Sān Qí lüèjì 三齊略記
Brief Records of the Three Qi by 伏琛 (Fú Chén, fl. Eastern Jin dynasty, dates unknown) — zhuàn 撰
About the work
A brief geographic record of the Shandong region, attributed to Fú Chén 伏琛, an otherwise unknown figure of the Eastern Jin dynasty (317–420 CE). The “Three Qi” (三齊) of the title refers to the three kingdoms carved from the former Qi state: Qí 齊, Jìběi 濟北, and Jiāodōng 膠東, the historical regions of modern Shandong. The work survives only in fragmentary citations, primarily in Lì Dàoyuán’s Shuǐjīng zhù 水經注, which sets a terminus ante quem of *c.*527 CE.
Abstract
The surviving fragments of the Sān Qí lüèjì describe notable geographic and historical sites in the Shandong region:
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Mt. Yáo (堯山): Located seventy lǐ west of the Guǎnggù 廣固 fortress, said to be named for the mythical Emperor Yao who climbed it during his inspections. A shrine stood on the summit beside an ancient cypress tree said to have died and been reborn multiple times across the ages.
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Pútái (蒲臺): A terrace east of the walled city, eight zhàng high, described as the place where Qín Shǐhuáng 秦始皇 camped during his eastern tours. The reeds below the terrace reportedly still grew intertwined, as if still tied in the hitching patterns of the emperor’s horses — the earliest recorded version of this legend.
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Qín Shǐhuáng’s Stone Causeway: The legend of Qín Shǐhuáng ordering the construction of a stone causeway out to sea to view the sunrise, with a divine being driving stones to the water, who — when the stones were too slow — lashed them until they bled, turning them red. The standing stones of Yángchéng Mountain 陽城山 are said to still lean eastward as if marching toward the sea.
These passages show the Sān Qí lüèjì combining geographic description with folk legend. The text is one of several early Eastern-Jin geographic records of the Shandong region, alongside the Qídì jì (KR2k0163) and Qí jì.
Translations and research
No substantial secondary literature located.
Links
- ctext.org: https://ctext.org/wiki.pl?if=en&res=853295
- Person note: 伏琛