Yuándài Yěshǐ 元代野史
Unofficial History of the Yuan Dynasty by 田騰蛟 (撰)
About the work
Yuándài Yěshǐ 元代野史 is a Republican-era historical novel in 100 chapters (huí 回) by 田騰蛟 (Tián Téngjiao). The Kanripo text preserves Part 1 (dì yī bù 第一部). The work covers approximately 338,000 characters. Unlike the gōngtíng yànshǐ genre focused on imperial romanticism, Yuándài Yěshǐ follows the yěshǐ 野史 tradition of unofficial resistance narratives: the first chapter begins not with the Mongol rulers but with the Yuán Emperor’s desecration of Sòng imperial tombs (“Yuán Shì Zǔ bǎo shèng fá líng” 元世祖貶聖伐陵), and the subsequent narrative focuses on resistance heroes — scholars and martial figures who oppose the Mongol occupation. The chapter titles reference figures such as Chéng Liáng’fǎng 程廉訪 (a Sòng loyalist), the Dōngqīng shù 冬青樹 (Winter Green Tree, the site of the Sòng imperial tombs in Shàoxīng and the scene of loyalist resistance symbolism), and a series of local heroes whose uprisings against the Yuán are narrated across the successive chapters: Yáng Zhènnóng 楊鎮龍 (ch. 7, Jiāngsū uprising 1289), Zhōng Míngliang 鍾明亮 (ch. 8, Fújiàn uprising 1289), and others.
Tiyao
No tiyao found in source.
Abstract
Yuándài Yěshǐ belongs to the sub-genre of Republican-era Han-nationalist historical fiction focusing on Chinese resistance to foreign (Mongol) rule — a thematic mirror of contemporary resistance to Japanese imperialism. The work’s hero-centric structure recalls the classic Sòng-Yuán resistance narratives of Wén Tiānxiáng 文天祥 (who refused to surrender to the Mongols) and is structured around a succession of regional uprisings rather than a single protagonist.
The opening episode — the desecration of Sòng imperial tombs by the Yuán — refers to the historical incident of 1285, when the Tibetan Buddhist monk Yángliánzhēnjia 楊璉真伽, acting with imperial sanction, plundered the Sòng imperial tombs at Shàoxīng 紹興 for treasure. This outrage sparked the famous loyalist legend of the “Dōngqīng shù” 冬青樹 (Winter Evergreen Tree, planted by the Sòng loyalist Táng Jǐu 唐玨 to mark the tomb of Emperor Huī Zōng’s spirit). The story is central to the “Sòng remnant” (Sòng yí 宋遺) loyalist literary tradition.
田騰蛟 is otherwise unidentified. Research confirms 100 chapters, approximately 338,000 characters, with the final chapter depicting “Míng Tài Zǔ yìngyùn hé yáng” 明太祖應運和陽 (Ming Tài Zǔ answering the call of fate), confirming the narrative ends with the Míng restoration.
Translations and research
- Davis, Richard L. 1996. Wind Against the Mountain: The Crisis of Politics and Culture in Thirteenth-Century China. Harvard University Press. (Background on late Sòng and Sòng-Yuán transition loyalty culture.)
Links
- Sòng loyalist tradition: Wikipedia (Sòng remnants)