A close reading of 'Trivial Discussion of Faraway Lands' (Xiayu Suotan 遐域琐谈) from 1777 by the jinshi scholar Qishiyi (七十一). An ethno-geographic document describing the lands of modern Xinjiang and...Show moreA close reading of 'Trivial Discussion of Faraway Lands' (Xiayu Suotan 遐域琐谈) from 1777 by the jinshi scholar Qishiyi (七十一). An ethno-geographic document describing the lands of modern Xinjiang and beyond, at the time only recently added to the Chinese Qing empire. I argue that although Qishiyi writes in a private capacity and thus is writing a 'trivial' work, he loans heavily of the formal gazetteer genre.Show less
