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Pingsonglu 平宋錄

Mar 1, 2012 © Ulrich Theobald

Pingsonglu 平宋錄 "Pacification of the Song empire", also called Da-Yuan hunyi ping Song shilu 大元混一平宋實錄 "Veritable records of the pacification of the Song during the unification of the empire by the Great Yuan" or Bingzi pingsong lu 丙子平宋錄 "The pacification of the Song in the year 1276" is a history of the conquest of the Song empire 宋 (960-1279) by the Mongols written by the Yuan-period 元 (1279-1368) historian Liu Minzhong 劉敏中, courtesy name Duanfu 端甫.

The 3-juan long book is sometimes erroneously attributed to a certain Ping Qing'an 平慶安 from Yanshan 燕山. It is introduced by three prefaces, one written by Zheng Qi 鄭錡 (1428-1516), the second by Fang Hui 方回 (1227-1307), and the third by Zhou Ming 周明.

The first two juan describe the campaign of Counsellor-in-chief (chengxiang 丞相) and general Bayan 伯顔 (1236-1295) against the Song empire and the Infant Emperor Gong's 宋恭帝 (r. 1274-1275) transferral to the north. The largest part of these chapters is identical to the biography of Bayan in the official dynastic history of the Yuan dynasty, the Yuanshi 元史, but there is also some additional information. The last juan includes a table with rewards and amnesties the great general Bayan spoke out, including the investiture of the Infant Emperor of the Song as a prince of the Yuan dynasty. This information is not included in the Yuanshi.

The book catalogue Wenyuange shumu 文淵閣書目 includes a book Yuan ping Song lu 元平宋錄 "The pacification of the Song by the Yuan" which is probably identical with Liu Minzhong's Pingsonglu. It was printed in 1294 and is included in the series Mohai jinhu 墨海金壺 and the Siku quanshu 四庫全書.

Source:
Wu Feng 吳楓, ed. (1987). Jianming Zhongguo guji cidian 簡明中國古籍辭典 (Changchun: Jilin wenshi chubanshe), 174.