Nán Zhēng Lù Huì 南征錄彙
Collected Records of the Southern Expedition by 李天民
About the work
A lù huì 錄彙 (collected records) by 李天民 Lǐ Tiānmín (CBDB ids 458119, 488362, 537348; no dates), documenting the Jin dynasty’s military campaign against the Song during the Jīngkāng 靖康 period (1125–1127). The text is structured as a running record of diplomatic exchanges and military commands during the Jin siege of Kaifeng, including the negotiations with Song envoys 李若水 Lǐ Ruòshuǐ and 秦檜 Qín Huì. It is a primary source for the fall of the Northern Song from a perspective closer to the Jin side of the encounter.
Tiyao
No tiyao found in source.
Abstract
李天民 Lǐ Tiānmín’s Nán Zhēng Lù Huì records Jin–Song negotiations during the Jin army’s second assault on Kaifeng (winter 1126–spring 1127). The text opens in the middle of events, with Jin commanders issuing demands to Song envoys: requiring the surrender of the crown prince as a hostage, threatening to reinstate military pressure if demands are not met. The named Song interlocutors — 李若水 Lǐ Ruòshuǐ and 秦檜 Qín Huì — are both historically significant: Lǐ Ruòshuǐ became famous for refusing to submit to the Jin after the city’s capture and dying in captivity; Qín Huì, here a negotiating official, later became the Southern Song chancellor infamously blamed for the death of general Yuè Fēi 岳飛.
The text’s documentary character (records of demands, responses, hostage negotiations) gives it value as a source on the final weeks of the Northern Song. Together with the Jìngkāng chuánxìn lù KR4k0027 and Jìngkāng jìwén KR4k0028, it forms part of the core documentary cluster for this pivotal event in Chinese history. Multiple CBDB entries for 李天民 exist (ids 458119, 488362, 537348) without dates, reflecting either multiple homonymous persons or incomplete data; the present author cannot be further identified from available sources.
Translations and research
No substantial secondary literature on this specific text. For the Jingkang crisis generally:
- Mote, F. W. Imperial China, 900–1800. Harvard UP, 1999, ch. 11.
- Franke, Herbert. “The Chin Dynasty.” In The Cambridge History of China, vol. 6. Cambridge UP, 1994.
Links
- Wikidata: no dedicated entry located