Shuidong riji 水東日記

Shuidong riji 水東日記 "Diary from East of the River" is a "brush-notes"-style book (biji 筆記) written during the Ming period 明 (1368-1644) by Ye Sheng 葉盛 (1420-1474), courtesy name Xingzhong 與中, from Kunshan 崑山 (in today's Jiangsu province). The name of the book is derived from the location of Ye's residence east of River Song 淞水, the modern Suzhou Creek 蘇州河.

The main focus of his book is a description of the early Ming period's system of central government bureaucracy, and it can thus be regarded as an unofficial institutional history. As a government official who served in both the central government and as a provincial governor, Ye Sheng gained extensive experience in how the various government agencies coordinated, particularly in important areas such as tax revenues and the logistics of military garrisons.

Ye Sheng made use of Song- 宋 (960-1279) and Yuan- 元 (1279-1368) period sources not found in other histories. The Shuidong riji has a length of 40 juan "scrolls" in some editions, and in others 40.

The earliest print, although of very poor quality, was published in the 1490s. This print was missing two juan, but they could be supplemented by a private copy owned by Ye's descendants, allowing for a better edition to be produced in the 1530s. A third, revised edition was created during the Kangxi reign-period 康熙 (1662-1722). The latter was reprinted in 1980 by the Zhonghua Shuju 中華書局, with annotations added by Wei Zhongping 魏中平.

The Suidong riji is to be found in the series Siku quanshu 四庫全書, Xu shuofu 續說郛 (1 juan, with the title Shuidong jilüe 水東記略) and Congshu jicheng chubian 叢書集成初編 (under the title Shuidong riji zhaichao 水東日記摘抄 and only 7 juan length).