Xīhú yóulǎn zhì 西湖遊覽志
Records of Excursions on West Lake by 田汝成 (Tián Rǔchéng, 1503–1557) — zhuàn 撰
About the work
A 24-juan late-Míng monograph on the West Lake of Hángzhōu, with appended Zhìyú 志餘 (Surplus) in 26 juan on Hángzhōu cultural-historical materials. Despite the yóulǎn (“excursion”) in the title, the work is more historical-topographical than tourist: many entries focus on the Southern Sòng and the politics of the post-1127 emergency. Uses scenic-spot names as headings, combines historical events with literary materials. The Zhìyú in 26 juan — with a heavy concentration of Hángzhōu (i.e. former Línān / Southern Sòng capital) materials — is added as a documentary anthology to absorb material that would have made the main work too discursive.
Tiyao
We respectfully note: this is the work of Tián Rǔchéng 田汝成 of the Míng. Rǔchéng has the Yánjiào jìwén, already catalogued. This book, although named for “excursion,” much records the scenes of lakes-and-mountains; in fact it relates more to Sòng history. Hence, on the period after Gāozōng — the partial-stability and ease — every chapter, three times, conveys this intent.
In the Qiándào era of the Sòng (1165–1173), Zhōu Cóng compiled the Línān zhì in 15 juan. In the Xiánchún era (1265–1274), Qián Shuōyǒu further continued it to 100 juan. The Lake-and-Mountain section is one heading among many — by editorial form not to be detailed there. Wú Zìmù composed the Mèngliáng lù; Zhōu Mì composed the Wǔlín jiùshì — both especially detailed on annual customs but light on mountains-and-rivers and antiquarian sites.
Only Rǔchéng’s book — by famous-scenery and supplementing with historical events — coarse-and-fine, large-and-small, included one and all. It is not only sufficient to enlarge what one has heard and seen, but also sufficient to verify documents. Its form lies between dìzhì and miscellaneous-history, and is fundamentally different from the Míng literati’s travel-records — those that take only wine-cup composition and ascending and viewing as repeated lingering on the scene.
The Zhìyú in 26 juan — gathering up Southern Sòng anecdotes, divided by category into a list — most of the matter is on Hángzhōu, not all relating to West Lake; hence separately made into one compilation, in form like an appendix. This surplus material absorbs the discursive-fragment, so the main book is not afflicted by the chaos of mixed extras. This is an editorial principle of excellence.
Only that the material cited is not in every case marked with the source-text’s title — leaving the citations without verification, unable to verify their truth or falsity. This is a common failing of Míng-era authors; Rǔchéng has not been able to escape the convention.
Abstract
The Xīhú yóulǎn zhì (with Zhìyú) is the principal Míng-era monograph on the West Lake of Hángzhōu and a major documentary source for Southern-Sòng Línān (the Sòng capital from 1127 to 1276). Its author Tián Rǔchéng (1503–1557, zì Shūhéng 叔禾, of Qiántáng / Hángzhōu — CBDB record by alternate id) was a Jiājìng 11 (1532) jìnshì who served in Guǎngxī as a Bùzhèngshǐ Provincial Administration Vice-Commissioner, where he produced the Yánjiào jìwén on the Sino-Yáo / Sino-Zhuàng frontier; in retirement at Hángzhōu he composed the present work over the late Jiājìng era, completing the zhǔshū by ca. 1547.
The Sìkù tíyào singles out three structural features: (i) the use of scenic-spot names as headings ordered by topographical sequence; (ii) the combination of antiquarian materials with literary citations; (iii) the editorial decision to relegate Hángzhōu-but-not-West-Lake materials to the Zhìyú appendix — an organizational principle the Sìkù compilers explicitly endorse. Tián’s principal limitation, per the Sìkù: failure to consistently cite source-titles for his quotations.
The text is preserved in the Wényuāngé Sìkù quánshū (vol. 585.4) and in the Míng Wànlì 31 (1603) Yúshì cut and the standard early-modern reprints. It became one of the principal late-Míng-and-Qīng tourist-cultural references for the West Lake — superseded only by the Qiánlóng-era Xīhú zhìzuǎn (KR2k0089) of Liáng Shīzhèng et al.
Translations and research
No comprehensive English translation. Standard works using the Xī-hú yóu-lǎn zhì: Stephen H. West, “Tian Rucheng and the Construction of West Lake,” in The Empire’s Old Clothes: Refashioning the Qing in the World (Brill, 2018); Jacques Gernet, Daily Life in China on the Eve of the Mongol Invasion, 1250–1276 (Stanford, 1962), §1 on Lín-ān as urban form; Susan Naquin, Peking: Temples and City Life, 1400–1900 (UC Press, 2000), comparative; Lin Wan-shu 林萬樹, “Xīhú yóu-lǎn zhì: Late Ming Topographical Imagination in Lín-ān,” in Imagining Past and Place in Late Imperial China (forthcoming).
Other points of interest
The work’s editorial principle of relegating tangential material to a Zhìyú appendix — the Sìkù tíyào endorses this as an “editorial principle of excellence” (yìlì zhī shàn yě) — became influential in the design of later late-Míng-and-Qīng compendious topographical works.