Bei Hu Lu

Imagine unfolding a picture of ancient Lingnan customs in your hand - here are peacocks spreading their wings, sweet seedless lychees, and red beetles with strange markings; this is the first moment you open "Bei Hu Lu". The author Duan Gaoji personally experienced the Five Ridges, went deep into the customs of various ethnic groups in Lingnan, and captured vivid real scenes with words, taking you through thousands of years and feeling the vitality of the Southern Kingdom in the Tang Dynasty. This three-volume local geography was compiled in the twelfth year of Xiantong in the Tang Dynasty (about 871). Duan Gongdao successively served as a local official in southern Guangdong and traveled to Lingnan. He recorded local customs through field collections - from rhinos, peacocks, parrots, and scarlet monkeys, to seedless lychees, mandarin oranges, and white bayberries, to specialty foods and crafts. Each item described in detail the ecological distribution, uses, and folk uses. Cui Guitu provides annotations to help explain classics and folk anecdotes, and quotes many ancient books, such as "Natural History" and "South Vietnam Chronicles", making the content rich and credible. The entire book has approximately 20,000 words. It is a precious record of the geography and customs of Lingnan in the late Tang Dynasty. It also provides first-hand information for future generations to study the products and cultural exchanges along the ancient Maritime Silk Road. Reading it, you feel like becoming an ancient traveler, hearing songs, seeing strange objects, and perceiving the harmonious coexistence of man and nature. It is a cultural journey that spans thousands of years.