Jiashen zaji 甲申雜記

Jiashen zaji 甲申雜記 "Miscellaneous Records of the Year 1104" is a "brush-notes"-style book (biji 筆記) written during the Song period 宋 (960-1279) by Wang Gong 王鞏 (1048-1118), courtesy name Dingguo 定國, style Qingxu Xiansheng 清虛先生. He hailed from Xinxian 莘縣 (in today's Hebei province) and was befriended with the famous writer Su Shi 蘇軾 (Su Dongpo 蘇東坡, 1037-1101), together with whom he was exiled to Binzhou 賓州. He had the office of an aide to the Chamberlain for the Imperial Clan (zongzheng cheng 宗正丞). The word jiashen 甲申 in the title is the combination of the cyclical signs of the year 1104 (see calendar).

The book consists of 3 juan, each of which is actually a separate part, namely the proper Jiashen zaji, the part Wenjianlu 聞見錄 "Records of hearsay", and the section Suishou zalu 隨手雜錄 "Miscellaneous records written down at ease". The first part includes 42 stories about the "eastern capital" Kaifeng 開封 (Henan province), the seat of the Northern Song dynasty 北宋 (960-1126). The stories cover the time from the reign of Emperor Renzong 宋仁宗 (r. 1022-1063) to the Chongning reign-period 崇寧 (1102-1106) of Emperor Huizong 宋徽宗 (r. 1100-1125). The second part consists of 104 stories from the time of Emperor Shizong 周世宗 (r. 954-959) of the Later Zhou dynasty 後周 (951-960) down to the time of Emperor Renzong, and the Suishou zaji consists of 33 stories about the Song dynasty, and one from the Later Zhou empire, the Southern Tang empire 南唐 (937-975) and the empire of Wu-Yue 吳越 (907-978) each. Most of these stories centre around the imperial courts and the activities of the court officials. Many facts are not to be found in official dynastic histories, making the Jiashen zaji a crucial supplementary source for this period.

It is included in the series Siku quanshu 四庫全書, Shuofu 說郛, Zhibuzuzhai congshu 知不足齋叢書, Xuehai leibian 學海類編, Tang-Song congshu 唐宋叢書, Biji xiaoshuo daguan 筆記小說大觀 and Congshu jicheng chubian 叢書集成.