宋敏求

Song Minqiu was a scholar of the Northern Song dynasty; details of his life and official career are now difficult to ascertain, and publicly available information is limited. Judging from his extant works, his writings mostly concern the layout of the wards and city walls, palaces, government offices, and institutional regulations of Tang-dynasty Chang'an. Chang'an Zhi systematically sets out the capital's construction and the evolution of its wards and neighborhoods, making it an important source for the study of the ancient capital's geography. Chunming Tuichao Lu, written in the biji style, records court and local observations, institutional precedents, and literary anecdotes, and has value both as historical material and as literature. His style is plain and thorough, emphasizing textual research over elaborate description, and often preserves the institutions and customs of an era within meticulous records. Three of his works are held here, classified under documentary literature and literary appreciation, suggesting that readers approach him mainly through historical notes and accounts of the capital.