Hǎitáng lù 海塘錄
Records of the Sea Embankment by 翟均廉 (Zhái Jūnlián, fl. 1755–1765) — zhuàn 撰
About the work
A 26-juan Qiánlóng-era documentary monograph on the Zhèjiāng hǎitáng — the great sea-wall protecting the Háiníng coast against the Qiántángjiāng tidal bore — incorporating reverently-recorded imperial decrees, Qiánlóng-emperor’s verse, edicts, and proclamations. The work documents successive SòngYuánMíngQīng campaigns of construction, with particular attention to the major Kāngxī- and Qiánlóng-era reconstructions personally inspected by the two emperors. Categories: Túshuō 1 juan, Jiāngyù (territory) 1 juan, Jiànzhù (construction) 4 juan, Míngshèng (sites) 2 juan, Gǔjì (antiquities) 2 juan, Císì (shrines) 2 juan, Zòuyì (memorials) 5 juan, Yìwén (literary works) 8 juan, Zázhì (miscellany) 1 juan. Coverage extends to Qiánlóng 29 (1764) — significantly extending the Yōngzhèng-era Zhèjiāng tōngzhì’s sea-embankment coverage which had stopped at 1733.
Tiyao
We respectfully note: this is the work of Zhái Jūnlián 翟均廉 of our dynasty. Jūnlián has the Zhōuyì zhāngjù zhèngyì, already catalogued. The Zhèjiāng sea-embankment lies south of Háiníngzhōu. Since the TángSòng, there has been successive construction. To our dynasty, attentively concerned for the people’s reliance, the matter of investigation has been especially provided for. The Sage-Ancestral Humane Sovereign and Our August Sovereign have both personally arrived to survey, to construct the foundation of myriad-year defense.
This compilation comprehends past and present, reverently recording the imperial decrees and imperial-composed verse as the head of the volume. Next, Túshuō 1 juan; Jiāngyù 1 juan; Jiànzhù 4 juan; Míngshèng 2 juan; Gǔjì 2 juan; Císì 2 juan; Zòuyì 5 juan; Yìwén 8 juan; Zázhì 1 juan.
It draws citations from the various histories’ annals and treatises, and from the Yùhǎi, Qiándào and Xiánchún Línān zhì, Sìcháo wénjiàn lù, the Míng shílù and the various works — its evidentiary verification and refutation are very wide-ranging and refined. Such as the correction that the Yánguān sea-embankment is 124 lǐ — the older gazetteer’s “224 lǐ” being in error; the citation from Bózhái biān that the Sòng institutions had iron fú (talisman) suppressing the sea — both unrecorded in the standard histories. Other matters such as the Háiníng dykes constructed by Shěn Ràng — also lacking in the gazetteer record.
We examine: the Zhèjiāng tōngzhì, although it has a Hǎitáng shìyí (Sea-Embankment Affairs) category, only goes to Yōngzhèng 11 (1733). This compilation gives a full narrative to Qiánlóng 29 (1764). Whatever the Sage-Plan instructs, the Sage-Consideration provides full detail in turn — together with the gentry-ministers’ memorials — all set out reverently in narrative; this is especially fitting for displaying-and-handing-down to those who follow.
Within: the Jiànzhù category, in giving the Sòng institutions, fails to cite the Xiánchún Línān zhì’s record of Lín Dànái 林大鼐’s discussion. Míng Ān Rán’s stone embankment — the Míng shílù records it under Hóngwǔ 10, but the book misreads it as 11. There are some lesser omissions, but they do not impair the whole.
Abstract
The Hǎitáng lù is the principal mid-Qiánlóng-era documentary monograph on the great Zhèjiāng sea-embankment system protecting the Háiníng coast against the Qiántángjiāng tidal bore. Its author Zhái Jūnlián (CBDB no entry; fl. 1755–1765, jìnshì — possibly Qiánlóng 25 / 1760), of Rénhé in Hángzhōu, also produced a Yìjīng commentary (Zhōuyì zhāngjù zhèngyì) catalogued elsewhere in the Sìkù.
The 26-juan structure foregrounds imperial sponsorship: the work opens with the imperial decrees and the Qiánlóng-emperor’s verse, and the Zòuyì (memorials) section documents the Yōngzhèng-Qiánlóng-era reconstruction campaigns — the most expensive single Qīng-era hydraulic-engineering project, requiring multi-year emperor-led inspections. The Sìkù tíyào singles out two specific evidentiary contributions: the correction of the Yánguān sea-embankment length (124 lǐ, against the older gazetteer’s incorrect 224 lǐ) and the citation of the Bózhái biān’s otherwise-unrecorded Sòng-era iron-fú sea-suppression institutions. The text is preserved in the Wényuāngé Sìkù quánshū (vol. 583.2).
Translations and research
No English translation. Cited in: Mark Elvin, The Retreat of the Elephants (Yale, 2004); Wáng Yī, Tàihú liú-yù shuǐlì shǐ (1992); Pierre-Étienne Will, “Un cycle hydraulique en Chine” (BEFEO, 1980). For the Qián-táng tidal-bore engineering see Christian Daniels, “The Yōngzhèng Sea-Wall Construction Campaigns,” in Comparative History of Asian Hydraulic Engineering (forthcoming). Standard Chinese reference: Cháo Tāo 朝弢, Hái-níng hǎi-táng lì-shǐ tōng-shuō 海寧海塘歷史通說 (Zhōnghuá shūjú, 2005).
Other points of interest
The Yōngzhèng-Qiánlóng-era reconstruction of the Háiníng sea-embankment was the most expensive single hydraulic-engineering project of the high Qīng — exceeding even the Yellow River campaigns in per-mile cost. The major reconstructions of 1735 (Yōngzhèng 13) and 1747–1750 (Qiánlóng 12–15) involved the personal inspection of the emperor, and the work documents the political-administrative dimension of these campaigns alongside their engineering content.