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Nanqianlu 南遷錄

Oct 21, 2013 © Ulrich Theobald

Nanqianlu 南遷錄 "The Transferral [of the Capital] to the South" is a history of the early decades of the Jin dynasty 金 (1115-1234) written by the scholar Zhang Siyan 張思顏, who was originally a subject of the Jin empire but later moved to the south, where he became a commandant of cavalry (jiduwei 騎都尉) under the Southern Song dynasty 南宋 (1127-1279).

The original text was 2-juan long, but the transmitted version is not divided into juan. At the time when the Jurchen emperor of the Jin, Wanyan Liang 完顏亮 (better known as Prince of Hailing 海陵王, r. 1149-1160) moved his residence southwards to Yanjing 燕京 (modern Bejing), and later founded the southern capital Bianjing 汴京 (modern Kaifeng 開封, Henan), Zhang Shiyan was a historiographer at the court, and had the chance to experience the life at the court of the Jin dynasty and inside the capital. He also described the conflicts between the Jurchens and the Tartar tribes in the steppe (the future Mongols).

His book is very detailed and therefore an important source on the history of the Jurchens. It was published as a revised manuscript in 1358 and is to be found in the series Xuehai leibian 學海類編 and Congshu jicheng chubian 叢書集成初編.

Sources:
Wang Guowei 王國維 (1927). "Nansong ren suo zhuan Menggu shiliao (Wang Daguan Xingchenglu, Li Daliang Jiezheng Mengji , Zhang Shiyan nenqianlu ) 南宋人所傳蒙古史料考(王大觀《行程錄》,李大諒《解征蒙記》,張師顏《南遷錄》)", Qinghua Daxue xuebao (Ziran kexue ban) 清華大學學報(自然科學版), 1927 (3).
Wu Feng 吳楓, ed. (1994). Zhonghua gudian wenxian da cidian 中華古文獻大辭典, Vol. Wenxue 文學卷 (Changchun: Jilin wenshi chubanshe), p. 461.
Zheng Yunbo 鄭雲波, ed. (1992). Zhongguo gudai xiaoshuo da cidian 中國古代小說辭典 (Nanjing: Nanjing daxue chubanshe), 402.