Lóngshā jìlüè 龍沙紀略
Brief Record of Lóngshā (i.e. of Hēilóngjiāng) by 方式濟 (Fāng Shìjì, 1676–1717) — zhuàn 撰
About the work
A 1-juan early-Qīng fēngtǔ monograph on Hēilóngjiāng 黑龍江 (the Amur basin and Manchuria), composed by Fāng Shìjì 方式濟 (1676–1717; zì Wūyuán 屋源, hào Yāoyuán 訞園; CBDB 56397; Kāngxī jǐchǒu / 1709 jìnshì; Zhōngshū shèrén) during his stay with his exiled father Fāng Dēngyì 方登嶧 at Hēilóngjiāng. Based on first-hand observation rather than received gazetteer-tradition. Divided into 9 mén: (1) fāngyú (boundaries), (2) shānchuān (mountains and rivers), (3) jīngzhì (administrative organisation), (4) shílìng (seasonal calendar), (5) fēngsú, (6) yǐnshí (food and drink), (7) gòngfù (tribute and taxes), (8) wùchǎn, (9) wūyǔ (housing). The Sìkù tíyào contains a substantial scholarly note on the title: “Lóngshā” originated as a literary fusion of “Lóngduī” (the dragon-mound deserts of the Western Regions, per the Hànshū Xiōngnú zhuàn and the Shuǐjīng zhù) and “shāmò” (sand-deserts), and properly refers to the western frontier; it was a literary error from Liú Xiàobiāo 劉孝標 and Lǐ Bái that conflated Lóngshā into a single place-name and made it a generic sàiwài (beyond-the-passes) toponym. Fāng’s use of the title for Manchuria, although geographically incorrect, follows established literary convention. The work is the principal early-Qīng documentary monograph on Manchuria from on-the-ground observation.
Tiyao
We respectfully note: the Lóngshā jìlüè in one juan is by Fāng Shìjì of our state. Shìjì, zì Wūyuán, hào Yāoyuán; Kāngxī jǐchǒu jìnshì (1709); held office as Zhōngshū shèrén. This compilation came about when Shìjì’s father Dēngyì was banished to Hēilóngjiāng; Shìjì went to visit, and on the basis of what he saw and heard he verified ancient traces and arranged them into nine mén: 1. fāngyú, 2. shānchuān, 3. jīngzhì, 4. shílìng, 5. fēngsú, 6. yǐnshí, 7. gòngfù, 8. wùchǎn, 9. wūyǔ; collectively titled Lóngshā jìlüè.
Examining: the HòuHàn shū Bān Chāo zhuàn eulogy says: “calmly walks the Cōngxuě, an inch’s distance from Lóngshā”; Crown-Prince Zhānghuái’s note says: “this means Cōnglǐng xuěshān and Lóngduī shāmò.” The Hànshū Xiōngnú zhuàn says: “could Kāngjū and Wūsūn cross the BáiLóngduī to invade the western frontier?” Mèng Kāng’s note: “the Lóngduī is shaped like a clay-dragon; the tall ones two or three zhàng, the short ones over a zhàng; in the Western Regions.” Further, Lì Dàoyuán’s Shuǐjīng zhù: “Shànshàn guó on the east edge stretches to the BáiLóngduī” — therefore Lóngduī is in the West, not in the East. Further, the Hànshū Wǔdì běnjì: “Wèi Qīng again led six divisions to juémò”; Yán Shīgǔ note: “on sand it is mò; crossing through it is jué.” The HòuHàn shū Xīyù zhuàn: “Xiàowǔ deeply considered long-term plans, ordered the selection of valiant ministers, who floated the river and juémò.” Further, Dòu Xiàn’s Yánránshān míng says “jué Dàmò”; Lǐ Líng’s Biégē says “passing 10,000 lǐ, dividing-and-crossing the sand-stream” — therefore shāmò winds around the northwest, also not in the East.
Since Liú Xiàobiāo had the line “fùdé Lóngshā xiāoyuè míng” and Lǐ Bái had “jiāngjūn fēn hǔzhú / zhànshì wò Lóngshā” — they then began to err in taking Lóngshā as one place; and the poets thereafter followed it as the general term for sàiwài. Shìjì records affairs of the Northeast and uses Lóngshā as the book’s title — apparently following the old usage. He did not know that since the Táng, the Bóhǎi Dàshì family had long held the various lands and built city-and-palace states; how could one take Lóngshā as the heading?
But between Báishān (Mt. Chángbái) and Hēishuǐ (Hēilóngjiāng), since antiquity the yújì writings have generally been gained from hearsay; even nearby modern gazetteer-compilers — those who hold the brush have not necessarily personally been to that place. Shìjì stayed long there, and besides leisure had time, hence by travelling-and-inquiring he was able to investigate them in detail. Although the volume is not great, in fact it can be useful for cānzhèng. The Báishān place-and-distance can be even more closely verified — better than Mèng Sēnfēng’s Wànquán dìlǐ kǎo and the like which are cobbled-together-without-substance. Respectfully proof-read in […]
Abstract
The Lóngshā jìlüè is the foundational early-Qīng documentary monograph on Manchuria from on-the-ground observation. It was composed by Fāng Shìjì 方式濟 (1676–1717; CBDB 56397) — son of the Tóngchéng school scholar Fāng Dēngyì 方登嶧 (1659–1725); Kāngxī 48 (1709) jìnshì; held office as Zhōngshū shèrén — during his stay at Hēilóngjiāng with his father, who had been exiled to Qíqíhāěr 齊齊哈爾 (Tsitsihar) in 1713 in connection with the Nánshānjí 南山集 case (the political prosecution of Dài Míngshì 戴名世, his uncle). The work was composed during this exile, ca. 1715–1717 (Fāng Shìjì died at Qíqíhāěr in 1717).
The work is divided into 9 mén covering the geographical extent, mountains and rivers, administrative organisation, seasonal calendar, customs, food, tribute, products, and housing of Hēilóngjiāng. It is the first systematic Chinese-language regional monograph on Manchuria based on first-hand observation rather than hearsay; later treatises (Sàbīntú’s Hēilóngjiāng wàijì, Sòng Yún’s Xīzhāobǔ jìlüè, Xīqīng’s Hēilóngjiāng wàijì, etc.) all build on Fāng’s framework.
The Sìkù tíyào’s lengthy kǎozhèng discussion of the title — establishing that Lóngshā properly refers to the Tarim-basin deserts of the Western Regions, not to the Northeast — is itself a classic example of kǎojù historical-geographical scholarship.
The work is preserved in Wényuāngé Sìkù quánshū (vol. 592.5).
Translations and research
- Mark C. Elliott, The Manchu Way: The Eight Banners and Ethnic Identity in Late Imperial China (Stanford, 2001), uses Lóng-shā jì-lüè as one of its principal early-Qīng sources for Manchu cultural geography.
- David Bello, Across Forest, Steppe, and Mountain: Environment, Identity, and Empire in Qing China’s Borderlands (Cambridge, 2016).
- Pamela Crossley, A Translucent Mirror: History and Identity in Qing Imperial Ideology (UC Press, 1999).
- For Fāng Shì-jì’s connection to the Tóng-chéng school and the Nán-shān-jí case see ECCP s.v. Fang Pao 方苞.
- The work has been translated into Russian and German fragments but has no comprehensive English translation.
Other points of interest
The work originated from a political exile (Fāng Dēngyì’s deportation in connection with the Nánshānjí literary persecution under early Kāngxī) — illustrating the persistent early-Qīng pattern of major literary-historical works being produced in (or in connection with) state-imposed exile to the frontier.
Links
- Wikidata: not yet linked
- Elliott, The Manchu Way (Stanford, 2001)