吳郡圖經續記

Wújùn tújīng xùjì 吳郡圖經續記

Continuation Records to the Map-and-Gazetteer of Wújùn by 朱長文 (撰)

About the work

A 3-juan continuation gazetteer of Sūzhōu (Wújùn 吳郡) prefecture, composed by Zhū Chángwén 朱長文 (1039–1098, zì Bóyuán 伯原, native of Sūzhōu) and presented in Yuánfēng 7 (1084). The work explicitly continues — and supplements — the imperially-mandated Tújīng 圖經 of Sūzhōu compiled in the Dàzhōngxiángfú era (1008–1016), which had become outdated by Zhū’s day. Of all extant Northern-Sòng prefectural gazetteers, this is one of the very oldest, and the Sìkù editors note that “of state and prefectural gazetteer-writings, none earlier than Wǔdài is heard of, and from the Northern Sòng on, none is older than this Jì.” It is the earliest fully-extant Sòng prefectural gazetteer of any Jiāngnán urban centre and a foundational primary source for the historical topography of Sūzhōu.

(The catalog meta has the title as 吳群圖經續記; the actual title in the source and in the Sìkù tíyào is 吳郡圖經續記 — 郡 (commandery), not 群 (flock). The error is preserved in the catalog meta and flagged here, but corrected in the work-note title.)

Tiyao

We respectfully note: the Wújùn tújīng xùjì in three juan is by Zhū Chángwén of the Sòng. Chángwén, zì Bóyuán 伯原, was a man of Sūzhōu. He served as Mìshūshěng zhèngzì (Editor of the Imperial Library) and Shūmìyuàn biānxiū (Compiler of the Bureau of Military Affairs). The book was completed in Yuánfēng 7 (1084). The upper juan divides into 15 categories: fēngyù 封域, chéngyì 城邑, hùkǒu 戶口, fāngshì 坊市, wùchǎn 物產, fēngsú 風俗, ménmíng 門名, xuéxiào 學校, zhōuzhái 州宅, Nányuán 南園, cāngwù 倉務, hǎidào 海道, tíngguǎn 亭館, mùshǒu 牧守, rénwù 人物. The middle juan divides into 6: qiáoliáng 橋梁, címiào 祠廟, gōngguàn 宮觀, sìyuàn 寺院, shānshuǐ 山水. The lower juan divides into 7: zhìshuǐ 治水, wǎngjī 往迹, yuándì 園第, zhǒngmù 冢墓, bēijié 碑碣, shìzhì 事志, zálù 雜錄. Prefixed is one preface by Chángwén himself; appended at the end are four postfaces — one by Cháng Ānmín 常安民 of Yuányòu 1 (1086), one by Lín Fú 林虙 of Yuányòu 7 (1092), one by Zhù Ānshàng 祝安上 of Yuánfú 2 (1099), and one by Sūn Yòu 孫祐 of Shàoxīng 4 (1134).

The references are wide-ranging while the narrative is concise; the prose is ěryǎ (refined and Confucian), still bearing the air of the ancients. Of state and prefectural gazetteer-writings, none earlier than the Wǔdài is heard of; from the Northern Sòng on, none is older than this Jì. Zhū Yízūn’s 朱彝尊 postface to the Xiánchún Lín’ān zhì 咸淳臨安志 enumerates Northern and Southern Sòng prefectural gazetteers but does not mention this Jì; we know that Yízūn never saw the book — the work is now a rarity.

Chángwén’s preface says that he separately compiled the Gǔjīn wénzhāng 古今文章 of Wú as a Wúmén zǒngjí 吳門總集 (Comprehensive collection of Wú-school writings); within the present book he repeatedly says “the prose for this is in the Zǒngjí”. That book is no longer transmitted; this Jì is in fact also among the works that have only by good fortune barely survived.

Reverently collated and submitted, seventh month, Qiánlóng 45 (1780). Editors-in-chief: Jì Yún 紀昀, Lù Xīxióng 陸錫熊, Sūn Shìyì 孫士毅. General collation officer: Lù Fèichí 陸費墀.

Abstract

The Wújùn tújīng xùjì is the oldest substantially-extant Northern-Sòng prefectural gazetteer of a Jiāngnán urban centre, and one of the very few Sòng zhōu/jùn gazetteers preserved at any length in unbroken transmission. The author Zhū Chángwén (1039–1098, zì Bóyuán) was a Sūzhōu native who passed the jìnshì in his youth (Zhìpíng 4, 1067) but, suffering from a foot ailment (zújí 足疾), declined the appointment and lived as a private scholar at the Lèpǔ Academy 樂圃書院 in Sūzhōu for some twenty years. On Sū Shì’s recommendation, he served briefly as Sūzhōu jiàoshòu (prefectural educational official) and then as Tàicháng bóshì, Mìshūshěng zhèngzì, and Shūmìyuàn biānxiū, dying in office. (CBDB gives 1039–1098; the catalog meta gives 1041–1100; the CBDB dates are followed here on the strength of standard Sòngshǐ and Jiāngsū local-gazetteer evidence.)

The work was undertaken on the urging of Yàn Zhīyǎn 晏知顏 (a son of the chief minister Yàn Shū 晏殊), who was prefect of Sūzhōu in Yuánfēng 1 (1078) and approached Zhū with the request that he supplement the by-then outdated Dàzhōng-xiángfú-era Tújīng 圖經 of Sūzhōu (the imperially-commanded prefectural-level Tújīng compilations of 1008–1016). Zhū accepted the commission with the explicit constraint that he would not repeat what was already in the older Tújīng, and would leave gaps where he had no first-hand evidence — hence the title Xùjì (Continuation Records). The result is a tightly-organised supplement covering 28 categories distributed across three juan: administrative units, demographics, market structure, schools, prefectural mansion and Southern Garden, granaries, sea routes, postal stations, governors and personalities (juan 1); bridges, shrines, monasteries, mountains and waters (juan 2); flood control, vestiges, gardens, tombs, inscriptions, miscellaneous notes (juan 3). Many of the entries draw on local oral tradition unrecorded in the older Tújīng.

The transmission history shows the work circulated in manuscript through the Southern Sòng (the four postfaces by Cháng Ānmín, Lín Fú, Zhù Ānshàng, and Sūn Yòu span Yuányòu 1 to Shàoxīng 4 — 1086 to 1134) and into the Yuán and Míng, but was never widely known: the Sìkù editors note that even Zhū Yízūn (1629–1709), in his survey of Sòng prefectural gazetteers in his postface to the Xiánchún Lín’ān zhì, did not mention this work. The Wényuāngé Sìkù copy descends from the Jiāngsū xúnfǔ cǎijìn presentation copy. The standard modern critical edition is Wújùn tújīng xùjì jiàoshì 吳郡圖經續記校釋 by Jīn Liúfú 金留福 (Sūzhōu dàxué chūbǎnshè, 1986); a Jiāngsū gǔjí 1999 edition (Wáng Yìn 王印 et al.) supplements with quotations from the Tàipíng huányǔ jì KR2k0004.

The work is a foundational primary source for the historical topography of Sūzhōu’s medieval canal network, the Northern-Sòng layout of its city wards, and the early history of the local academies. Wilkinson does not treat it directly but discusses Sòng prefectural gazetteers as a class (CHNM §62.3.3.2 and §16.4.1).

Translations and research

• Jīn Liúfú 金留福, ed. Wújùn tújīng xùjì jiàoshì 吳郡圖經續記校釋. Sūzhōu dàxué chūbǎnshè, 1986. Standard modern critical edition.
• Wáng Yìn 王印 et al., eds. Sòng-Yuán fāngzhì cóng-kān edition of the Wújùn tújīng xùjì. Jiāngsū gǔjí, 1999.
• Yáng Wěishēng 楊偉生, Sòng-dài Sūzhōu chéngshì shǐ 宋代蘇州城市史. Shànghǎi rénmín, 2003 — uses the Xùjì as principal source.
• Marmé, Michael. Suzhou: Where the Goods of All the Provinces Converge. Stanford UP, 2005 — uses the Xùjì incidentally for late-Northern-Sòng Sūzhōu commercial topography.
• Wilkinson, Endymion. Chinese History: A New Manual, 6th ed., §§16.4.1, 62.3.3.2.
• No book-length European-language study of the work itself located.

Other points of interest

The Xùjì’s explicit “do not repeat the old Tújīng” methodology makes it a model of the xù (continuation) gazetteer subgenre, in which the principal author defers to the institutional baseline and adds new layers rather than re-doing the work. The principle is reasserted in many later prefectural gazetteer continuations, especially in late-Míng Jiāngnán. The Lèpǔ Academy 樂圃書院, where Zhū lived and taught for two decades, is also documented in detail in the work itself; it is one of the principal sources for the architectural history of Sūzhōu’s literati gardens.

Links

• Wikidata
• ctext.org Wikisource
• Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual (6th ed., 2022), §§16.4.1, 62.3.3.2.