Town · The Southern Song of Zhao Kuo (Ningzong) · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Taiping zhou

Taiping zhou, seated at Dangtu, has three counties: Dangtu, Wuhu and Fanchang.

It holds the Yangtze narrows at Caishi (the battle of 1161 in which the Song fleet under Yu Yunwen broke the Jin emperor Wanyan Liang's attempt to cross) and the rice port of Wuhu. A river station and iron works feed the Jiankang army.

Who holds it

Name
Not known for 1 January 1200
Title
Prefect (zhizhou)
Since
not pinned
Confidence
low

Not named in the sources we read.

Lord in 1200

The emperor Ningzong through the prefect; the prefect's name is not known.

Overlord

The emperor through the circuit offices.

What the town holds

  • The Caishi crossing
  • The Wuhu rice port

How it was acquired

Old prefecture; its Song form as stated.

Allies and rivals

Neighbouring prefectures of its circuit.

How things stand that morning

Quiet.

Wealth

Not itemised; no figures.

Military

Garrison troops under the prefect; no figures.

Threats

  • A Jin attempt to cross the Yangtze

Charter

None known. A Song city has no charter of liberties: it is governed by the prefect (zhizhou or zhifu) and the circuit offices, with its guilds (hang) and the neighbourhood wards under official supervision.

Council

The prefect, the county magistrates and the leading gentry; names not known.

Communities

Boatmen, soldiers, iron workers.

Fairs and markets

Daily markets and temple fairs; no dated fair known.

Militia

Garrison troops under the prefect or the army command; no figures.

Walls and castle

Walled seat on the river.

Trade and crafts

Rice, iron, river shipping.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Structure known from general knowledge and the campaign board; no prefect named for the winter.

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

On the map: City and near land only; the prefecture is a province record.

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

  1. General knowledge of Song administrative and economic history (Hartwell, Von Glahn, Smith and Twitchett eds., Cambridge History of China vol. 5 part 2), not re-checked line by line in this pass
  2. OMNIA board, area sce notes (a lead, not a source)

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.