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風土記

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Text ID
KR2k0161
Date
265–297
Dynasty
晉

Fēngtú jì 風土記

Record of Local Customs by 周處 (Zhōu Chǔ, 236–297 CE, zì Zǐyǐn 子隱, of Yángyí 陽羨) — zhuàn 撰

About the work

A record of local customs (fēngtú 風土) of the Jiangnan and Yuè 越 region, attributed to Zhōu Chǔ 周處 (236–297 CE), the famous Western Jin official from Yángyí 陽羨 (modern Yíxīng 宜興, Jiangsu). Though best known from the folktale of “Zhou Chu eliminating the three scourges” (周處除三害), Zhōu Chǔ was also a serious scholar and official who rose to Yùshǐ zhōngchéng 御史中丞 before dying in battle against the Di rebel Qí Wànnián 齊萬年 in 297 CE. The Fēngtú jì is one of the earliest systematic records of regional customs and seasonal festivals in the lower Yangzi region.

Abstract

The Fēngtú jì is a foundational text for the study of Chinese folk customs and festivals in the Jiangnan region. The work’s most famous contributions are its early attestations of seasonal customs including Duānwǔ 端午 (Dragon Boat Festival), Qīxī 七夕 (Double Seventh), and Chóngyáng 重陽 (Double Ninth Festival). The surviving fragments, preserved in Tàipíng yùlǎn 太平御覽, Qímín yàoshù 齊民要術, Chūxué jì 初學記, and other encyclopedic works, record a wide range of topics: agricultural practices, regional products, cuisine, seasonal observances, and local legends.

The two fragments preserved in this KRP text record: (1) a description of the musical pán-drumming custom in the Yuè 越 region, where performers would hold a large white lacquered disc (sù yuán pán 大素圓盤, 1.6 chǐ wide) against the abdomen and strike it with five fingers of the right hand in rhythm, while another performer danced to the beat; (2) a description of the Yangxian (陽羨) area — Zhōu Chǔ’s hometown — including a lake to the east of Yángyí County 陽羨縣 with an island called Bāoshān 包山, beneath which lies a cave system said to communicate underground to the Dongting Lake (洞庭地脈), known in local tradition as the Dongting “earthen vein.”

The original work is entirely lost; modern scholars have reconstructed it from the numerous encyclopedia and commentary citations. A Qīng-period compilation (輯本) appears in the Cóngshū jíchéng 叢書集成. The work is listed in the Suí shū · Jīngjí zhì under the Geography section.

Translations and research

  • Theobald, Ulrich. chinaknowledge.de, “Geographies 地理類” (lists the work).
  • Derk Bodde. Festivals in Classical China (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1975) — draws on the Fēngtú jì for documentation of pre-Tang festival customs.

Other points of interest

Zhōu Chǔ is the hero of one of the most famous stories in Chinese folklore: as a young man he was regarded as one of three local “scourges” alongside a tiger and a flood dragon; he killed the tiger and the dragon, and subsequently reformed his character to become a model official and scholar. The Fēngtú jì records the landscape of his home county, and the cave-tunnel passage in the surviving KRP fragment is set precisely in the Yángyí region where this legend is located. Person note: 周處.

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