Jingchu Suishiji

Zong Lin Zōng Lǐn, wTsung Lin; AD498–561) It seems likely he wrote the book after moving to Chang'an in 554. Aside from the Jingchu Suishiji and other fragments, the original text is now lost. used the Precious Canon to revise and annotate Zong's text sometime in the late Sui or early Tang. Du's family came from Boling The original text of this work—in which it is sometimes difficult to distinguish Zong's text from Du's emendations—seems to have been lost under the Song (10th–13th centuries). ==Contents==

Jingchu was the area reckoned as the former territory of Chu, now mainly in Hubei and Hunan around the middle stretches of the Yangtze River. The Jingchu Suishiji is one of the first sources to record the combination of the stories of "The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl" and Zhang Qian with his magical raft. Similarly, an edition of the Jingchu Suishiji from the end of the Six Dynasties period of Chinese history is one of the few sources of the era that mention the Ghost Festival, a Buddhist holiday on the 15th day of the 7th lunar month supposedly started by the disciple Moggallāna to free his dead mother from her status as a hungry ghost. Zong quoted the apocryphal Yulanpen Sutra and described the holiday during his time: people offered temples flowers, flags, and bowls and joined monks and nuns in drumming and singing. during the last month of spring. This derives, however, from an ignorance that the festival had originally been observed around midwinter and continued so as late as the Han. ==Editions==

The best edition of the Jingchu Suishiji is that compiled as part of Mitsu Moriya's ''Study of China's Old Seasonal Records''. It has been translated into German by Turban and into Japanese by Moriya & al., which includes helpful commentary. ==Legacy==

The Jingchu Suishiji was very influential on writings about the seasons and festivals of China throughout the Tang and Song, being quoted greatly more than any other non-classical text. The book is sometimes credited as the earliest reference to the Korean traditions concerning red-bean porridge The consumption of red-bean porridge around the new year had been common in China in order to stave off disease—particularly smallpox—spread by the pestilent son of the monster Gonggong; the practice spread to Korea under the Goryeo and has continued as part of the Korean New Year celebrations. ==See also==