Traditional Chinese thought and culture have a long history and are highly original, inventive, and literary. Early forms of thought are highly distinctive: religious theology, classical texts of traditional Chinese medicine, ancient military strategy, Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism, and the Hundred Schools of Thought, feng shui and metaphysics, the Twenty-Four Histories, and local customs and geography are all vast and profound. This series, "Essential Classics of Chinese Culture: Original Texts," preserves the original appearance of the books and focuses on preserving and transmitting traditional Chinese thought and culture. By reading the literary essence left by ancient sages, readers can cultivate their character and subtly appreciate the classics of Chinese learning.
Editor's review
Ting Shi was compiled by Yue Ke of the Southern Song dynasty and is one of the more substantial notebook works of the Song period. It records court and provincial observations, the words and deeds of notable figures, and institutional precedents, with some comments on poetry and prose, and has long been valued by scholars of Song history and literature. This book is included in the "Essential Classics of Chinese Culture: Original Texts" series, which chiefly preserves the original appearance of the text, allowing readers to encounter the notebook's original narrative voice and entry structure directly. Its value lies not only in preserving scattered historical materials but also in presenting how Song people observed the people and affairs of their own time: the narrative is concise and often carries praise or blame, and a person's character is frequently revealed in a line or two. For readers who wish to enter the cultural atmosphere of the Song through notebook writings, this book is a suitable choice; for readers who need to verify historical matters, it can be read alongside official histories and collected works. Because it is a classical Chinese notebook with independent entries, it is suited to reading in installments or dipping into at leisure rather than requiring continuous reading from start to finish.
Who it's for
A good fit for
Readers interested in Song history and court and provincial anecdotes
Students researching Song notebook literature and the sources of historical materials
Readers of literature and history with classical Chinese reading ability who enjoy notes and miscellaneous records
Not a good fit for
Readers expecting continuous narrative or a complete story structure
Beginners with weak classical Chinese who need sentence-by-sentence vernacular translation
Reading tips
Read entry by entry, several at a time, and briefly note the people, events, and source clues afterward.
For entries involving institutions or persons, consult relevant histories for cross-verification and avoid isolated interpretation.
Compare the book's technique in recording people and events with later notebooks to appreciate the measure of Song narrative.
Contents
版权信息
桯史
卷一
卷二
卷三
卷四
卷五
卷六
卷七
卷八
卷九
卷十
卷十一
卷十二
卷十三
卷十四
卷十五
FAQ
What does Ting Shi mainly record?
Given its nature as a notebook, the book mainly records Southern Song court and provincial observations, the words and deeds of notable figures, and institutional precedents, with some comments on poetry and prose, in independent entries. It is not a systematic history but preserves contemporary people and affairs and discussions in note form, making it suitable as supplementary reading for understanding Song social and cultural life.
Do I need to read Song history first to read this book?
You do not need to read Song history in full first, but a basic framework of Song history will make it easier to understand what the entries refer to. If figures, official posts, and institutions are completely unfamiliar, you can look them up as you read, treating the book as a set of clues that prompts further reference rather than a monograph requiring background preparation in advance.
Is this edition suitable for scholarly citation?
This series aims to preserve the original appearance of the text and can be used for reading the primary text. For academic citation, however, attention must still be paid to the source of the edition and collation; it is advisable to check authoritative critical editions or indicate the edition used, and not to rely on a popular series volume as the sole documentary basis.
Comments
Find this book
This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.
Yue Ke is an author known from Song-dynasty textual sources; public information about him is limited, and his dates, nationality, and exact career are not clearly recorded. Judging from the five works held in the collection, his writing spans historical miscellanies, poetry and prose, and documentary compilation. Tingshi and Tingshi·Moji tend toward records of court and local observations and anecdotes about figures, written in a concise notebook style. The Eguo Jintuo Cuibian, its sequel and annotated editions center on Yue Fei's deeds and related documents, reflecting an effort to preserve family and historical materials. Songshi Chao: Yuzhu Ji Chao shows that his poems were also selected by later anthologies. Readers often class his works under literary appreciation, historical reading, Eastern philosophy, and classical poetry. Overall, Yue Ke's writings combine historical value with literary interest and suit readers interested in Song notebooks, poetry, and historical documents.
