| Abstract |
This article uses the social relations collected by the CBDB, together with existing historical sources, to explore the possible selection criteria of “Biographies” in the Gazetteer of Wujun. The purpose of this article is not to exhaust all the selection criteria, but to supplement our understanding of this criteria. “The Biographies” of the Gazetteer of Wujun included a total of 73 people from the Song Dynasty. One of the editors’ selection criteria was the kinship network. Of these 73 individuals, 46 (63%) belonged to the same kinship network. The same phenomenon can also be found if one chooses to observe those with official positions in the “Jinshi List,” reflecting that the literati families in the Song Dynasty had a certain continuity in Suzhou and the social relations intertwined with each other. In addition, if we observe the introduction of members of the Nine Elders Association, we can find that those who could make friends with national literati were more likely to be included, because they should also have a higher cross-regional social reputation, which reflects that social reputation also affects whether one person would be included in the “Biographies.” On the other hand, as the examples of Chong Danian, Ding Wei, and Wang Bao show, if a historical figure had a positive social reputation in the local society, it was also helpful for the inclusion of the historical figure. The popularity of “Biographies” in Song local gazetteers shows that one of their main functions was likely to assist local literati to participate in the national literati community in groups linked by local social networks (such as kinship) and social reputation, contributing to its interactions and further developments. |
