Chiya 赤雅

Chiya 赤雅 "Dictionary of the South" is a book on the native peoples of southern China written during the late Ming period 明 (1368-1644) by Kuang Lu 鄺露 (1604-1650), courtesy name Zhanruo 湛若, also called Ruilu 瑞露. Kuang lived among the native tribes for a long time, and was therefore very experienced with the local geography and the customs and habits of the local population. The preface of Xue An 薛案 is dated 1635.

The title includes the words chi 赤 "red", which is the colour of the south, and ya 雅, which is an abbreviation of a type of glossary founded in the ancient classic Erya 爾雅. The first part of the book of 3 juan describes the customs and habits of the native tribes, the second part focuses on the geography, and the third one on the flora and fauns of the region. The whole text consists of 197 short chapters.

The Chiya is included in the series Zhibuzuzhai congshu 知不足齋叢書, Longwei bishu 龍威祕書, Shuoku 說庫本, Siku quanshu 四庫全書, Suyuan congshu 嘯園叢書 and Guiyuan shulin congshu 桂苑書林叢書. A print from 1880 includes a 2-juan long appendix called Jiaoya 嶠雅 "Dictionary of the mountain regions".