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Song Dongjing kao 宋東京考, also called Dongjingkao 東京考, is a book on the Eastern Capital of the Song dynasty 宋 (960-1279), Kaifeng 開封 (in today's Henan province), compiled during the Qing period 清 (1644-1911) by Zhou Cheng 周城 (18th cent.), courtesy name Shipao 石匏, from Jiaxing 嘉興, Zhejiang.
The book of 20 juan length was compiled based on Zhou's own observations as well as historical sources. The work depicts the urban construction and appearance of Kaifeng, the capital city of the Northern Song dynasty 南宋 (1127-1279). According to an introduction by Yang Shiqing 楊世清 in a reprinted edition from the Qianlong reign-period 乾隆 (1736-1796), Zhou Cheng travelled to Daliang 大梁 (another name of Kaifeng) and recorded what he personally saw and heard, as long as it could be verified. Fearing that his account might still be incomplete or insufficiently detailed, he additionally collected and studied several hundred books from past and present, comparing and verifying them with each other. For ten years, through wind and rain, by the lamplight at his desk, he laboured tirelessly.
The book thus combines both documentary value and the qualities of an eyewitness record. In its compilation, it divides the geography, history, city walls, palaces, pavilions, government offices, scenic sites, and other aspects of the Northern Song capital Kaifeng into forty-two categories, consisting of more than five hundred individual entries. Under each category and entry, the author typically begins with a summary in his own words, then lists—item by item—the relevant accounts and materials from classical sources. The number of works cited or referenced exceeds three hundred and fifty titles.
| 1 | 京城篇 | The capital city |
| 2 | 宮城篇 | The imperial (forbidden) city |
| 3 | (諸司) | Various bureaus |
| 4 | (三省) | The Three Departments |
| 5 | (三省、官治) | The Three Departments and buildings of official administration |
| 6-9 | (官治) | Buildings of official administration |
| 10 | 壇臺池園篇 | Altars, terraces, lakes, and gardens |
| 11 | 苑樓閣館門亭堂宅篇 | Parks, pavilions, towers, official halls, gates, kiosks, and residences |
| 12 | 宅宮篇 | Residential compounds and palaces |
| 13 | 宮觀篇 | Daoist temples and monasteries |
| 14 | 寺篇 | Buddhist temples |
| 15 | 寺祠廟篇 | Temples, shrines, and ancestral halls |
| 16 | 廟院篇 | Temple courtyards and monastic precincts |
| 17 | 山嶽篇 | Mountains and hills |
| 18-19 | 河渠篇、溝洫篇 | Rivers and canals, and drainage ditches |
| 20 | 岡、堆、坡、陂、堤、閘、洞、潭、渡、泊、關、橋梁、井及陵墓篇 | Hills, mounds, slopes, ponds, dikes, floodgates, caves, pools, fords, anchorages, passes, bridges, wells, and tombs |
The Song Dongjing kao is of significant reference value for studying the history of ancient Chinese urban planning, particularly research on ancient capital architecture. Since the work has only recently been republished, its importance as a historical resource and scholarly material remains largely unexplored, and research on it is still in the early stages.
The book was printed around the 1740 and again in 1762. It is included in the series Siku quanshu 四庫全書. A modern edition was published in 1988 by the Zhonghua Shuju Press 中華書局 in the series Zhongguo gudai ducheng ziliao xuankan 中國古代都城資料選刊.