Comprehensive Gazetteer of Jilin (*Jilin tongzhi*)

Compilation and scope

The Jilin tongzhi is a comprehensive local gazetteer covering the history, institutions, and geography of the Jilin region under the Qing. The consulted bibliographic record describes the late-Guangxu compilation as comprising 122 juan, with Changshun among its senior supervisors and Li Guilin and others responsible for general editorial work, alongside compilers including Gu Yun. Unlike a family genealogy, a tongzhi assembles documentation on diverse aspects of a region.

Evidence for banner garrisons

Juan 50 includes descriptions of military establishments at Bodune, Sanxing, Alechuka, Lalin, Shuangchengbao, Hunchun, and other localities. Its entries concern officers and soldiers, weapons, training grounds, and the historical increase or reduction of authorized personnel. The text cites sources such as the Huangchao wenxian tongkao and institutional codes before noting later changes, enabling readers to compare arrangements across several periods rather than treating a single troop count as timeless.

This makes the gazetteer useful for clarifying locally situated offices such as banner company officers, defence commanders, and cavalry-school officers. Dates, the original source of a recorded regulation, and additions made by the gazetteer's editors should all be distinguished. Printed Guangxu-period editions and later facsimiles exist, and errors in electronic text recognition are possible. Specific imprint dates, maps, and numerical details should therefore be checked against the printed witness before quotation.