Bǎoqìng Sìmíng zhì 寶慶四明志
Bǎoqìng-era Gazetteer of Sì-míng [Níngbō] by 羅濬 (zhuàn 撰), with the Sìmíng xùzhì 四明續志 by 梅應發 and 劉錫
About the work
The earliest of the four great YuánSòng Sìmíng gazetteers — those of Bǎoqìng (1226–27), Kāiqìng (1259), Yánjìyòu (1320, KR2k0025), and Zhìzhèng — covering the great commercial-and-naval prefecture of Qìngyuánfǔ 慶元府 (modern Níngbō, eastern Zhèjiāng), historically known as Sìmíng 四明 from the four-eyed Sìmíngshān to its west. Compiled in 21 juan by Luó Jùn 羅濬 of Lúlíng (Jiāngxī) at the invitation of the prefect Hú Jǔ 胡榘, also of Lúlíng, who took office in Bǎoqìng 2 (1226) bearing the senior titles Huànzhānggé xuéshì, tōngyì dàifū, zhī Qìngyuánfǔ jiān yánhǎi zhìzhìshǐ (Pacification Commissioner for the Coastal Defence). Hú first ordered the school officer Fāng Wànlǐ 方萬里 to revise an existing prefectural tújīng compiled in the Qiándào (1165–73) by the then prefect Zhāng Jīn 張津; when Fāng was reassigned, Hú gave the project to his fellow Lúlíng townsman Luó Jùn, then visiting Sìmíng, who completed the work in just 150 days. The Sìkù recension pairs the original zhì with its first continuation, the Sìmíng xùzhì 四明續志 in 12 juan, completed in Kāiqìng 1 (1259) by the fǔxué jiàoshòu Méi Yīngfā 梅應發 and the tōngpàn Liú Xī 劉錫. The original work’s structural innovation — separating the prefectural-level material (juan 1–11) from county-level material (juan 12–21, one fascicle per county) under a flat fascicle scheme — became the model for all subsequent Níngbō gazetteers including Yuán Jué’s Yánjìyòu zhì and the Yuán Zhìzhèng zhì.
Tiyao
We respectfully note: the Bǎoqìng Sìmíng zhì in 21 juan and the Sìmíng xùzhì in 12 juan are by Luó Jùn 羅濬 of the Sòng. Jùn was a man of Lúlíng 廬陵, holding office as lùshì cānjūn 錄事參軍 of Gànzhōu 贛州. The Wénxiàn tōngkǎo gives [the name as] Luó Xuán 羅璿 — this is a transcription error.
Earlier, in the Qiándào (1165–73), Zhāng Jīn 張津 prefect of Mìngzhōu 明州 first compiled and arranged the Sìmíng tújīng 四明圖經, but the gathering was incomplete. In Bǎoqìng 2 (1226), the Huànzhānggé xuéshì, tōngyì dàifū, zhī Qìngyuánfǔ jiān yánhǎi zhìzhìshǐ Hú Jǔ 胡榘 of Lúlíng again ordered the school officer Fāng Wànlǐ 方萬里 to take the old tújīng and substantially revise and supplement it: items such as the relocation of the zhōu-seat by the Táng prefect Hán Chá 韓察, and the names of Táng and Five-Dynasties prefects, were largely supplied from inscriptions and historical biographies. The work being unfinished, Wànlǐ was reassigned and the project broke off; Jùn, fellow townsman of Hú Jǔ, happened then to be visiting Sìmíng, and to him the project was assigned. After 150 days the book was complete.
The first 11 juan are the prefectural zhì, divided into nine mén: xùjùn 敘郡, xùshān 敘山, xùshuǐ 敘水, xùchǎn 敘産, xùfù 敘賦, xùbīng 敘兵, xùrén 敘人, xùcí 敘祠, xùyí 敘遺. Each mén is in turn subdivided, totalling 46 zǐmù (sub-categories). From juan 12 onwards are the xiànzhì (county gazetteers) for Yīn 鄞, Fènghuà 奉化, Cíxī 慈谿, Dìnghǎi 定海, Chāngguó 昌國, and Xiàngshān 象山, each county having its own self-contained ménmù not interleaved with the prefectural zhì. This is because at the time, Mìngzhōu, although having been established as a fǔ, did not have an yǐguō zhī xiàn (a metropolitan home county at the prefectural seat); thus zhōu and xiàn each governed its own territory — a structural distinction parallel to the Qīng’s zhílìzhōu form, hence different from other commanderies.
The Sòng shǐ yìwén zhì records only Zhāng Jīn’s tújīng in 12 juan and a Sìmíng fēngsú fù 四明風俗賦 in one juan; this present book is not registered. Only Chén Zhènsūn’s Shūlù jiětí records it; the juan-count there matches this base text, which is presumably copied from the Sòng print. The lists of officers and kēdì (examination success) names, and other career details, in some places extend down to Xiánchún (1265–74), thirty or forty years after Bǎoqìng — these are evidently later additions (hòurén yǒu suǒ bǔyì 後人已有所補益), not all from Luó Jùn’s hand. However, only the entries are appended item-by-item, and the structure has not been changed; hence the narration is rigorous and does not lose the ancient method. Yuán Jué’s 袁桷 Yánjìyòu Sìmíng zhì 延祐四明志 likewise takes this work as its blueprint, drawing on it in numerous places.
The Xùzhì in 12 juan is by Méi Yīngfā 梅應發, jiàoshòu of the Qìngyuánfǔ school in Kāiqìng 1 (1259), and Liú Xī 劉錫, tiānchā tōngpàn of Zhènjiāngfǔ. It has 37 zǐmù. Méi’s self-preface says: “the Xùzhì is composed in order to record the achievements of the Grand Commissioner Chancellor Lǚzhāi xiānsheng Mr. Wú [Qián] in his three years of administration of Yīnxiàn; what has already been included in the original zhì is not registered again.” Hence the materials are mostly Wú Qián’s 吳潛 administrative achievements, while geography and territory, already detailed in the original zhì, are not touched on. To compose a separate prefectural gazetteer on account of one man, calling it yútú (a zhì) but in substance a jiāzhuàn (family biography), is greatly contrary to the canon of writing. Yet [the case of Wú Qián]: per the Sòng shǐ biography, Qián, having been dismissed from the office of yòu chéngxiàng, was appointed Guānwéndiàn dàxuéshì and quickly given the yánhǎi zhìzhì dàshǐ and prefectural pàn of Qìngyuánfǔ; on arrival he detailed long-term plans for soldiers and people, reported them to the central administration, and they were carried out; he also accumulated 1,173,800-odd qián in lieu of the people’s bó tax, and over time totalled 5,491,700-odd qián of remitted tax. So Qián’s achievements after he reached Yīn are considerable; what the two compilers record is not all flattering panegyric. Moreover Qián’s collected works have long been lost to the world; later compilers have gathered scraps and edited a yígǎo 遺藁, but it too is much abridged. This zhì records two juan of Qián’s yíngǎo 吟藁, in all 209 ancient-and-modern-style poems, and two juan of cí 詩餘, in all 130 cí — all unseen by the world. Although the verse is not all polished, yet by means of it the writings of a great minister are preserved, which is sufficient to support consultation. We therefore continue to record it together with Luó Jùn’s book.
Reverently collated and submitted, ninth month of Qiánlóng 46 (1781). 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 Bǎoqìng Sìmíng zhì is a defining specimen of the late-Southern Sòng fǔzhì form. Hú Jǔ’s prefatory commission, framed by his coastal-defence office, gave the project a strategic emphasis: the xùbīng 敘兵 division includes detailed information on coastal garrisons and the regional shuǐjūn (marine forces), which is one of the principal sources for the early-thirteenth-century maritime defence system of the LiǎngZhè coast. The structural innovation noted by the Sìkù — separating the 11-juan prefectural zhì (organised under nine mén and 46 sub-categories) from the 10-juan county series (one fascicle per county) — reflects the unusual administrative geography of Qìngyuánfǔ, which lacked an yǐguō metropolitan county and so devolved territory among the six subordinate counties. This separation became the standard for all subsequent Sìmíng gazetteers.
The work was completed under unusual time pressure: 150 days from commission to delivery, with significant pre-existing material (Zhāng Jīn’s Qiándào tújīng, Fāng Wànlǐ’s interim revision) to draw on. Later additions to the lists of officials and jìnshì extend in places down to the Xiánchún reign (1265–74), thirty-odd years after Luó’s completion: the Sìkù editors observe that these are item-by-item appendings (zhútiáo zhuìfù 逐條綴附) that did not alter the original structure. CBDB id 20478 is the most plausible — but uncertain — match for Luó Jùn (Jiāngxī, juren 1171), as the dating is awkward at 82 years for a Bǎoqìng 2 visiting compiler; alternatively CBDB id 685882 (index year 1193) would have him a more credible 33 years old in 1226. The identification is recorded with this caveat in the person note.
The Xùzhì of Méi Yīngfā and Liú Xī, completed in Kāiqìng 1 (1259), is in substance a documentary monument to the late-career Qìngyuánfǔ administration of Wú Qián 吳潛 (1196–1262), the great late-Southern-Sòng chancellor, dismissed in 1258 after his second chancellorship and reassigned to coastal defence at Qìngyuánfǔ for three years. The Sìkù editors are critical of the structural decision (a prefectural zhì organised around one official’s career is closer to jiāzhuàn than to fāngzhì), but defend the work’s preservation: it is the unique surviving witness for two juan of Wú’s yíngǎo 吟藁 (poetry, 209 poems) and two juan of cí 詩餘 (130 cí), all otherwise lost.
The bracket notBefore 1226 / notAfter 1227 captures the original Luó Jùn recension; if the Xùzhì is included, the upper bound shifts to 1259. The Sòng shǐ yìwén zhì does not register either work; only Chén Zhènsūn’s Zhízhāi shūlù jiětí preserves the bibliographic notice. The Sòng print is lost; the Sìkù base text descends from a transcription of the Sòng print. Modern editions: SòngYuán fāngzhì cóngkān (Zhōnghuá Shūjú, 1990); the punctuated Bǎoqìng Sìmíng zhì, Níngbō Chūbǎnshè, 2006 (with detailed scholarly introduction).
Translations and research
No complete English translation. The work is a foundational source for Western scholarship on Sòng Níngbō, especially the maritime trade and coastal defence systems. Robert Hartwell’s quantitative work on Sòng commerce, Angela Schottenhammer’s various studies of Quánzhōu and Níngbō (especially Das songzeitliche Quanzhou, 2002, and East Asian Maritime History 4, 2007), and Linda Walton, Academies and Society in Southern Sung China (Honolulu, 1999) all draw on the work. In Chinese, the principal study is Bāo Wěi-mín 包偉民, Sòng-dài dìfāng cáizhèng shǐ yánjiū (Shànghǎi Gǔjí Chūbǎnshè, 2001) — uses the Bǎoqìng zhì as the model documentary corpus for Sòng coastal-prefecture finance — and Lǐ Xián 李咸, Sòng-dài Sì-míng dìfāng zhì yánjiū 宋代四明地方志研究 (Zhèjiāng Dàxué bóshì lùnwén, 2009). Joseph R. Dennis, Writing, Publishing, and Reading Local Gazetteers in Imperial China, 1100–1700 (Harvard, 2015), uses Sì-míng as a continuous case study of fāngzhì development across the Sòng-Yuán transition.
Other points of interest
The unique preservation of two juan of Wú Qián’s yíngǎo and two juan of his cí in the Xùzhì is among the most consequential side-effects of the fāngzhì corpus on the Sòng poetic canon: Wú Qián, the last serious chancellor of the dying LǐZōng court, would otherwise be lost as a poetic voice. The Sìmíng gazetteer series is also unusual in being available for sustained diachronic analysis: the four extant gazetteers (Bǎoqìng, Kāiqìng, Yánjìyòu, Zhìzhèng) span 1226–1342, allowing reconstruction of more than a century of urban and economic history at fascicle granularity.