The Imperial Clan Office at Lin'an keeps the register of the clan (the jade register), pays its stipends, runs its schools and marriages, and disciplines its members.
The senior clan title is the Si Pu wang (the prince of Pu, a hereditary title); Prince Buqu died on 22 December 1199, nine days before the date, so the seat is vacant or in the hands of a regent on 1 January 1200 (not pinned) and another prince of the line is named on 7 June 1200. Another senior prince, Anding junwang Zigong, dies on 8 May 1200 (3rd month, jimao). Besides Lin'an the clan lives at Fuzhou and Quanzhou (the outer clan offices, on the southern sheet) and in many prefectures of the east; we found no dated list.
The argument used against Zhao Ruyu in 1195 was that a clansman ought not to be chancellor.
Who he is
- Name
- Prince Buqu died on 22 December 1199 (12th month, xinyou); a successor with the generation name Bu (the rest of the name is unclear in the text we read) was named on 7 June 1200 (4th month, jiyou)
- Title
- Senior clan prince of the Pu line (Si Pu wang)
- Since
- Not pinned
- Born
- not pinned
- Family
- The Zhao clan, descended from the emperors of the Northern Song and from Taizu's brothers.
- Confidence
- low
Song shi quan wen juan 29 shang (the two death entries and one appointment).
Overlord
The emperor.
What it holds
- The clan's register and stipends
- The clan schools and marriage licences
- The rights of clan members to sit certain examinations
How it was acquired
Standing institution since the founding of the Southern Song.
Allies and rivals
Han Tuozhou's party excluded the clan from the chancellor's seat.
How things stand that morning
A prince of the Pu line is the senior clan figure; the prince's death shortly before the date leaves a vacancy.
Wealth
Stipends from the state; no figures.
Threats
- The ban on clansmen as chancellors
What the year holds
What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.
- 8 May 1200Prince Anding Zigong dies.Depends on: Age and illness.
- 7 June 1200A new Si Pu wang is named.Depends on: The court's choice.
Places of note
- Imperial Clan offices (location approximate): Where the clan's registers and its court are kept
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Only three chronicle entries; the structure is general knowledge.
On the map: An office; no ground.
Primary sources for Southern Song
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- Continuation of the Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government, Bi Yuan (畢沅), completed by Feng Jiwu after his death (late eighteenth century, finished after 1801, from Song and Yuan sources). A Qing scholar's continuous month-by-month chronicle of the Song and Yuan centuries, compiled from the Song shi, the Liao, Jin and Yuan histories, Li Tao, Li Xinchuan and other Song sources. Read online
- Outline and Details of Two Reigns (thirteenth century, after 1224). A Song outline-and-detail chronicle of exactly the two reigns around 1200, drawn from the court's daily records. Read online
- Annals of the Western Xia, Wu Guangcheng (吳廣成) (1825 to 1827, compiled from Song, Liao, Jin and Yuan sources). A Qing scholar's year-by-year reconstruction of Tangut history from the Chinese histories, since the Xia left no surviving annals of their own in Chinese. Read online
- History of the Song, Toqto'a (脫脫) and the Yuan history office (1343 to 1345, from the Song veritable records, state histories and the Huiyao). The official history of the Southern Song, which ruled from Lin'an (Hangzhou) in 1200. Read online
- History of Song, chapters 488 and 489: Jiaozhi, Dali, Champa, Zhenla, Pagan, Srivijaya, Java, Brunei, Chola and Tambralinga, Toqto'a (Tuotuo) and the Yuan history office, from the Song court records (1343 to 1345, from Song veritable records and court diaries). The Chinese court's record of its southern neighbours, compiled from Song archives. Read online
- History of the Jin, Toqto'a (脫脫) and the Yuan history office, with Ouyang Xuan among the chief compilers (1343 to 1344, from the Jin veritable records and the Jin national history). The official history of the Jurchen empire that ruled north China and Manchuria in 1200. Read online
- History of the Song, the chapters on Xia and on foreign states, Toqto'a (脫脫) and the Yuan history office (1343 to 1345). The Song court's accounts of its neighbours, each arranged as an annal of embassies and wars. Read online
- Record of the Great Jin State, Attributed to Yuwen Maozhao (宇文懋昭); the attribution is doubtful (preface dated 1234; probably assembled in the Southern Song from Song and Jin material, with later accretions). A Song-side history of the Jin, with annals for each emperor and chapters on institutions, customs, the capitals and the Jurchen way of life. Read online
12 more in the sources library for South China.
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.