Names: For clarity and simplicity, most people and places are translated with only one name; e.g. “Wang Anshi,” even though the text being quoted may have called him Jiefu, Jieqing, the Duke of Jing, or His Excellency. Emperors are called by their posthumous titles (“Emperor Shenzong”). Princes are called by their given names (“Prince Hao”), rather than by their often-shifting fiefdom names. The capital is called Kaifeng, not Bianjing, the Bian Capital, or the Eastern Capital. What is now the city of Nanjing (Wang Anshi’s home), is called by its long-standing name of Jinling, not the Song-era designation of Jiangning-fu.
Names of nations: But to preserve some of the political implications behind throne-room rhetoric, states and nations are labelled the same way as in the dialogue or document being quoted. This means that the Song regime may be called “China” (i.e. Zhongguo), “the Song,” “our current dynasty,” or “us.” The Kitan empire to China’s north will be called “the Kitans,” “the Liao empire,” “the Northern dynasty,” or “the Northerners.” The Tangut empire to China’s northwest may be called “the Xia Empire,” “the Xi Xia,” or “the Tanguts,” while the ethnic groups who lived in and around it appear as “Tibetans” (Tubo/Tufan
Official titles follow Charles Hucker’s Dictionary of Official Titles in Imperial China, with a few exceptions. Government structure in a nutshell: the imperial administration was divided into two branches—civil and military, embodied by the Secretariat-Chancellery (zhongshu/menxia sheng
Provincial organization: From ten to twenty-six macro-regions were called Circuits (lu
Months and days use the lunar calendar; years are listed under Western numbers as if the Western and lunar calendars coincided. (I.e., Xining-era 2 is called 1069; the twelfth month of that year is still listed under 1069, even though it fell in the Western year 1070.) Lunar months and days are not converted to the Western calendar: 1051.IX.16 means “Huangyou era, third year, ninth month, sixteenth day.” 1061.VIIIr.9 is “Zhihe era, sixth year, intercalary eighth month, ninth day.” (New moon on first day of the month, full moon on the fifteenth. Spring comes in months 1–3; summer in 4–6; autumn in 7–9; winter in 10–12. Intercalary month [run
People’s ages are translated into Western years: “twenty years old” not “twenty-one sui.”
Page references to pre-modern, string-bound books: “juan number.page number” (Xi tang ji 4.2a). Modern typeset versions with continuous pagination: “juan number/page number” (Hou Han shu 53/1746). Facsimile reprints may show both paginations (Li Bi 20.8b/526). Some classic scriptures or other works use “chapter:verse,” with or without a page number (Analects 9:30, Shushui jiwen 16:444/318).
Romanization and characters: Characters are provided for all personal and place names on the first appearance, occasionally afterward if helpful, and in the index. Individual words or short phrases that need clarification are provided in English, characters, and romanization. Full or partial sentences that need clarification, as well as poems, lines, and titles of poems, articles and other works are provided in English and characters only.
Spelling: Some of the translations contain irregular spelling, punctuation, or romanization (“Kiang,” “white-sun’d” …). These are a perhaps ill-advised attempt to replicate gradations in tone, archaic usage, or idiosyncratic character forms.