Zhongxing yuwu lu 中興御侮錄

Zhongxing yuwu lu 中興御侮錄 "Resisting [barbarian] insults during the dynasty's restoration" is collection of historiographical stories written by an unknown person during the Southern Song period 南宋 (1127-1279). It records the wars and peace negotiations between the Southern Song and the Jin dynasty 金 (1115-1234), with particularly detailed accounts of the succession to the Jin throne of the Prince of Hailing 海陵王 (Wanyan Liang 完顏亮; r. 1149-1160), his southern invasions and the events surrounding the Longxing Peace Accord (Longxing heyi 隆興和議). It holds significant scholarly value for the study of the Southern Song's early decades and the relations between the Song and Jin empires.

Historical texts from the Song period do not cite this book, and it is missing from catalogues of the period, indicating that it was probably not widely circulated at the time. As a result, the origins and textual history of its versions remain somewhat unclear.

The textual transmission of this work is intricate, with editions of varying quality. During the Chongzhen reign period 崇禎 (1628-1644) of the late Ming era 明 (1368-1644), a manuscript from the Xueyan Studio (Xueyanzhai 穴硯齋) circulated. The copy now held by the National Library of China (Guojia Tushuguan 國家圖書館) contains corrections and commentary, making it one of the highest-quality versions available today. Whether the copy held in the Tianyi Pavilion (Tianyige 天一閣) was the same as this manuscript is difficult to determine. Since the Ming and Qing 清 (1644-1911) periods, many collectors have owned this work. For example, Wu Chongyao 伍崇曜 (1810-1863) published it in the series Yueyatang congshu 粤雅堂叢書 based on the manuscript from Wu Jian's 吳騫 (1733-1813) Baijing Studio (Baijinglou 拜經樓), whose collection often included works acquired from his fellow townsmen and predecessors. Similarly, collectors in Haining 海寧, such as Ma Sizan 馬思贊 (1669-1722; Daogu Studio 道古樓) and Zha Shenxing 查慎行 (1650-1727; Deshu Studio 得樹樓), got manuscripts that had otherwise been lost.

The annotated edition in the series Quan Song biji 全宋筆記 mainly relies on the Qing-period manuscript preserved at Peking University for comparison, but unfortunately, it did not utilise the copy held in the National Library. This is regrettable, as the book directly or indirectly cites Southern Song imperial edicts, official memorials, and records of appointments and dismissals. The Zhongxing yuwu lu offers significant corrective value to works such as the Sanchao beimeng huibian 三朝北盟會編 and Jianyan yilai xinian yaolu 建炎以來繫年要錄.