Jin Forces Take Lishui, 1129 CE

Background

In the fifth month of 1129 CE, the third year of the Jianyan era, the emperor, having crossed to the south, stayed at Jiangning Prefecture; the prefecture was therefore renamed Jiankang Prefecture, with Lishui under it and its rank fixed as a ciji, a secondary metropolitan county. The Southern Song Jingding Jiankang Zhi, juan 15, "Treatise on Territories, Part One", records that "in the third year of Jianyan [the prefecture] became the seat of Jiankang Prefecture", which agrees with the gazetteer; the History of Song, juan 88, "Treatise on Geography IV", under Jiangning Prefecture, likewise records that "in the first year of Jianyan it became a commandery seat, and in the third year it reverted to Jiankang Prefecture", and lists Lishui among its counties with the rank of ciji. The gazetteer records the renaming and the Jin invasion under the same year.

Time and place

Lishui fell in the eleventh month of that year. The gazetteer gives only "the eleventh month of the winter"; the History of Song, juan 25, "Basic Annals of Gaozong II", dates it to the renxu day of the eleventh month of the third year of Jianyan, which supplies the exact day. The gazetteer records that the Jin attacked Jiankang first, and that Lishui fell with it.

The event

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 the emperor crossed to the south. In the fifth month he stayed at Jiangning Prefecture, which was therefore renamed Jiankang, with Lishui under it and ranked as a secondary metropolitan county. In the eleventh month of the winter the Jin attacked Jiankang and took Lishui; the wei, or county defender, Pan Zhen died in the event. This is a translation, not the words of the original.

The History of Song, juan 25, "Basic Annals of Gaozong II", records under the eleventh month of the third year of Jianyan:

壬戌，金人犯建康府，陷溧水，县尉潘振死之。

Translated: On the renxu day, the Jin attacked Jiankang Prefecture and took Lishui; the county defender Pan Zhen died in the event. This is a translation, not the words of the original.

The two accounts agree almost word for word: the dynastic history dates the event to the renxu day of the eleventh month and writes "county defender Pan Zhen", while the gazetteer writes "the wei Pan Zhen", the wei being the county's subordinate military officer. The gazetteer and the dynastic history give no route, no numbers and no account of the assault on the town.

Consequences

Lishui was taken by the Jin that winter and Pan Zhen died. Neither source records the extent of the damage to the town or how it recovered. Lishui thereafter belonged to Jiankang Prefecture, until the prefecture was made a circuit in the early Yuan.

Uncertainties

First, both sources say only that Pan Zhen "died in the event", and neither gives an account of his defence or of his career. Apart from the county defender, the movements of other officials in Lishui that year are not recorded.

Second, the gazetteer dates the fall only to "the eleventh month of the winter", while the dynastic history dates it to the renxu day of the eleventh month; this entry reproduces both and does not replace the gazetteer's wording with the more precise date as though it were the only form of the record.

Third, both sources lead with an attack on Jiankang Prefecture and have Lishui fall with it; the exact course by which the Jin entered Lishui is recorded by neither, and this entry draws no conclusion about it.