Imagine unfurling a scroll depicting the landscapes and customs of ancient Lingnan. Here, peacocks spread their wings, seedless lychees taste sweet, and red snakes bear strange patterns. This is the world that greets you when you open Records of the Northern Household. Its author, Duan Gonglu, traveled among the Five Ridges and immersed himself in the customs of Lingnan's many peoples, capturing vivid scenes in words. Let his writing take you across a thousand years and experience the vitality of the Tang dynasty's southern lands.
This three-volume geographical work was completed in the twelfth year of the Xiantong era in the Tang dynasty, around 871. Duan Gonglu served as a local official in southern Guangdong and traveled through Lingnan, recording its natural features and local products firsthand. His entries cover everything from rhinoceros horn, peacocks, parrots, and red monkeys to seedless lychees, unusual citrus, and white bayberries, as well as local foods, crafts, and utensils. Each entry details their distribution, uses, and role in local life. Cui Guitu's annotations explain classical references and folk anecdotes, drawing on numerous ancient works such as Records of Natural Wonders and Records of Nanyue, making the book both rich in detail and reliable.
At around twenty thousand characters, the book is both a precious record of Lingnan's geography and customs in the late Tang and a firsthand source for later research into the local products and cultural exchanges along the ancient Maritime Silk Road. Reading it, you may feel like an ancient traveler, hearing folk songs, seeing wondrous things, and sensing the harmony between people and nature. It is a cultural journey across a thousand years.
