Xianping commander

Who he is

Title

Xianping lu bingma duzongguan (military governor-general of the Xianping circuit)

Since

not pinned

Born

not known

Confidence

low

Office from the Dili zhi; we could not read the Jinshi this session, and no holder is dated.

Overlord

The Jin emperor through the Department of State Affairs

What it holds

• Xianping fu and the middle Liao River plain
• Hanzhou and the districts on the Siping road (placement not pinned)
• Meng'an and mouke settlements of the circuit

How it was acquired

Jin since the conquest of the Liao east in 1116-1125; Xianping is a circuit under the Jin.

Allies and rivals

Dongjing to the south, Shangjing and Long'an fu to the north-east.

How things stand that morning

Quiet farm and garrison country; the grain basket of the north-east.

Wealth

Millet, sorghum and wheat, horses, cattle; salt from the Liao River marshes by trade (not pinned).

Military

Jurchen meng'an and mouke households and the circuit garrison (no figures).

Threats

• Land disputes between Jurchen and Han households
• River flood

Where the sources disagree

• The brief lists Xianping among the Dongjing circuit's prefectures; the Dili zhi lists Xianping as a separate circuit (lu), as we read it, medium confidence.

Evidence: Only the existence and rough location of the circuit are certain; the Jinshi's list of its prefectures could not be read.

Primary sources for Jin empire

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.

• 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
• 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
• Essentials of the History of Goryeo, Kim Jong-seo (金宗瑞) and the Joseon history office (1452). The chronological companion to the Goryeosa, finished a year after it and drawing on the same lost records, sometimes with entries the Goryeosa omits. 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
• Record of the Personal Campaigns of the Holy Warrior (Chinggis Khan) (presented to Khubilai in 1288, finished in Mongolian in 1290; the surviving Chinese version dates from 1369). A year-by-year Chinese account of Temujin's wars, drawn from the lost Altan Debter (the same source behind the Yuan shi's first chapter and Rashid al-Din). Read online
• The Secret History of the Mongols (1228 or 1240 (the colophon's Year of the Rat is disputed), with later additions; the surviving Chinese transcription and gloss were made under the Ming in the 1380s). The only Mongol account of Temujin's rise, written within living memory. 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
• 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

14 more in the sources library for North China and Manchuria.