The ''Taiping Huanyu Ji'' (), or "Universal Geography of the Taiping Era 76-983" is a 10th-century AD geographical treatise by Chinese scholar Yue Shi 樂史 (930-1007), written during the reign of

Emperor Taizong of Song Zhao Jiong (20 November 939 – 8 May 997), known as Zhao Guangyi from 960 to 977 and Zhao Kuangyi before 960, also known by his temple name Taizong after his death, was the second emperor of the Song dynasty of China. He reigned from 976 to h ...

in the

Northern Song Dynasty Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ...

.Endymion Wilkinson, ''Chinese History: A New Manual'', (Harvard University Asia Center, 2013), pp. 738, 760. Comprising 200 scrolls (or volumes), it has entries for nearly all areas of China at the time of its publication, complete with place-names and their etymologies. The work generally follows

Tang Dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...

systems of geographical and political designation, dividing China into 13 "Circuits" (), and then subdividing further into the more traditional "prefectures" () and "counties" (). Because it is largely based on Tang works, it constitutes an important source for the study of Tang

geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, an ...

.Endymion Wilkinson, ''Chinese History: A New Manual'' (2013), p. 738. The ''Taiping Huanyu Ji'' generally records places' populations, notable landmarks and religious or ceremonial structures, customs, and basic historical information, sometimes adding details not found in Sima Qian's ''

Records of the Grand Historian ''Records of the Grand Historian'', also known by its Chinese name ''Shiji'', is a monumental history of China that is the first of China's 24 dynastic histories. The ''Records'' was written in the early 1st century by the ancient Chinese his ...

'', China's most renowned geographical treatise. It also set the trend for including

biographies A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or c ...

, literary citations, and other material in Chinese geographical works.Endymion Wilkinson, ''Chinese History: A New Manual'' (2013), p. 738.

Notes

Chinese history texts Song dynasty literature 10th-century Chinese books {{china-hist-book-stub