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Qicheng 齊乘

Mar 28, 2012 © Ulrich Theobald

Qicheng 齊乘 "Chronicle of Qi" is a history and geography of the region of Shandong compiled by the Yuan period 元 (1279-1368) writer Yu Qin 于欽 (1284-1333). The book is 6 juan "scrolls" long and has a phonologic appendix written by the author's son Yu Qian 于潛. It was written as an informative historiographical source on the region of the Shandong peninsula, the ancient region of the state of Qi 齊.

The term cheng is an old local word for chronicle, like in the lost book Jincheng 晉乘. Yu Qin added information on the geography of Qi, its administration, eminent persons hailing from there, customs and habits, and spots of touristic interest. Yu's sources were all kinds of geographic books like the "River classic" Shuijing 水經 or the imperial geography Taiping huanyu ji 太平寰宇記. The book is rated as written in an elegant language and is the oldest local gazetteer on the region of Shandong.

It was only printed in 1351, when Yu Qian had finished his commentary. The earliest surviving print dates from the Jiajing reign 嘉靖 (1522-1566). It is included in the imperial reprint series Siku quanshu 四庫全書.

The original was lost soon and had to be reconstructed from a print from the late Song period of which only parts existed during the Ming period 明 (1368-1644). The Qing period 清 (1644-1911) scholar Zhu Yizun 朱彝尊 was able to obtain 80 manuscript chapters from Master Hu from Haiyan 海鹽胡氏 and Master Mao from Changshu 常熟毛氏, to which he added a further 13 chapters from his own collection. 7 juan were thus missing. Another scholar, Bao Tingbo 鮑廷博, could provide juan 65 and 66 which were not among the surviving parts of the Song print. 95 juan are thus preserved. In 1830 a print of the Xianchun Lin'an zhi was made by Master Wang from Qiantang 錢塘汪氏 (Zhenqitang Studio 振綺堂).

Table 1. Contents of the Qicheng 齊乘
1 沿革 Administrative history
分野 Border demarcations
2 山川 Geography
3 郡邑 Commanderies and towns
4 古蹟 Ancient sites
5 風土 Customs and habits
6 人物 Eminent persons
Sources:
Li Xueqin 李學勤, Lü Wenyu 呂文鬰, ed. (1996). Siku da cidian 四庫大辭典 (Changchun: Jilin daxue chubanshe), Vol. 1, 1185.
Liu Dunyuan 劉敦愿 (1989). "Qisheng zuozhe Yu Qin muzhi jianshi 《齊乘》作者于欽墓志簡釋", Shandong Daxue xuebao (Zhexue shehui kexue ban) 山東大學學報(哲學社會科學版), 1989 (4).
Liu Dunyuan 劉敦愿 (1991). "Qisheng, Fengtu zhang jiaozhu 《齊乘》《風土》章校注", Shandong Daxue xuebao (Zhexue shehui kexue ban) 山東大學學報(哲學社會科學版), 1991 (4).
Wang Zhaoming 王兆明, Fu Langyun 傅朗云, ed. (1991). Zhonghua gu wenxian da cidian 中華古文獻大辭典, Vol. Dili 地理卷 (Changchun: Jilin wenshi chubanshe), 143.
Wu Feng 吳楓, ed. (1987). Jianming Zhongguo guji cidian 簡明中國古籍辭典 (Changchun: Jilin wenshi chubanshe), 353.
Zhang Kai 張凱 (2014). "Qisheng shiyin de shengmu tedian yu Yuandai Suzhou Wu yin 《齊乘釋音》的聖母特點與元代蘇州吳音", Yuyan yanjiu 語言研究, 2014 (4).
Zhang Xiaoyan 張曉言, Sun Yinhou 孫印厚 (2002). "Yu Qin yu Qisheng 于欽與《齊乘》", Qingdao Daxue Shifan Xueyuan xuebao 青島大學師範學院學報, 2002 (1).
Zhao Zhongyun 趙鍾雲 (2010). "Shanben fangzhi liangshi Qisheng 善本方志 良史《齊乘》", Chunqiu 春秋, 2010 (1).