Guānzhōng jì 關中記
Records of the Guanzhong Region by 潘岳 (Pān Yuè, 247–300 CE, zì Ānrén 安仁) — zhuàn 撰
About the work
A fragmentary geographic record of the Guanzhong 關中 region (the Wei River valley and greater Chang’an area of modern Shaanxi), by Pān Yuè 潘岳 (247–300 CE), the celebrated Western Jin literary figure. The attribution is confirmed by both the Jiù Táng shū · Jīngjí zhì and Xīn Táng shū · Yìwén zhì, which both record “《關中記》一卷，潘岳撰.” Pan Yue’s tenure as Chang’an Prefect (令) around 291–296 CE gave him direct familiarity with the Guanzhong landscape.
Abstract
The surviving fragments of the Guānzhōng jì record the physical and historical geography of the Chang’an region:
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Chang’an city walls: Notes that the city soil is all black loam, but the city walls are “red as fire, hard as stone” (紅如火，堅如石) — an oral tradition passed down by the elderly, holding that the walls were built from clay quarried from Lóngshǒu Shān 龍首山 (Dragon Head Mountain), the same material used for the palace terrace walls and that the clay hardens and reddens with age.
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Zhōngnán Mountain (鍾南山): Notes that the mountain is also called Zhōngnán 中南 (“centrally southern”), explained as meaning “in the center of heaven, to the south of the capital.”
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Kūnmíng Lake (昆明池): Identified as the “Divine Spirit Pool” (神靈沼). Notes that the lake existed from the time of the mythological sage-king Yao (堯治水訖), though the Han dynasty greatly deepened and extended it.
The Guānzhōng jì is cited in the Shuǐjīng zhù, Tàipíng yùlǎn, and other encyclopedias. The text’s interest in the Chang’an city walls’ famous fire-red earth echoes other Wei-Jin accounts of the city’s construction. A Cáo Wèi or Western Jin date is consistent with the text’s perspective.
Translations and research
- Kern, Martin. The Stele Inscriptions of Ch’in Shih-huang (New Haven: American Oriental Society, 2000) — draws on Guanzhong geographic texts for context.
Links
- ctext.org search: https://ctext.org/search.pl?if=en&search=關中記