Yùxīn jì 豫辛記
Records of Yuxin
Anonymous
About the work
A very short fragmentary geographic record, probably of Eastern Jin date, preserving two passages of geographical and omenological content. The title “Yùxīn” 豫辛 is obscure and does not correspond to a known administrative unit; the text may be misidentified or the title may be a variant of another geographic work. Both passages have Jiangnan settings.
Abstract
Two passages survive:
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A Cave at Wàngqín County (望秦縣): “There is a stone chamber. Entering the chamber more than ten lǐ, one finds water ten-odd bù across, clear and shallow. Travelers cut bamboo and make rafts to cross it. The recesses are boundless and impenetrable — no one can trace its source. The cave produces fine stalactites (zhōngrǔ 鍾乳).”
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A Withered Tree that Revived: “The gate of Sōngyáng 松陽 contains a great catalpa tree forty-five spans in girth; the whole tree had withered and died. In the Yǒngjiā 永嘉 era [307–313 CE], it suddenly burst into new growth. In the Dàxīng era [318–322 CE] the Yuan Emperor indeed rose to the great enterprise” (i.e., founded the Eastern Jin). This passage is an omen-record linking the tree’s revival to the founding of the Eastern Jin dynasty.
The second passage explicitly references the Yǒngjiā 永嘉 era (307–313) and the Dàxīng 大興 era (318–322), giving a composition date no earlier than *c.*322 CE. The Eastern Jin identification of these events as omens of its own founding suggests composition after 317 CE. Sōngyáng 松陽 is a county in modern Zhejiang (Lishui area), consistent with the Jiangnan geographic context.
Translations and research
No substantial secondary literature located.
Links
- ctext.org search: https://ctext.org/search.pl?if=en&search=豫辛記