A Complete Reading of the Su Shui Ji Wen

The Records of Sushui is a collection of notes in the form of recorded sayings compiled by Sima Guang, a historian of the Northern Song. It takes its name from the fact that the author was from Sushui Township in Xia County, Shaanzhou, and was known as the Master of Sushui. The book was never completed. It was originally a compilation of historical material that Sima Guang gathered while preparing to write A Sequel to the Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government, covering Song history to supplement the Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government. It was later organized, given its title, and circulated by scholars in the Southern Song. The book covers events from Emperor Taizu to Emperor Shenzong of the Song, focusing mainly on major state affairs, court institutions, and government policies, while occasionally touching on anecdotes and trivia about historical figures. It describes the political and military successes and failures, as well as the social life, of all six Northern Song reigns. Its most distinctive feature is its rigorous scholarship: each entry identifies its source, and when the source was forgotten, it was labeled “source unrecorded,” reflecting the historian’s commitment to substantiated accounts. The book is an invaluable historical source. It was frequently consulted during the Yuanyou era when the Veritable Records of Emperor Shenzong were compiled, and later histories, including Li Tao’s Comprehensive Continuation to the Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government, quoted it extensively. Though some entries sparked controversy, as when descendants of the Lü family once petitioned to have the woodblocks destroyed, and surviving editions vary in length, with versions of 2, 10, and 16 volumes, it has always been regarded as one of the core sources for studying Northern Song history. The 1989 punctuated and collated edition published by Zhonghua Book Company is based on the 16-volume version and includes entries recovered from other sources. It has become the standard edition.