Abstract：After the fall of the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty, Chen Yizhong and others established an exiled regime in dire straits and struggled for three years. Due to structural deficiencies in the documentary records of the exiled regime, the portrayal of key figures, particularly depiction of Chen Yizhong in comparison to Wen Tianxiang, gradually deviated from historical reality. Liu Jiangsun, who had connections with both Wen Tianxiang and Chen Yizhong, wrote “Inscription on the Letters of Two Chancellors Chen and Wen” in an attempt to objectively position the historical images of Chen and Wen. Wen Tianxiang and his disciple Deng Guangjian had a strong awareness of literature production and preservation. After the downfall of the exiled regime, they survived for a relatively long time in a relatively relaxed environment, which provided favorable conditions for the dissemination of literature. Documents, which are closely related to the exiled regime, such as the Records Pointing to the South, Post Record Pointing to the South, Collection of Loud Singing, Collected Poems of Du Fu and Annals of Wen Tianxiang have been passed down to this day. Other leaders of the exiled regime either had weak awareness of the production of literature, or had died or fled overseas during the downfall of the exiled regime. Even if literature was produced, it couldn’t be disseminated. Among them, Lu Xiufu’s Diary of the Sea, which focuses on the exiled regime, was the most regrettable. However, in spite of being entrusted with the task, Deng Guangjian intentionally refrained from spreading it. Various factors coincidentally combined, resulting in central government of the exiled regime leaving behind few documentary records, while the Wen Tianxiang Governor’s Office left behind abundant documentary records, leading to the predominant reliance on Wen Tianxiang’s literary records.Among the main figures of the exiled regime, Wen Tianxiang is “worth writing about” and there are also a large number of historical materials “available for writing”, while Chen Yizhong and others are also “worth writing about” but “unable to write” due to the lack of documentation. It can be said that the literary records of the Wen Tianxiang dominated the writing of the exiled regime. In the biographies of the main figures of the exiled regime produced in the Yuan Dynasty, there were as many as seven biographies of Wen Tianxiang, which are not only numerous in quantity but also extensive in length; the remaining members of the leadership usually only had 1-2 biographies, including their respective biography in the History of Song, and these were very brief, only simple compilations of scattered information. It was difficult for ordinary people in exile to enter the field of biographical writing, but members of the Wen Tianxiang Governor’s Office were able to be included in the History of Song in the form of combined biographies. In addition to being dominated by the literary records of the Wen Tianxiang in writing biographies, the comprehensive writing of exiled regime was also under the influence of Wen Tianxiang’s documents. The most important document of the late Song Dynasty, Political Memoirs of the Three Emperors of the Late Song Dynasty, contained many historical materials which were directly from Wen Tianxiang’s literature on the history of exiled regime.Based on various historical sources, it can be found that Chen Yizhong was the main promoter and first leader of the exiled regime; The difficulty of the struggle in the central government was significantly higher than that of the Wen Tianxiang Governor’s Office; seeking help from the Zhancheng States was one of the possible options for Chen Yizhong in the face of dire straits. Chen Yizhong may be one of the most tragic heroic figures in Chinese history, who, in a situation where he had no obligation, sacrificed all his life to initiate and lead a doomed restoration of the Song Dynasty, only to end up with a negative reputation. The divergence in the portrayal of Chen Yizhong and Wen Tianxiang originated from a biased emphasis on the principle of “dying for honor”. In fact, “devoting oneself entirely to duty” should be the highest standard in life and work. Chen Yizhong and Wen Tianxiang are both heroic figures who exemplified this principle.
廖寅. 宋末流亡史书写正解[J]. 浙江大学学报(人文社会科学版), 2026, 56(1): 89-104.
Liao Yin. The Interpretation of the Historiography of the Late Song in Exile: On Liu Jiangsun’s “Inscription on the Letters of Two Chancellors Chen and Wen”. JOURNAL OF ZHEJIANG UNIVERSITY, 2026, 56(1): 89-104.
2026, Vol. 56 
