Beiyoulu 北旅錄

Beiyoulu 北旅錄 "Records of a northern journey" is a "brush-notes"-style book (biji 筆記) composed during the very late Ming period 明 (1368-1644) by Tan Qian 談遷 (1593–1657). He had a deep love of historical writing, and in middle age resolved to compile a comprehensive history, devoting his entire life's energy to completing the history book Guoque 國榷, which established him as a celebrated historian of the Qing period. He also compiled the Haichang waizhi 海昌外志.

In 1653, in order to supplement and correct the Guoque, he accepted an invitation from Zhu Zhici 朱之賜, a junior compiler (bianxiu 編修) at the Hongwen Academy 弘文院, and travelled to the capital to serve as a private secretary (jishi 記室). This book was compiled from the travel experiences, poems, and prose pieces he produced during his time in Beijing between 1653 and 1656. It is divided into the sections Itinerary (Jicheng 紀程), Postal stations (Jiyou 紀郵), Verses (Jiyong 紀詠), Prose (Jiwen 紀文), and Reported matters (Jiwen 紀聞). The chapters contain particularly detailed accounts of the geographical setting and historical anecdotes of the various localities visited. The parts Jiyong and Jiwen comprise the poems and prose pieces composed along the way; the writing has a certain roughness to it and contains few outstanding works. The last part largely records hearsay and popular anecdotes, among which there is a considerable amount of material relating to Manchu customs — entries such as "Divorce" (Lihun 離婚), "Birthdays" (Shengri 生日), "Braided Hair" (Bianfa 辮髮), and "Funeral Rites" (Sangli 喪禮) constitute important folklore sources. Certain popular accounts of historical figures, such as the entry on Song Xiance 宋獻策, may serve as significant supplementary evidence for historical research.

The writing of this record is elegant and refined, its accounts fresh and novel — it is the finest example of its kind among miscellany literature.

A typeset edition was published by the Zhonghua Shuju 中華書局 in 1960.