Comprehensive Records of Mount Hua 华岳志

Also known as Gazetteer of Huashan Mountain.

Compiled by Li Rong of the Qing Dynasty. Block-printed in the 11th year of the Daoguang reign, it consists of eight volumes and is included in the category of Topography of Palaces and Temples in Daoist Texts Outside the Canon.

Early gazetteers of Huashan Mountain first appeared in the Song Dynasty.

Comprehensive Records of Mount Hua

The Daozang currently preserves Wang Chuyi’s Gazetteer of the Western Yue Huashan Mountain in one volume, containing only about fifty entries, mostly recording immortal legends of Huashan. In the Yuan Dynasty, a local chronicle was compiled by collecting ancient and modern inscriptions, records, biographies, poems and essays into fourteen volumes, making the gazetteer relatively complete. In the Ming Dynasty, Li Shifang compiled Complete Works of Huayue in thirteen volumes, and Ma Mingqing expanded it to fourteen volumes, which could be called detailed and exhaustive. However, despite its rich content, textual research was insufficient.

In the Qing Dynasty, Li Rong lived in seclusion on Huashan for more than twenty years. He constantly researched and verified the scenic highlights of Huayue, revised, supplemented, added and deleted materials based on old records, pursuing authenticity and evidence—keeping what was correct and correcting what was wrong, thus compiling this new gazetteer.

The book opens with two prefaces by Yang Yiwu and Li Rong. Next is the introductory volume of Gazetteer of Huayue, which includes imperial inscriptions. It also contains three True Form Charts of Huayue and twenty mountain maps, detailing the general situation of each peak of Huayue.

The main text includes: Illustrations and Descriptions, Scenic Spots, Figures, Local Products, Stone and Metal Inscriptions, Arts and Letters, Records, and Supplementary Notes.

After Li Rong completed the manuscript, he sent it to Yang Yiwu for review, who praised that “this gazetteer records clearly and thoroughly.”