The Taiping Huanyu Ji (Chinese:太平寰宇記), or "Universal Geography of the Taiping Era [976-983]," is a 10th-century AD geographical treatise by Chinese scholar Yue Shi 樂史 (930-1007), written during the reign of Emperor Taizong of Song in the Northern Song Dynasty.[1] Comprising 200 scrolls (or volumes), it has entries for nearly all areas of China at the time of its publication, complete with place-names and their etymologies. The work generally follows Tang Dynasty systems of geographical and political designation, dividing China into 13 "Circuits" (Chinese:道; pinyin:dào), and then subdividing further into the more traditional "prefectures" (Chinese:州; pinyin:zhōu) and "counties" (simplified Chinese:县; traditional Chinese:縣; pinyin:xiàn). Because it is largely based on Tang works, it constitutes an important source for the study of Tang geography.[2]
Chinese is a group of related, but in many cases not mutually intelligible, language varieties, forming the Sinitic branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. Chinese is spoken by the Han majority and many minority ethnic groups in China. About 1.2 billion people speak some form of Chinese as their first language.
Zhao Jiong, known as Zhao Guangyi from 960 to 977 and Zhao Kuangyi before 960, also known by his temple name Taizong after his death, was the second emperor of the Song dynasty in China. He reigned from 976 to his death in 997. He was a younger brother of his predecessor Emperor Taizu, and the father of his successor Emperor Zhenzong.
The Northern Song Dynasty is an era during the Song Dynasty. It came to an end when its capital city, the city of Kaifeng, was conquered by enemies from the north. Later, the provisional capital of the Northern Song Dynasty was founded in Ying Tian Fu. Historically, the Song Dynasty include both the Northern and the Southern Song. It is named "Northern" to distinguish from the "Southern", which resided mainly in Southern China. Emperor Taizu of Song elaborated a mutiny and usurped the throne of the Later Zhou, which marked the beginning of the Dynasty. In 1127, its capital city Kaifeng fell into the hand of the state of Jin, during which time the ruling Emperor Qinzong and his family all fell captive in an event known as the Jingkang Incident. The Northern Song came to its end the next year. It was ruled by nine emperors, and lasted for 127 years.
The Taiping Huanyu Ji generally records places' populations, notable landmarks and religious or ceremonial structures, customs, and basic historical information, sometimes adding details not found in Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian, China's most renowned geographical treatise. It also set the trend for including biographies, literary citations, and other material in Chinese geographical works.[2]
Sima Qian was a Chinese historian of the early Han dynasty. He is considered the father of Chinese historiography for his Records of the Grand Historian, a Jizhuanti-style general history of China, covering more than two thousand years from the Yellow Emperor to his time, during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, a work that had much influence for centuries afterwards on history-writing not only in China, but in Korea, Japan and Vietnam as well. Although he worked as the Court Astrologer, later generations refer to him as the Grand Historian for his monumental work; a work which in later generations would often only be somewhat tacitly or glancingly acknowledged as an achievement only made possible by his acceptance and endurance of punitive actions against him, including imprisonment, castration, and subjection to servility.
The Records of the Grand Historian, also known by its Chinese name Shiji, is a monumental history of ancient China and the world finished around 94 BC by the Han dynasty official Sima Qian after having been started by his father, Sima Tan, Grand Astrologer to the imperial court. The work covers the world as it was then known to the Chinese and a 2500-year period from the age of the legendary Yellow Emperor to the reign of Emperor Wu of Han in the author's own time.
A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curriculum vitae (résumé), a biography presents a subject's life story, highlighting various aspects of his or her life, including intimate details of experience, and may include an analysis of the subject's personality.
Notes
↑ Endymion Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual, (Harvard University Asia Center, 2013), pp. 738, 760.
1 2 Endymion Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual (2013), p. 738.
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