The ''Yuanhe Xingzuan'' () is an imperial

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

Emperor Xianzong Emperor Xianzong of Tang (4 March to 1 April 778''Old Book of Tang'', vol. 14. – 14 February 820; r. 805 – 820), personal name Li Chun, né Li Chun (), was an emperor of the Chinese Tang Dynasty. He was the eldest son of Emperor Shunzon ...

(reigned 805–820), whose

era name A regnal year is a year of the reign of a sovereign, from the Latin ''regnum'' meaning kingdom, rule. Regnal years considered the date as an ordinal, not a cardinal number. For example, a monarch could have a first year of rule, a second year o ...

was Yuanhe. The book was completed in 812 and records 1,232 surnames. The ''Yuanhe Xingzuan'' contains the register of the most prominent families of the time, starting with Li 李, the imperial family. The other families are arranged according to the phonetic system of the ''

Guangyun The ''Guangyun'' (''Kuang-yun''; ) is a Chinese rime dictionary that was compiled from 1007 to 1008 under the patronage of Emperor Zhenzong of Song. Its full name was ''Dà Sòng chóngxiū guǎngyùn'' (, literally "Great Song revised and expan ...

'' dictionary. The main sources are private

genealogy book A genealogy book or register is used in Asia and Europe to record the family history of ancestors. Greater China It is the Chinese tradition to record family members in a book, including every male born in the family, who they are married to, e ...

s and not necessarily reliable historical facts. It also quotes from many older texts including ''

Shiben The ''Shiben'' or ''Book of Origins'' (Pinyin: ''shìběn''; Chinese; 世本; ) was an early Chinese encyclopedia which recorded imperial genealogies from the mythical Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors down to the late Spring and Autumn period ( ...

'', ''

Fengsu Tongyi ''Fengsu Tongyi'' (), also known as ''Fengsu Tong'', is a book written about 195 AD by Ying Shao, who lived during the later Eastern Han period. The manuscript is similar to an almanac An almanac (also spelled ''almanack'' and ''almanach'') is ...

'', ''Zuxingji'' (族姓記), ''Sanfu Juelu'' (三輔決錄), ''Baijiapu'' (百家譜), ''Yingxian Zhuan'' (英賢傳), ''Xingyuan Yunpu'' (姓源韻譜), and ''Xing Yuan'' (姓苑). The original book was lost during the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

, but

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

scholars Sun Xingyan (孫星衍) and Hong Ying (洪瑩) collected quotations from the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

encyclopedia ''

Yongle Dadian The ''Yongle Encyclopedia'' () or ''Yongle Dadian'' () is a largely-lost Chinese ''leishu'' encyclopedia commissioned by the Yongle Emperor of the Ming dynasty in 1403 and completed by 1408. It comprised 22,937 manuscript rolls or chapters, in ...

'' and the Song dynasty book ''Gujin Xingshi Shu Bianzheng'' (古今姓世書辨證), and compiled them into an 18-volume version which is included in the '' Siku Quanshu''.

References

{{reflist Tang dynasty literature 9th-century Chinese books Genealogy publications 812 9th century in China

See also

References