ChinaKnowledge.de -
An Encyclopaedia on Chinese History and Literature

Yueyang fengtu ji 岳陽風土記

Oct 6, 2013 © Ulrich Theobald

Yueyang fengtu ji 岳陽風土記 "Records of the Customs of Yueyang" is a kind of local gazetteer written during the Song period 宋 (960-1279) by Fan Zhiming 范致明 xxx, courtesy name Huishu 晦叔. He hailed from Jian'an 建安 (modern Jian'ou 建甌, Fujian) and was a court gentleman of manifest virtue (xuandelang 宣德郎). Because of incorrect administration he was exiled to Yuezhou 岳州 (also called Baling 巴陵, modern Yueyang 岳陽, Hunan), where he had to oversee the tax revenues, and had also the time to compile a local history of the region.

The short book gives an overview of the history of Yuezhou, the most important buildings and shrines of the city, and the mountains and touristic spots in the surroundings. The text includes a lot of stories and myths that originated in the region, reports the special techniques of fishing used in Yuezhou, and the conditions of the fisherfolk's lives, and provides information on the climate, the endemic animals, and the customs and habits of the native Miao people 苗.

The Yueyang fengtu ji is included in the series Siku quanshu 四庫全書, Baichuan xuehai 百川學海 and Gujin yishi 古今逸史.

Sources:
Wan Li 萬里, ed. (2006). Hu-Xiang wenhua da cidian 湖湘文化大辭典 (Changsha: Hunan renmin chubanshe), Vol. 1, 79.
He Linfu 何林福 (2015). "Fen Zhiming Yueyang fengtu ji de chengshu, neirong yu jiazhi 范致明《岳陽風土記》的成書、内容與價值", Yunmeng xuekan 雲夢學刊, 2015 (1).
Wang Zhaoming 王兆明, Fu Langyun 傅朗云, eds. (1991). Zhonghua gu wenxian da cidian 中華古文獻大辭典, Vol. Dili 地理卷 (Jilin: Changchun wenshi chubanshe), 208.