Chapter 16 Chapter 6 Climbing to the Peak of Ancient Local Chronicles

The Yuan Dynasty established by Kublai Khan governed the most vast territory in Chinese history.In order to establish a stable rule, Kublai Khan, who ruled the Central Plains with Mongolian nobles, vigorously promoted the "Han law" and inherited various effective systems from the previous dynasty, including the compilation of local chronicles. According to statistics, there are about 200 kinds of local chronicles of the Yuan Dynasty whose names can be examined now.Although this number is less than that of the Southern Song Dynasty, considering that the Yuan Dynasty has a history of less than 100 years, it can be said that its achievements are not inferior to those of the previous dynasty.Moreover, the annals of the Southern Song Dynasty were limited to the south of the Yangtze River. In the Yuan Dynasty, with the unification of the country, the distribution of annals was re-extended to the north.

With the establishment of "province", the first batch of provincial annals of our country appeared in the Yuan Dynasty.Seen in the records, there are "Yunnan Tuzhi", "Gansu Tuzhi", "Liaoyang Tuzhi" (Yuan Liaoyang Province governed the northeast region), etc., all of which were issued by the central government during the first 20 to 30 years of the Yuan Dynasty. edited by order.It was reported immediately after completion, but it was not published. As a result, none of them escaped the fate of being lost. There are only a dozen regional local chronicles of the Yuan Dynasty that can still be seen today, and most of them are highly appreciated by later generations.

The annals of the Yuan Dynasty paid more attention to the facts, and the editors were afraid that they would not record in detail the things they thought were important.For future generations of researchers, this approach is of course very welcome.For example, Xu Shuo's "(Zhiyuan) Jiahe Zhi" (Jiaxing, Zhejiang) in the early Yuan Dynasty has a total of 32 volumes, and the "tablet" occupies 11 volumes. From the Three Kingdoms to the Southern Song Dynasty, as long as it is a stone inscription, it is collected as much as possible. Many of them are Most people have never seen or heard of it.This part alone has preserved a large number of useful materials for the study of history, figures, and ancient relics.In "(Yanyou) Four Mingzhi" (Ningbo, Zhejiang Province) written by Yuan Jue [juejue], there are 33 sub-items listed in the "Tax and Service Examination", and the details of the records can be imagined.At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, Li Haowen held important positions in Shaanxi twice.He cared about the suffering of the people, and he must visit and inspect the mountains, rivers and cities he passed.He believes that the "benefits of Jingqu" are related to people's food and clothing, so he pays special attention to water conservancy.His "(Zhizheng) Chang'an Zhitu" (Xi'an, Shaanxi), also known as "Chang'an Tuji", consists of two volumes. One volume records the history of Chang'an palaces, mausoleums, squares, and historical sites, and the other volume records Water conservancy, starting from the Zhengguo Canal in the pre-Qin Dynasty, describes the changes of Jingqu Canal, flood weir system, water use regulations, establishment of farmland, etc., analyzes water conservancy and water damage, and is accompanied by a detailed and clear Jingqu general map and irrigation map ( Figure 5), which is highly praised for its distinctive features and practicality.

In addition, such as "Qi Cheng" from the end of Yuan Dynasty to the first year of Yuan Dynasty, it is actually the first provincial annals of Shandong, but it is not an official book, but was completed by the editor Yu Qin alone.Yu Qin wrote about local affairs as a local, and read the classics and history extensively. He seriously discussed the local politics, customs, and characters at that time, and had quite his own opinions.Xiong Mengxiang's "(Zhizheng) Analyzing Jin Zhi" is the earliest Beijing Zhi that has been discovered so far.This is a book written by the people of the Yuan Dynasty about the situation in the capital of the Yuan Dynasty, so it is very precious.It's a pity that this book has been scattered. According to records, there were originally 34 chapters, and I don't know how many volumes there are.The Rare Book Group of the Beijing Library has compiled its fragmentary chapters into a book "Analysis of Jin Zhi Ji Yi", which is only a thin volume, and its detailed and detailed style can still be seen.There are also Feng Fujing's "(Dade) Changguozhou Picture Records" (Dinghai, Zhejiang), Yu Xilu's "(Zhishun) Zhenjiang Records" (Jiangsu Zhenjiang), Zhang Xuan's "(Zhizheng) Jinling New Records" (Jiangsu Nanjing) , Luo Tianxiang's "(Yuan Zhen) Leibian Chang'an Zhi" (Xi'an, Shaanxi), etc., are also relatively excellent annals.

Wang Zhen, a famous agronomist in the Yuan Dynasty, edited "(Dade) Jingde County Chronicle" when he was the county magistrate of Jingde County, Anhui Province.He used a set of wooden movable type he created and a rotary typesetting frame he invented to test typesetting and printing. The book was 60,000 characters, and 600 copies were printed in less than a month, which was much faster than engraving.He recorded in detail the production method of wooden movable type and the experience of this trial printing, and collected them in his famous book "Nong Shu".This is a memorable event in the history of local chronicles and printing history.

The official "Da Yuan Da Yi Tong Zhi" represents the highest achievement of the local chronicles of the Yuan Dynasty. In the sixteenth year of Yuan Shizu to Yuan Dynasty (1279 A.D.), Yuan soldiers captured the last stronghold of the Song Dynasty against the Yuan Dynasty - Yashan in the south of Xinhui County, Guangdong today.Lu Xiufu threw the seven-year-old Di Bing, the last emperor of the Song Dynasty, into the sea on his back.The Southern Song Dynasty perished and China was reunified.In the 23rd year of the Yuan Dynasty (1286 A.D.), Zamariding, a scholar and a native of the Western Regions, suggested: "The current land and people are all included in the territory, and it is appropriate to write a book to unify the Ming Dynasty." Kublai Khan, the ancestor of the Yuan Dynasty, readily agreed , and the compilation of the national annals began.After the Zhishu was completed, Xu Yuanren was ordered to write a preface, which explained more clearly the purpose of compiling the book.This preface points out: Compiling this local chronicle is not just for people to increase their knowledge, but to promote the national prestige of the great unity.We must "grow forever" to let future generations know the difficulties of our ancestors in starting a business; we must "spread ministers and concubines" to let subjects know that we live in a unified world, with clear politics and stable times. Do your best to maintain the relationship between the monarch and his ministers, and jointly consolidate this unity so that the country can last as long as the sky and the earth.Therefore, this general annals was named "Dayuan Dayi Unified Chronicles".

"Da Yuan Da Yi Tong Zhi" was first completed in the 28th year of Yuan Shizu to Yuan (1291 AD), with a total of 750 volumes.It was continued once during Yuan Chengzong's reign, and it was completed in the seventh year of Dade (1303 A.D.), increasing to 1300 volumes.It not only summarizes the actual situation of the Yuan Dynasty, but also fully adopts the old annals and other pictorial records of the past dynasties. Regarding the remote areas, it is based on the newly compiled pictorial records of Liaoyang, Yunnan, and Gansu.In the past, the compilation of general annals in the past dynasties had different styles, but it was only in the "Dayuan Dayi Unification Chronicle" that there was a standard.The Ming and Qing dynasties used it as a model for the compilation of Zongzhi, but they failed to reach its scale.This chronicle was lost in the Ming Dynasty, and there are only a few fragments left. Jin Yufu [fu Fu], a modern person, has collected its fragmented pages and lost texts and compiled them into "Liaohai Series".After 20 years of hard work, Zhao Wanli collected its fragments and zero sentences, re-edited and edited them, compiled them into 10 volumes, and published them in a single line, entitled "Yuanyi Tongzhi", which is a more popular book now.

In the Yuan Dynasty, the minority nationalities ruled the Central Plains, just like the saying goes, "people are not familiar with the place", but in less than a century, they have made remarkable achievements in compiling chronicles. A very important reason is that the local chronicles have been deeply rooted. In Chinese society, it has constituted an indispensable part of Chinese cultural tradition.Seeing that the annals were missing and obsolete, ordinary officials and even scholars and literati in the opposition would take the initiative to stand up to make suggestions, appeals, or write their own pens to rewrite them.They do it out of a sense of responsibility to history, their hometown, and society, and they don't necessarily wait for someone to give orders, nor do they necessarily have to be entrusted by anyone.Tradition is an invisible force that is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. It promotes the continuous and steady development of local chronicles, and also prompts every new ruler to take a new look at local chronicles.