Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12540/671
Title: Records of the Tang Rivers
Other Titles: 塘河纪事
Authors: Lin, Changchun 
Abstract: Most people from western countries know little about Chinese history which is unfortunate because of what the country has to offer the rest of the world. During my college days, I took a two-semester course on Chinese history and only then started to develop an appreciation of the Chinese experience that dates back thousands of years. To quote the American Historical Association’s webpage about the oldest living civilization, “China has the longest continuous history of any country in the world—3,500 years of written history. And even 3,500 years ago China’s civilization was old!” The translation of Records of the Tang Rivers began as a class project at Wenzhou-Kean University (wku.edu.cn) in Wenzhou, in Zhejiang province China and continued to completion as a labor of love for the editors and translators. As we continued our work, we realized the historical facts we were uncovering could be of great interest and importance to the non-Chinese speaking world, thus this publication. The source text, 塘河纪事, was originally recommended to us by Dr. Toby Michelena, an assistant professor at Wenzhou-Kean university, because it is a recent compilation from historical documents dating as far back as the Han Dynasty (202 B.C.- 220 A.D) and emphasizes history related to his study of the Tang rivers in Wenzhou. To help us with any questions we might have, Dr. Michelena introduced us to Shanzhen Jiang, a member of the editorial board of The Series on Ouhai Culture, who is also an expert on Wenzhou culture and the Tang rivers (see photo above). Almost all the students who worked on this book have since obtained their master’s degrees. Some are now English teachers and others are continuing their studies. This was a talented group of translators and editors to be sure. As for the senior editor, I have been involved in the translation field for more than 50 years, mostly in the area of Buddhist Studies. So now that Records of the Tang Rivers has been published, why might someone read it? Because the source text and the translation are in chronological order, the reader can follow trends in water management and development as well as historical events and occurrences such as dynastic changes, wars, famines, storms and military occupations. Furthermore, the reader can compare events in Wenzhou with known events in other parts of China and the world. For example, reading this book one gains insight into how well Wenzhou adjusted to the many changes during the 20th century including the Republic period, the war with Japan, the establishment and development of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 and beyond up to 2011. Furthermore, one can also find significant natural occurrences found in its covers. Besides many typhoons, there are a few examples of possible tsunamis striking the Wenzhou area. Unlike Taiwan and countries including Japan and the Philippines, it is hard to find documentation of tsunamis inundating the Chinese mainland. However, we have found instances where the magnitude of inflow of ocean water during described events was probably due to sizable tsunamis. This had to be inferred because the Chinese language didn’t have a term for tsunami (jp: 津波 cn:海啸 ) until later centuries. We should also note that dating in the 20th century might now always be accurate. This is because the Republic of China adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1912. However, we have discovered that some of the sources for Records of the Tang Rivers did not always follow this standard and continued to follow the Chinese lunar calendar. We have added appropriate footnotes to indicate the problem. Finally, we would like to thank Wenzhou-Kean University for publishing this translation on their website. This means that more information is now available for free to a broader world of scholars and those with a general interest in Chinese history as well as coastal water development in China. This is the first edition and most certainly can be improved. We hope that others may find it useful and provide feedback to help us improve the translation.
URI: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12540/671
Appears in Collections:Student Project

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