Leshi 泐史

Leshi 泐史 "Histories of [the region] of Le [Dai: Lü]", short for Mengle gushi shu 勐泐古事書 "The book(s) of the affairs in the antiquity [of the region] of Mengle", is a general term for a series of books dealing with the history of the region of Sipsongpanna (Chinese: Xishuangbanna 西雙版納) in the southern tip of the province of Yunnan. In its chronological sequence the histories follow the traditional calendar of the Dai 傣 (Tai Lü) people living in this region. The primary authors are unknown.

The events described in the various original versions deal with the dominant ruling families and the local chieftains (transcribed into Chinese as zhaopian 召片). Family registers (pudie 譜牒) are thus an integral part of these chronicles. The stories told about the oldest times are not really reliable, and contents can only be historically relied on from around the year 1400 on. There are several hand-written manuscripts extant, written in Dai language and differing from each other in content, but only concerning some minor points (for example, dates). The date of composition is not clear, but the books are certainly not older than from the Ming period 明 (1368-1644).

There is a series of versions translated into modern Chinese. The first is a translation by Li Fuyi 李拂一 (1901-2010), published in 1947, which covers the years from 1180 to 1864. In the same year Li published a critical supplement called Cheli xuanwei shixi kaoding 車里宣慰世系考訂 "Investigations and corrections to the genealogies of the pacification office of Cheli [the modern city of Jinghong 景洪]". The third version is the Cheli difang zhi 車里地方志 "Local gazetteer of Cheli" translated and edited in 1964 by Fu Maoji 傅懋勣 (1911-1988) and Dao Zhongqiang 刀忠強 and which covers the years from 1568 to 1864. The years from 1180 to 1497 are covered by the supplement Bazhen yihou gedai de lishi jizai 叭真以後各代的歷史記載 "All historic records of the years after [king] Bazhen (fl. 1190)" which was published by Dao Guodong 刀國棟 (1932-2017), Wu Yutao 吳玉濤, and Zhang Yaqing 張亞慶. Zhang Gongjin 張公瑾 edited the book Xishuangbanna Daizu jinbainian dashiji – Xu Leshi 西雙版納帶傣族近百年大事記—續泐史 "Great events in the history of the Tai people in Sipsongbanna – A sequel to the Leshi", covering the years between 1844 and 1950.

The last three mentioned are incorporated into a volume about Dai culture, published in 1982 and called Xishuangbanna Daizu shehui diaocha ziliao congkan. 3 西雙版納帶傣族社會調查資料叢刊．第三輯 "Series of materials concerning research on social [history] of the Tai people in Sipsongbanna 3rd series".