Cháoyě Qiānzǎi 朝野僉載
Collected Records of Court and Country by 張鷟
About the work
A major Tang bǐjì 筆記 (miscellaneous jottings) in six juàn, compiled by 張鷟 Zhāng Zhuó (658–730 CE). One of the most important sources for Tang social and political history outside the official dynastic histories, it preserves anecdotes about court life, administration, supernatural occurrences, and social customs from the reigns of Tang Gaozong through Xuanzong — with especially rich material on the reign of Empress Wu Zetian 武則天 and the courts of Zhongzong and Ruizong. The original work comprised twenty juàn; the surviving six are a partial recension transmitted through the Song encyclopedic tradition.
Tiyao
No tiyao found in source.
Abstract
張鷟 Zhāng Zhuó (658–730 CE; CBDB id 30975; Wilkinson gives death year as 740, differing from CBDB’s 730) was a prolific Tang official and writer who passed the jìnshì examination and held positions including palace censor. He is also the author of the Yóuxiān kū 游仙窟 (KR4k0016). The Cháoyě Qiānzǎi was compiled during the Kaiyuan era (713–741), covering events from the early Tang through Zhang’s own lifetime. The title qiānzǎi 僉載 means “all recorded” or “comprehensive notes,” signaling an inclusive miscellany of both court (cháo 朝) and country (yě 野) lore.
The work is notable for its candid — sometimes irreverent — treatment of Wu Zetian’s court, imperial favorites, and political excesses. It records, for instance, detailed accounts of Zhang Yizhi 張易之 and Zhang Changzong 張昌宗, the brothers who served as Wu Zetian’s favorites. The text is also valuable for anecdotes about Buddhist monasteries, regional customs, rare animals, and the social world of Tang Chang’an. Zhang Zhuo’s position as an insider at court lends the work unusual documentary authority. The original text is cited in several Tang and Song compilations; the six-juan received text is itself a product of Song editorial reduction.
Endymion Wilkinson (Chinese History: A New Manual, §49.3, p. 49829) cites the Zhonghua 1979 critical edition and draws attention to N. Harry Rothschild’s 2023 study as the principal English-language guide to the work.
Translations and research
- Rothschild, N. Harry. 2023. The World of Wu Zhao: Annotated Selections from Zhang Zhuo’s Court and Country. London: Anthem Press. — the primary English-language study with annotated translations of selected passages.
- 趙守儼 ed., 朝野僉載 (中華書局, 1979). Standard critical edition.
- Schafer, Edward H. The Golden Peaches of Samarkand: A Study of T’ang Exotics. UC Press, 1963. — cites the text for cultural material on foreign goods and customs.
Links
- Wikidata: Zhang Zhuo