Sòngcháo Shìshí 宋朝事實
Facts about the Song by 李攸
About the work
A 20-juàn thematic miscellany (leishu-type compilation) covering the institutions, events, and anecdotes of the Northern Song dynasty, compiled by 李攸 Lǐ Yōu (fl. 1111–1134; CBDB id 33328). The work is organized thematically, drawing on court documents, memorials, and records not always found in the official histories. Wilkinson (Chinese History: A New Manual, §51190) describes it as “a huìyào-like collection of excerpts, some of which cannot be found elsewhere,” making it a valuable supplementary source for Northern Song institutional history.
Tiyao
No tiyao found in source.
Abstract
李攸 Lǐ Yōu (fl. 1111–1134; CBDB id 33328) compiled the Sòngcháo Shìshí during the Southern Song, drawing on archival materials from the Northern Song period. The source file confirms the work’s 20-juàn structure, beginning with the Song imperial genealogy tracing the dynasty back to “Xīzǔ” 僖祖 (the dynastic ancestor several generations before the founder), consistent with the format of Song institutional histories.
The work falls between a huìyào 會要 (institutional compendium) and a bǐjì in character: it excerpts official documents, proclamations, and anecdotes, but without the systematic administrative-category organization of formal huìyào. Its most significant contribution, as Wilkinson notes, is preserving material “not found elsewhere” — that is, Northern Song records that were not incorporated into the Sòng huìyào jígǎo 宋會要輯稿 or the Sòngshǐ 宋史. For this reason it functions as an important supplementary source for Northern Song political and administrative history.
Translations and research
- Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual, §51190 (primary bibliographic reference).
- Hucker, Charles O. 1985. A Dictionary of Official Titles in Imperial China. Stanford UP. Reference for Song institutional terminology.
Links
- Wikidata: no dedicated entry located