Liáo Zhì 遼志
Monograph on the Liao by 葉隆禮
About the work
An abbreviated Kanripo catalog title for the work otherwise known as the Qìdān guózhì 契丹國志 (Monograph on the Khitan State). A 27-juàn quasi-dynastic history of the Khitan Liao dynasty (907–1125 CE), compiled by 葉隆禮 Yè Lónglǐ (Song jìnshì 進士 of 1247; CBDB id 22702) on the basis of Song-dynasty archival sources. It is the only text drawn upon by the editors of the Liáoshǐ 遼史 (1344) that survives intact and is therefore a primary source of the first importance for Liao history.
Tiyao
No tiyao found in source.
Abstract
葉隆禮 Yè Lónglǐ (fl. mid-13th century; CBDB id 22702) passed the jìnshì examination in 1247 and subsequently compiled the Qìdān guózhì from Song-dynasty diplomatic records, envoy reports, and historical accounts of the Liao. The work covers the full span of the Liao dynasty (907–1125) and is organized on a quasi-dynastic history model. Its opening section preserves the canonical Khitan origin legend — a man on a white horse descending the Tuhe River 土河 meeting a woman in a cart coming down the Huanghe River 潢河, their union at Muyeshan 木葉山 producing the Khitan nation — as well as detailed accounts of Liao rulers, their institutions, and their relations with Song China and other neighboring states.
The Kanripo catalog title Liáo zhì (abbreviated form) is the equivalent of the standard title Qìdān guózhì used in all major scholarly editions and references. Wilkinson (Chinese History: A New Manual, §61.8.2) notes it explicitly as “the only text used by the editors of the Liaoshi to have survived.” The Jia Jingyan and Lin Ronggui critical edition (Shanghai guji, 1985) is the standard modern text.
Translations and research
- Taskin, V. S. Istoriia gosudarstva Kidanei (History of the Khitan State). Russian translation with commentary. Nauka, 1979.
- Jia Jingyan 賈敬顔 and Lin Ronggui 林榮貴, eds. Qìdān guózhì (punctuated critical edition). Shanghai guji, 1985. Standard edition.
- Twitchett, Denis, and Klaus-Peter Tietze. “The Liao.” In The Cambridge History of China, vol. 6, ed. Herbert Franke and Denis Twitchett. Cambridge UP, 1994.
- Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual, §61.8.2.
Links
- Wikidata: Qidan guozhi