Xiangyang shoucheng lu 襄陽守城錄

Xiangyang shoucheng lu 襄陽守城錄 "The defence of Xiangyang" is a history book written during the late Southern Song period 南宋 (1127-1279) by Zhao Wannian 趙萬年 (late 13th cent.).

This book gives an account of the Xiangyang defence campaign of 1206, providing a detailed account of how general Zhao Chun 趙淳 led more than ten thousand troops in resisting a siege by two hundred thousand Jin 金 (1115-1234) soldiers. It records in detail the strategies of city defence, the deployment of weaponry, the defensive system of the moat, and other aspects of actual combat, and it is the first work to systematically describe both the original structure and the tactical value of Xiangyang's moat. As a representative treatise on Southern Song city defence, the surviving editions are preserved in the series Congshu jicheng chubian 叢書集成新編 and Hubei difang guji zhengli congshu 湖北地方古籍整理叢書. Together with Chen Gui’s 陳規 (1072-1141) Shouchenglu 守城錄, the Xiangyang shoucheng lu forms part of a textual corpus for studying Southern Song city defence strategy.

The book's data on the structure of the moat has provided an important reference for later generations: in 1206, Zhao Chun had the moat expanded to the scale of the Yangma Wall 羊馬牆 and the water trench. Archaeological discoveries confirm that the alignment of Xiangyang's Ming-period 明 (1368-1644) city walls largely coincides with the Song foundations recorded in the text. In the early Yuan period 元 (1279-1368), the Mongol commander Alhaya (Ch. A'erhaya 阿爾哈雅) studied this work, and during his siege of Xiangyang in 1269, he adopted a strategy of prolonged encirclement.

In late 1206, the Jin commander Wanyan Kuang 完顏匡 led an army of 200,000 to besiege Xiangyang. Prefect Zhao Chun, assisted by Zhao Wannian, an official of the Regional Military Commission, organized more than 10,000 defenders to mount the city's defence. The campaign lasted for over ninety days, encompassing twelve major engagements and thirty-four battles by land and water, and ultimately forced the Jin forces to withdraw. Zhao Wannian, an eyewitness to the events, began recording the course of the battle during the siege itself, later systematising fourteen key strategies for victory, including scorched-earth tactics and the destruction of siege engines.

This work fills in the gaps left by the Songshi 宋史, whose account of the defense of Xiangyang is brief. Its strategic thought is chiefly reflected in three aspects. It introduces the concept of a "defence-in-depth system" (fangyu zongshen tixi 防御縱深體系), constructing a triple line of fortification with the moat, the Yangma Wall, and the main city wall. It records the first instance of the Song army employing gunpowder weapons in actual combat to destroy large-scale Jin siege engines. And it preserves Zhao Chun's tactical principle of "attacking in place of defending" (yi gong dai shou 以攻代守), offering a detailed analysis of the coordination between offensive sorties and holding the defenses while awaiting relief. The text provides interesting data. It reports Jin casualties exceeding 30,000, and records logistical figures such as the consumption of crossbow bolts. It preserves minutiae of military administration, including provisions for the soldiers' food and the distribution of pay. Moreover, certain passages form an intertext with Zhao Wannian's official report Mian zhusi shangu xieli yu Zhao Zhaofu shoucheng 勉諸司上幕協力與趙招撫守城 "Encouraging the various offices to cooperate with Commissioner Zhao in the defence of the city".

The text was included in the Ming-period encyclopaedia Yongle dadian 永樂大典, from where it was integrated into the Congshu jicheng xinbian. In 2002, Hubei Education Press (Hubei Jiaoyu Chubanshe 湖北教育出版社) published it together with the book Qianjiang jiuwen lu 潛江舊聞錄 and other works, providing modern punctuation and collations.