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Ph.D. Dissertation Abstract

"Different Mirrors of the Past: Southern Song (1127–1279) Historiography" Lee Tsong-han, Harvard University, 2008

This dissertation examines the transformation of historical knowledge, or paradigm change, that took place during the Southern Song: from the knowledge for maintaining balanced hierarchical political power relations in the government to that for training literati to make moral decisions in real historical contexts. Through in-depth studies on five works written in the format of chronological history (biannian shi 編年史) that were directly or indirectly related to Sima Guang's influential Comprehensive Mirror to Aid for the Government, the dissertation argues that the narrative structures of these works were designed to analyze and explain history in specific ways. These works were not simply collections of historical data, but "historical models" (or "paradigm candidates") that provided specific world views and competed with others to dominate the field of the study of history. They demonstrate the diversity and vitality of the study of history in the Southern Song, and, when put in chronological order, signify a paradigm change in the study of history, which transferred the authority over leadership from the government to the morally-cultivated literati, and thus went together with the "localist turn" in Chinese history.

Chapter One discusses how Li Tao's Xu Zizhi tongjian changbian followed Sima Guang's paradigm that argues for a hierarchical political power structure with a well-regulated delegation of authority. Chapter Two discusses how Zhu Xi and his disciples' Zizhi tongjian gangmu redefined historical knowledge as the knowledge for training the literati to make moral decisions in real historical contexts. Chapter Three discusses how Lü Zuqian's Dashi ji integrated the Daoxue approach with the statecraft approach, but in the end turned moral principles into the means to achieve political goals. Chapter Four discusses how Li Xinchuan's Jianyan yilai xi'nian yaolu integrated the Daoxue approach with Sima Guang's paradigm, regarding maintaining proper political power relations as the means to achieve Daoxue's moral goals. Chapter Five discusses how Jin Lüxiang's Zizhi tongjian qianbian followed the model of the Zizhi tongjian gangmu, and asked the government to take the responsibility of establishing a proper world order based on moral principles, representing the ascendancy of the Daoxue discourse.

Book Notices

Hon-chiu Wong. Government Expenditures in Northern Sung China (960–1127). Kyoto: Hōyū shoten, 2004. Pp. 209. 3500 Yen (paperback). ISBN: 4-89281-103-3.

The Japanese publisher Hōyū shoten 朋友書店 has released a published version of Hon-chiu Wong's 1975 dissertation. The book presents a wealth of data about the Northern Sung government's expenses culled from the meager quantitative sources extant and offers detailed analysis of selected topics in Northern Sung fiscal history. The text of this published version is almost identical to that of the original dissertation, but the author has made several adjustments to the various tables. No recent scholarship supplements the bibliography.

Lu You. Grand Canal, Great River: The Travel Diary of a Twelfth-Century Chinese Poet. Translated with commentary by Philip Watson. London: Frances Lincoln, 2007. Pp. 256. $40.00 (Hardcover). ISBN: 978-0-7112-2719-4.

Philip Watson's book offers a new complete translation of Lu You's diary of his journey from Shanyin (present-day Shaoxing, Zhejiang province) to take up office in Kui prefecture (present-day Fengjie, Sichuan province). The diary starts on Dec. 25, 1169, and continues until Lu's arrival on Dec. 6, 1170. The translation emphasizes Lu You's diary as a contribution to Yangzi River travel literature, including in the commentary excerpts from accounts by Western nineteenth-century Yangzi travelers like Thomas Balkiston and Isabella Bird. Illustrations on nearly every page, many of them in color, include photographs of Song-era art works and of locations along Lu You's route as they are today. Watson draws on and occasionally corrects the 1981 translation by Chunshu Chang and Joan Smyth, although he provides less detailed Sinological references, and he frequently connects themes from the diary to the English-language scholarly literature on Song history.