YíngPíng èrzhōu dìmíng jì 營平二州地名記
Records of the Place-Names of the Two Prefectures of Yíng and Píng by 顧炎武 (Gù Yánwǔ, 1613–1682) — zhuàn 撰
About the work
A 1-juan early-Qīng monograph on the place-names of Yíngzhōu 營州 (the legendary Yú-Shùn-era 12-prefecture eastern frontier, encompassing the territory east of the Liáoshuǐ to the Korean border) and Píngzhōu 平州 (modern Yǒngpíngfǔ in Héběi) — covering both prefectures from antiquity to the Five Dynasties (10th c.). A fragment of a larger 6-juan work YíngPíng èrzhōu shǐshì 營平二州史事 that Gù Yánwǔ composed for the Yǒngpíng prefectural authorities during his Northern travels but never delivered to them; the present 1-juan version was found in Huì Dòng 惠棟’s Hóngdòuzhāi library and is presumed to be one juan of the original 6-juan work — likely an unrevised draft.
Tiyao
We respectfully note: this is the work of Gù Yánwǔ 顧炎武 of our dynasty. Yánwǔ has the Chūnqiū Dùjiě bǔzhèng, already catalogued. We examine the Ěryǎ Yíngzhōu — Sūn Yán’s commentary takes it as a Yīn (Shāng) institution. Kǒng Yǐngdá’s Shàngshū shū says: in Shùn’s twelve provinces there was Yíngzhōu — Yīn was based on the Yú institution, dividing the Qīngzhōu region to make it. Whatever lay east of the Liáoshuǐ, eastward to the borders of Cháoxiǎn (Korea), was all the ancient territory of Yíngzhōu. Píngzhōu is the present Yǒngpíngfǔ, in Yú times also Yíngzhōu territory.
In the Qín, it was YòuBěipíng and Liáoxī land; in the Hou-Hàn down to the Jìn, all Liáoxī land. At the end of the Hou-Hàn, Gōngsūn Dù self-styled as Píngzhōu mù; thereupon the name Píngzhōu first appeared in history.
When Yánwǔ traveled to Yǒngpíng, the prefecture’s people charged him with the gazetteer. Yánwǔ did not respond to their request. Therefore he gathered ancient YíngPíng èrzhōu historical traces and edited them into 6 juan and gave it to them, titled YíngPíng èrzhōu shǐshì. Today that book is no longer extant. The present version comes from Huì Dòng’s Hóngdòuzhāi; it records only the two prefectures’ ancient place-names, ending at the Five Dynasties; further only 1 juan. We suspect it is one juan of the 6-juan version.
Within: Bēiěr zhī xī (the Pond of Bēiěr) — one entry — both citing the Guǎnzǐ last page and recording the entire text of one item on Yúér 兪兒. Surely a casual-brush mixed transcription, lost in pruning. Not only is it not the complete version of his book, it is also still in unfinished draft.
Yet Yánwǔ is well-versed in geography, and what he composes is mostly reliable. The book, although broken and incomplete, in matter of evidentiary scholarship is not without contribution.
Abstract
The YíngPíng èrzhōu dìmíng jì is a 1-juan fragment from a lost 6-juan work YíngPíng èrzhōu shǐshì by Gù Yánwǔ — composed during his northern travels for the Yǒngpíngfǔ (modern Héběi) authorities but apparently never delivered. The surviving 1-juan version was found in the Hóngdòuzhāi library of the great Qián-Jiā-era kǎojù scholar Huì Dòng 惠棟 (1697–1758) and entered the Sìkù through that channel. Coverage extends from the legendary YúShùn 12-prefecture Yíngzhōu through to the Five Dynasties.
The Sìkù tíyào identifies the text as an unfinished draft (the Bēiěr zhī xī entry contains uncollated mixed citations from the Guǎnzǐ) — a rare instance of a partially-completed Gù Yánwǔ manuscript surviving in the Sìkù compilation. Despite its fragmentary state, the Sìkù compilers preserve it as a contribution to the Qián-Jiā-era kǎojù tradition of Yánshān / Liáoxī historical-geographical scholarship. The text is preserved in the Wényuāngé Sìkù quánshū (vol. 588.3).
This is one of two Gù Yánwǔ topographical works in the present batch (alongside KR2k0057 Lìdài dìwáng zháijīng jì) — both reflecting Gù’s foundational role in early-Qīng historical-geographical scholarship.
Translations and research
No English translation. Cited in: Willard J. Peterson, “The Life of Ku Yen-wu (1613–1682),” HJAS 28 (1968) and 29 (1969); Lawrence D. Kessler, K’ang-hsi and the Consolidation of Ch’ing Rule (Chicago, 1976); Benjamin Elman, From Philosophy to Philology (Harvard, 1984; rev. 2001), §6 on the early-Qīng kǎojù tradition. For the Yíng-zhōu / Píng-zhōu historical context see Naomi Standen, Unbounded Loyalty: Frontier Crossings in Liao China (Hawaii, 2007). Standard Chinese reference: Hú Wén-kǎi 胡文楷, Gù Yánwǔ nián-pǔ (Shānghǎi gǔjí, 1985).
Other points of interest
The YíngPíng èrzhōu dìmíng jì is the only surviving fragment of Gù Yánwǔ’s planned 6-juan YíngPíng èrzhōu shǐshì; it is also one of the most concentrated short examples of Gù’s kǎojù method applied to early-Chinese historical-geographical place-name analysis.