Selections from the Annals: Song and Yuan

Scope and method

This selection takes the Song and Yuan entries of the annalistic volume, from Cao Bin's defeat of the Jiangnan army at Lishui in 975 to Xu Da's taking of Lishui Zhou in 1355, when the local notable Yang Chong and others persuaded the Yuan deputy administrator to surrender the whole town. The span contains two changes of dynasty: the Yuan conquest of Jiankang at the end of the Song, when Lishui submitted, and the Ming taking of Lishui Zhou at the end of the Yuan.

The method is that of the two preceding selections. The sixth entry here is deliberately taken from the twenty-third year of the Shaoxing era, because it contains the compilers' own note on why they recorded an event that happened outside the county, which is direct evidence of the scope of the annals.

List of entries

Date	Subject
8th year of the Kaibao era (975)	Cao Bin sends Tian Qinzuo, who defeats the Jiangnan army at Lishui; Li Yu surrenders, Jiangning becomes Shengzhou and Lishui is under it
3rd year of the Zhidao era (997)	Drought; autumn tax remitted
2nd year of the Tianxi era (1018)	Shengzhou renamed Jiangning Prefecture; Lishui under it
1st year of the Tiansheng era (1023)	Cinnabar working at Lishui abolished on the advice of Wang Qinruo
1st year of the Yuanfeng era (1078)	Spring drought
7th year of the Xuanhe era (1125)	Lu Xiang, prefect, asks that the three lakes be abolished and made into polders
3rd year of the Jianyan era (1129)	The emperor crosses south; Jiangning renamed Jiankang and Lishui ranked as a secondary metropolitan county; the Jin take Lishui and the county defender Pan Zhen dies
23rd year of the Shaoxing era (1153)	The Yongfeng polder granted to Qin Hui
1st year of the Qiandao era (1165)	The Yongfeng polder granted to the command of the capital armies
3rd year of the Baoqing era (1227)	Autumn floods at Lishui
5th year of the Baoyou era (1257)	Wine tax quota at Lishui reduced
1st year of the Jingding era (1260)	Seed tax at Lishui deferred
2nd year of the Jingding era (1261)	Seed tax at Lishui deferred
3rd year of the Jingding era (1262)	Survey of the people's fields at Lishui
4th year of the Jingding era (1263)	Seed tax at Lishui remitted
2nd year of the Xianchun era (1266)	Rain for months in summer; relief sent
12th year of the Zhiyuan era (1275)	The Yuan take Jiankang and Lishui submits; Alahan advances on Lishui by the western road, breaking through Dongba
13th year of the Zhiyuan era (1276)	A darughachi appointed at Lishui, ranking above the county magistrate
14th year of the Zhiyuan era (1277)	Jiankang Prefecture becomes a circuit; Lishui under it
18th year of the Zhiyuan era (1281)	A gold-washing superintendency established at Jiankang; five thousand households of Lishui made gold-washing households
20th year of the Zhiyuan era (1283)	Two tenths of this year's land tax remitted
23rd year of the Zhiyuan era (1286)	An office of household registration established at Lishui
24th year of the Zhiyuan era (1287)	Gold-washing service abolished
1st year of the Yuanzhen era (1295)	Lishui raised to a zhou of the middle rank; a darughachi still appointed above the prefect
2nd year of the Zhida era (1309)	Locusts at Lishui
1st year of the Taiding era (1324)	The hundred-year-old Xu Gui honoured
2nd year of the Tianli era (1329)	Jiankang Circuit renamed Jiqing Circuit; Lishui under it
2nd year of the Yuantong era	Half of this year's land tax remitted in the tenth month
3rd year of the Zhiyuan era (1337)	The prefect Li Heng reports that the post-station households are in decline and asks that they be made up from Liyang; granted
13th year of the Zhizheng era (1353)	Bandits rise in the Huai region and take Lishui; Esen Temür recovers it with troops
15th year of the Zhizheng era (1355)	Xu Da takes Lishui Zhou; the local notable Yang Chong and others persuade the Yuan deputy administrator to surrender the whole town

The quotations and notes

8th year of the Kaibao era (975): the Jiangnan army defeated at Lishui

宋太祖开宝八年乙亥，正月，大将曹彬遣部下田钦祚败江南军于溧水。时南唐已贬国号曰江南。是岁，江南主李煜降，复改江宁为昇州，溧水隶之。

Translated: In the eighth year of the Kaibao era of Emperor Taizu of the Song, yihai, in the first month, the great general Cao Bin sent his subordinate Tian Qinzuo, who defeated the Jiangnan army at Lishui. The Southern Tang had by then reduced its state title to Jiangnan. In that year Li Yu, lord of Jiangnan, surrendered, and Jiangning was again changed to Shengzhou, with Lishui under it.

Note. This entry ties the fall of the Southern Tang, a battle in the county and a change of administration to a single year. The compilers' note that "the Southern Tang had by then reduced its state title to Jiangnan" explains why the text says "the Jiangnan army" and not "the Tang army" — a point of the gazetteer's own usage.

2nd year of the Tianxi era (1018): Shengzhou becomes Jiangning Prefecture

真宗天禧二年戊午，改昇州为江宁府，溧水隶之。

Translated: In the second year of the Tianxi era of Emperor Zhenzong, wuwu, Shengzhou was renamed Jiangning Prefecture, and Lishui was under it.

Note. Shengzhou and Jiangning Prefecture are names of the same region at different dates. This entry records one renaming in the Song and the first appearance of the name Jiangning Prefecture in the county's administrative history. The Qing prefecture of the same name had a different extent and must not be confused with it.

7th year of the Xuanhe era (1125): the three lakes to be made into polders

徽宗宣和七年乙巳，九月，知府事卢襄请罢石臼、固城、丹阳三湖为圩田。

Translated: In the seventh year of the Xuanhe era of Emperor Huizong, yisi, in the ninth month, Lu Xiang, prefect, asked that the three lakes of Shijiu, Gucheng and Danyang be abolished and made into polders.

Note. This is the starting point of the polder thread on this site. The gazetteer records only the proposal, not whether it was approved or how far it was carried out. The relation between the three lakes and the polders, and the later chain of cause and effect by which the closing of the gates at the Guangtong Dam produced floods, are set out in "Polders and the Guangtong Dam in Lishui".

3rd year of the Jianyan era (1129): the Jin take Lishui

高宗建炎三年己酉，帝南渡。五月，驻跸江宁府，因改名建康，溧水隶之，等为次畿。冬十一月，金人犯建康，陷溧水，尉潘振死之。

Translated: In the third year of the Jianyan era of Emperor Gaozong, jiyou, the emperor crossed to the south. In the fifth month he halted at Jiangning Prefecture, which was accordingly renamed Jiankang, and Lishui was under it, ranked as a secondary metropolitan county. In the eleventh month of winter the Jin attacked Jiankang, took Lishui, and Pan Zhen, the county defender, died.

Note. Three things are recorded together: the emperor's halt and the renaming, the fixing of the county's rank, and the fall of the county and the death of its defender when the Jin advanced south. "Secondary metropolitan county" is a Song rank, reproduced as it stands. Pan Zhen is treated in the biographical section.

23rd year of the Shaoxing era (1153): the Yongfeng polder granted to Qin Hui

绍兴二十三年癸酉，以永丰圩田赐秦桧。旧志云，郡府志载此事，而不专言溧水。今溧水有永丰圩，故采入以备详考。后孝宗赐都统司云云，同此。

Translated: In the twenty-third year of the Shaoxing era, guiyou, the fields of the Yongfeng polder were granted to Qin Hui. The old gazetteer says that the prefectural gazetteer records this but does not speak of Lishui in particular; since there is a Yongfeng polder in Lishui today, it has been taken in for fuller examination. The later grant to the command of the capital armies under Emperor Xiaozong is of the same kind.

Note. The value of this entry lies less in the event than in the compilers' note. They say plainly that the matter is recorded in the prefectural gazetteer and "does not speak of Lishui in particular", and that they take it in only because the county contains the Yongfeng polder, "for fuller examination". That is a statement by the annals about its own scope: matters of the neighbouring region that touch this county are recorded, and their source is not concealed. This selection reproduces the note, and the entry on this site for the grant accordingly carries a confidence of medium.

1st year of the Yuanzhen era (1295): Lishui raised to a zhou

成宗元贞元年乙未，升溧水为州，等为中。仍设达鲁花赤，出知州上。

Translated: In the first year of the Yuanzhen era of Emperor Chengzong, yiwei, Lishui was raised from a county to a zhou, of the middle rank. A darughachi was still appointed, ranking above the prefect.

Note. This records the elevation of the county to a prefecture, the first of the three changes in Lishui's status from county to zhou and back to county. The gazetteer also records the office peculiar to the Yuan: a darughachi was appointed above the prefect. The rank of the unit also moves from "secondary metropolitan county" under the Song to "middle" under the Yuan, itself a record of the county's standing.

Choices and uncertainties

First, natural anomalies under the Song and Yuan — floods, locusts, drought — take up a considerable part of the gazetteer. They are listed above but not reproduced one by one. They are primary material for the climate and agriculture of the county and deserve a separate treatment.

Second, in 1281 a gold-washing superintendency was established and five thousand households of Lishui were made gold-washing households, which the gazetteer describes as oppressive; in 1287 it records that the service was abolished. The two entries are six years apart and are set side by side here so that the beginning and the end can be seen together.

Third, the fighting at the end of the Yuan involves Xu Da's taking of Lishui Zhou and the local notable Yang Chong persuading the Yuan deputy administrator to surrender the whole town. The gazetteer calls him a "righteous commoner" and gives no detail beyond his name, and nothing is added here.