures.For example, Daizhou in Shanxi, the area under its jurisdiction is roughly equivalent to the four counties of Daixian, Fanzhi, Wutai, and Yuanping in Shanxi today. In Zhili Prefecture, the chronicles compiled during the Qianlong period are called "Zhili Daizhou Chronicles".

hall annals.Such as "(Guangxu) Chixi Zhili Ting Zhi" (Taishan, Guangdong), "(Xuantong) Dangar Ting Zhi" (Qinghai Huangyuan).In the Qing Dynasty, halls were set up in newly developed areas, and there were also differences between San halls and Zhili halls.The scattered halls belong to the government; the Zhili halls belong to the provinces. county annals.Such as "(Kangxi) Licheng County Chronicles" (Shandong Licheng), "(Qianlong) Wanxian Chronicles" (Sichuan Wanxian).In the Spring and Autumn Period of our country, some vassal states began to set up counties on the border, gradually developed to the inland, and later implemented by Qin Shihuang to the whole country.County chronicles account for about 70% of the existing local chronicles in my country.

Township records.Taking the administrative division below the county as the scope of description, there are township annals, town annals, li annals, village annals, etc.Such as "(Kangxi) Xinghua Village Chronicle" (Guichi, Anhui), "(Qianlong) Zhenru Lizhi" (Shanghai Jiading), "(Jiaqing) Nanxiang Town Chronicle" (Shanghai Jiading), "(Republic of China) Cao'e Township Chronicle "(Shaoxing, Zhejiang) and so on.The regulations and orders issued by the governments of all dynasties were limited to the compilation of chronicles above the county level, and never required the compilation of township chronicles. Therefore, township chronicles were basically compiled privately by local gentry or literati.Because it is not an official book, there are fewer taboos and restrictions on rules and regulations; because the scope of the description is small, it is more sensitive to society and folk customs.Town records existed in the Song Dynasty, and gradually became popular in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

City Records.That is, city annals.Such as "(Republic of China) Capital Chronicles" (Nanjing, Jiangsu) and so on. In addition, there are some areas that are divided due to special needs such as military affairs and ethnic affairs, etc., and they often have chronicles, such as: Wei Suo Zhi.Wei is the name of the military establishment in the Ming Dynasty.In the Ming Dynasty, guards were set up in important military areas, with 5,600 people in each guard.It is called a certain guard if it is stationed in a certain place, such as Jianzhou Wei, Tianjin Wei, etc.The line of defense of the guard can sometimes include several prefectures, and some are also in charge of local administration.Wei Zhi is often majored by its chief (commander).There are thousands of households under Wei, each with 1,200 people; hundreds of households, each with 120 people, and some of them also have chronicles.

Border Records.Note the situation of the frontier fortresses.There are chronicles of important border towns, such as "(Wanli) Yansui Town Chronicles" (Yulin Area, Shaanxi); there are chronicles of important passes, such as "(Jiajing) Shanhaiguan Chronicles". Chieftain Records.Also called Tusi Si Suo Zhi.During the Ming and Qing dynasties, in some ethnic minority areas in the northwest and southwest, civil and military officials such as Tuzhizhou, Tuzhixian, Recruiting Envoy, Qianhu, and Baihu were set up by local leaders to govern the ethnic areas. This is the chieftain. .Its chronicles were majored in by native officials.For example, the "(Kangxi) Maodong Si Zhi" mentioned above; the Baishan Division in Enxian County, Guangxi, and the "(Daoguang) Baishan Si Zhi" majored in by Chieftain Wang Yanji.

Yanjing Zhi.In the Yuan Dynasty, an official was set up to manage the salt wells, called "Tiju". Originally, they were only in charge of salt affairs, but in the Ming and Qing Dynasties they gradually took charge of the local civil and criminal administration.Salt well records are only found in Yunnan, such as "(Kangxi) Black Salt Well Records" and "(Qianlong) White Salt Well Records". The chronicles of these special regions have their own characteristics.Bianguan annals and Weisuo annals focus on describing the military situation, such as mountains and rivers, fortresses, soldiers, horses, food and fodder; Tusi annals highlight ethnic affairs; Yanjing annals focus on salt affairs.But they also have the same geographical history, monuments, products, characters, etc. as general state annals.

There is also a relatively simple regional chronicle called local chronicle.Such as "Leiyang County Local Chronicles" (Leiyang, Hunan), "Yongjia County Local Chronicles" (Zhejiang Yongjia), etc.Local chronicles are the product of the "New Deal" implemented in the late Qing Dynasty. They are compiled according to the style of local chronicles as teaching materials for primary schools, so they are very short and popular.Most of the existing local chronicles were compiled in the late Qing Dynasty, and a small amount of local chronicles were also compiled during the Republic of China.

The third category is dedicated.A monograph is dedicated to a specific thing in a certain area.For example, mountain records describe mountains.Almost all famous mountains in all parts of our country have compiled chronicles.Water records describe rivers, lakes, ponds, springs, etc., such as "Tonghui River Records", "Jinsha River Records", "West Lake Records" in Hangzhou, "Mochou Lake Records" in Nanjing, and "Baotu Spring Records" in Jinan Wait.Annals of places of interest describe the scenic spots and historic sites in a place, such as the "Records of Tanzhe Temple" in Beijing, "Records of Hanshan Temple" and "Records of Canglang Pavilion" in Suzhou, "Records of Bailudong Academy" in Jiangxi, and the hometown of Confucius in Qufu, Shandong. "Que Li Zhi", Yue Fei's hometown Tangyin, Henan has "Jingzhong Yuemiao Zhi", Zhuge Liang's former residence in Nanyang, Henan has "Wolonggang Zhi", and so on.Fengtuzhi records the customs, customs, and special products of a place; Jinshizhi records local cultural relics such as bronze wares and inscriptions; Jingjizhi or Yiwenzhi introduces the works of local people;In short, the number and variety of specializations are very impressive, and they are often completed more than once.In the Qing Dynasty alone, more than a dozen "West Lake Chronicles" were compiled.

The genre of monographs is similar to that of general chronicles, and most of them are also divided into several categories horizontally, with complete information on all aspects.For example, "(Kangxi) Baotu Spring Chronicles" is divided into two volumes, the first volume is history, historical sites, disasters, characters, fairy traces, ghosts, rumors, etc.; "(Yongzheng) West Lake Chronicles" has 48 volumes, which are divided into 30 categories such as water conservancy, scenic spots, landscapes, embankments, bridges, gardens, temples, historic sites, famous sages, products, tombs, steles, calligraphy and painting, and art.Monographs are an important source of materials for national or regional annals.Sometimes, a monograph is a single edition or a supplementary edition of a certain branch of a regional annals.For example, Zhu Yixin was in charge of compiling the "Records of Squares and Alleys" in "Records of Shuntian Mansion (Guangxu)" (Beijing); he visited residents in the streets and alleys of Beijing during the day, searched ancient books at night, and compiled the names of the streets, alleys and alleys in Beijing during the Ming and Qing dynasties Evolution, anecdotes and legends, the material is very substantial.After compiling "Shuntian Fuzhi", he reorganized this part of the material and published it as a monograph, called "Jingshifang Alley Chronicles".Another example is "The Temple Chronicles of the Mausoleum of the Yellow Emperor" (compiled by Li Jinxi) published in 1944, which is a separate edition of the 21st volume of "(Republic of China) Central County Chronicles" (Huangling County, Shaanxi).It can be seen that although the monograph is not a comprehensive account of all aspects of a region, it is still an inseparable member of the local chronicle family. The entire family of local chronicles is like a big tree, with the national general chronicles and regional chronicles as its backbone. Among them, the general chronicles and provincial chronicles are concise and concise, which is convenient for viewing the overall situation; the lower the local chronicles, the more detailed the records, and they cooperate with each other. , and the various poses are its green leaves and soft branches, which set off this big tree more colorfully.Works such as local chronicles are not unique to China, but when it comes to the long history, numerous volumes, comprehensive and detailed content, vast geographical description, and complete categories, it should be said that Chinese local chronicles are well-deserved No. 1 in the world.