Constructing an Ideal Southern Song in Biji: A Study of Zhou Mi’s Anecdotes of Wulin.

Abstract

As an important biji 筆記 (jottings) of the late Southern Song and early Yuan periods, Zhou Mi’s 周密 (1232–1298) Wulin jiushi 武林舊事 (Anecdotes of Wulin) is conventionally regarded as historical records of urban lives of ordinary people, written under the direct influence of the famous memoir, Dongjing menghua lu 東京夢華錄 (A Dream of the Eastern Capital). Zhou Mi, a leading literati during the late Song and early Yuan period, is deeply interested in history and is committed to preserve historical records of the fallen dynasty. Compare to his later works, Qidong yeyu 齊東野語and Guixin zashi 癸辛雜識, Anecdotes of Wulin is more than a collection of historic data. It is generally believed that the Anecdotes was written shortly after the downfall of the Song dynasty. Possibly, at the time, Zhou was overwhelmed by the shock and sadness, and was unable to judge or criticize. What he needed most at that time was to pacify his emotion, and so he turned to remembering and writing about the heyday of the Southern Song. This article argues that the primary meaning of the Anecdotes is to strongly express the author’s loyalty and identification with the imperial court of the Southern Song dynasty, especially its virtue values. Unlike Dongjing menghua lu, Zhou has spent over two-third of his book on describing events related to the emperor and the imperial family. Instead of focusing on the common folks, he is more eager to show the lives and virtue values of the imperial court and the elite class. In the Anecdotes, Zhou reconstructs, fragment by fragment, a benevolent and prosperous society of the Southern Song, a memory that the author would like his readers to have and to identify with.