Rixia jiuwen 日下舊聞 and Rixia jiuwen kao 日下舊聞考

Rixia jiuwen 日下舊聞 "Hearsay of Old Matters from Under the Sun" is a local gazetteer about Beijing written by the early Qing period 清 (1644-1911) historian Zhu Yizun 朱彝尊 (1629-1709). Zhu was erudite literatus (boxue hongci ke 博學鴻詞科), then examining editor (jiantao 檢討), and participated in the compilation of the official dynastic history of the Ming dynasty 明 (1368-1644), the Mingshi 明史.

In these functions he had access to a archival documents and made use of 1,649 different types of texts for his research on the history of Beijing. His 42-juan long book was finished in 1687 and is crowned by prefaces written by eminent scholars like Xu Qianxue 徐乾學 (1631-1694), Gao Shiqi 高士奇 (1644-1703) and Chen Tingjing 陳廷敬 (1638-1712).

The term rixia 日下 "under the sun" means in the capital Beijing (a term used by the Tang-period 唐 (618-907) writer Wang Bo 王勃 (650-676) for the then-capital Chang'an 長安 (modern Xi'an 西安, Shaanxi) in his essay Tengwangge xu 滕王閣序.

The detailed table of the Rixia jiuwen of contents provides a quick overview of all themes the book covers. It is divided into 13 chapters, with numerous sub-chapters, covering the history of Beijing from remote antiquity until the end of the Ming period. There is an appendix about the Stone Drum inscriptions (Shiguwen 石鼓文) from the late Spring and Autumn period 春秋 (770-5th cent. BCE) that had found their way to Beijing somehow. The book covers the themes topography, astronomy, palaces, city quarters, streets, markets, local administration, the capital mints and workshops, citygates, brides, temples, shrines, touristic spots, and their change over time. The book also describes the surroundings of Beijing, its culture and economy, and the situation of agriculture and irrigation in the districts adjacent to the city. The book is very detailed and therefore an important source for the history of Beijing.

The Rixia jiuwen was first printed in 1688 by the Liufeng Hall 六峰閣. Zhu Yizun's son Zhu Kuntian 朱昆田 (1652-1699) wrote a supplement to the book that is in most editions appended to the main text. In 1981 the Beijing Guji Press 北京古籍出版社 published a modern, annotated edition of the Rixia jiuwen.

(Qinding) Rixia jiuwen kao (欽定)日下舊聞考

(Qinding) Rixia jiuwen kao (欽定)日下舊聞考 "(Imperially Endorsed) Investigations About Hearsay of Old Matters from Under the Sun" is a geographical treatise compiled on imperial order under the supervision of Yu Mingzhong 于敏中 (1714-1779), Dou Guangnai 竇光鼐 (1720-1795) and Zhu Yun 朱筠 (1729-1781). The book of 160 juan was finished in 1774 and presented to the throne as a supplement and commentary to Zhu Yizun's 朱彝尊 (1629-1709) Rixia jiuwen 日下舊聞 from the early Qing period 清 (1644-1911).

The book is arranged in 17 chapters with themes like a standard local gazetteer, describing the starry sky above Beijing, its history, its topography, palaces, the city wall, the imperial city, the offices and official buildings, parks and gardens, the suburbs, the metropolitan district (jingji 京畿), the households, the people's custums and habits, local products, the border regions, and miscellaneous topics.

In comparison to Zhu Yizun's book this revised edition includes 42 fascicles more, mostly enriched by accounts on palace buildings and imperial gardens (like the Yuanming Yuan 圓明園, Qingyi Yuan 清漪園 or Jingyi Yuan 靜宜園). The chapters Guochao gongshi 國朝宮室, Jingcheng zashuo 京城總説, Huangcheng 皇城 and Guochao yuanyou 國朝苑囿 are new, and the chapter Guanshu 官署 was separated from the chapter Chengshi 城市 in the original.

Additions in the revised editions are marked with two terms, namely bu 補 (additions by Zhu's son Zhu Kuntian 朱昆田) and zeng 增 (additions by Dou Guangnai and Zhu Yun), while the original text of Zhu Yizun is marked with the word yuan 原 "original".

Both texts are important sources for the history of Beijing in the early and high Qing period and the changes of the capital's face between the Kangxi 康熙 (1662-1722) and Qianlong 乾隆 (1736-1796) reign-periods. They do not only include rich information about the buildings of the city, but also quote texts from many inscriptions of steles and other objects, like the Stone Drum Texts (shiguwen 石鼓文) from the Spring and Autumn period 春秋 (770-5th cent. BCE), Su Lingzhi's 蘇靈芝 inscription on a stone slab in Minzhong Monastery 閔忠寺 from the Tang period 唐 (618-907), or the inscriptions on the buildings of the Yuanming Yuan Garden that was destroyed in 1861 by British and French invaders.

The Rixia jiuwen kao was printed in 1786. A modern, annotated edition was published in 1981 by the Beijing Guji Press 北京古籍出版社.