Kuizhou

Who holds it

Title

Prefect (zhizhou) of Kuizhou and Pacification Commissioner of the Kuizhou circuit

Since

not pinned

Born

not known

Family

not known

Confidence

low

No source we have names him for 1200.

Lord in 1200

The prefect of Kuizhou, who is also the Pacification Commissioner of the Kuizhou circuit (name not known for 1200); the circuit's transport commissioner sits here too.

Overlord

The emperor Ningzong, through the circuit commissioners and the Sichuan Zhizhi commissioner at Chengdu.

What the town holds

• The town and its near land (the tierra)
• The toll and watch on the river at the gorge mouth

How it was acquired

Not applicable: an ordinary prefecture town of the Song.

Allies and rivals

Works with the Jinghu officials downstream at Yichang (the scj sheet's ground). The salt yards of Daning and Yun'an depend on its permits.

How things stand that morning

At peace; the river is open. A civil official of rank holds it. The river force is not itemised.

Wealth

The toll and the salt; no figures.

Military

A river force and a small garrison under the prefect; no numbers.

Threats

• Flood and low water on the gorge rocks.
• The southern Man of Qianzhou and Shizhou.

Charter

None. A Song prefectural town has no charter; the prefect and his clerks rule it.

Council

No council. The prefect and the circuit's officials rule; the pilots and boat-owners of the gorge are a trade of their own (recalled from the travel diaries). No family is named in any source we have.

Communities

Not known. The shrine of Gongsun Shu, the White Emperor, at Baidi was a local cult that the travel diaries mention (recalled).

Militia

Not known: the prefecture's garrison and levy; no source we have gives a figure.

Walls and castle

A walled prefectural city on the north bank with the fortress hill of Baidi at the gorge mouth. The exact site of the 1200 wall (near the old Fengjie) is not pinned.

Trade and crafts

Tolls on the river traffic (the amount is not known); salt from Daning and Yun'an; the gorge pilots and boatmen.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The role of the town is from the campaign board, Du Fu and the travel diaries (recalled, not re-read); the 1200 holders are not known.

"The campaign board" is OMNIA's working map. These notes record where its earlier claims were checked against the sources.

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.