Dongjing Meng Hua Lu

Dongjing meng Hua lu (Chinese: 東京夢華錄; pinyin: Dongjing Meng Huà lù) or The Eastern Capital: A Dream of Splendor, is a memoir written by Meng Yuanlao (孟元老) (ca. 1090 - 1150). In 1126, Meng was made a refugee from Kaifeng, the thriving capital of the Northern Song Dynasty after Jurchen Jin invaders conquered northern China and forced the withdrawal of the Song court to the temporary capital, Hangzhou, in the south, then known as Lin'an. Meng's book is a detailed and nostalgic description of the old capital's urban life, seasonal products, and festivals, as well as foods, customs, and traditions. In later dynasties, the book was much imitated and taken as an authoritative picture of affluent Chinese culture.

Nothing else is known of the author, evidently a minor government official, except that he lived in Bianjing (汴京) (now called Kaifeng, in Henan province) between the ages of 13 and 27 before escaping to the south. His book was first printed in 1187, but the Preface is dated 1147, a number of years after the capital was moved, indicating that Meng started a draft at this point. The work was published in 10 volumes (juan) and traditional bibliographers classified it as travel writing. It is often cited under the abbreviated name, Meng Hua lu.

The literal meaning of the title is Dongjing (Eastern Capital, that is, Kaifeng), meng (dream), Hua (the ancient land of perfection) lu (record).

The allusion is to the Yellow Emperor's dream of the land of Hua Xu, "a sphere of perfect joy and harmony," where people knew no fear, selfishness, avarice, or pain. When he awoke, the Yellow Emperor came to the realization that the Way could not be achieved through the passions. By using the term, Meng Yuanlao in ironic contrast implies that he himself awoke to a world of "perfect shambles." The historian Wu Pei-yi adds that the Chinese word meng and the English word "dream" have quite different overtones: "In modern English usage dreams are often projected into the future: they stand for hopes or wishes. In China dreams are frequently used as figures for the past." Other uses of the word meng in Chinese literature include the 18th century novel, Honglou Meng (Dream of the Red Chamber) and the 13th century essay, Mengliang lu (Dreaming Over a Bowl of Millet), which is modeled on Menghua lu.

...
Wikipedia