Meng's book is a detailed and nostalgic description of the old capital's urban life, seasonal products, and festivals, as well as foods, customs, and traditions.
[1] Nothing else is known of the author, evidently a minor government official, except that he lived in Bianjing (汴京) (now called Kaifeng, in Henan province) between the ages of 13 and 27 before escaping to the south.
His book was first printed in 1187, but the Preface is dated 1147, a number of years after the capital was moved, indicating that Meng started a draft at this point.
[2] The literal meaning of the title is Dongjing (Eastern Capital, that is, Kaifeng), meng (dream), Hua (the ancient land of perfection) lu (record).
The allusion is to the Yellow Emperor's dream of the land of Hua Xu, "a sphere of perfect joy and harmony," where people knew no fear, selfishness, avarice, or pain.
The modern expert Steven West, however, suggests that this inconsistent style resulted when Meng mixed passages from a journal of some kind with later compositions, then used slang and technical terms.
[12] Wu Pei-yi, another recent historian, believes that the book's appeal lies in "the elements of style that it shares with the modern art of photography: the vivid and minute inventory of visual detail, the refusal to delve behind the facade, the preoccupation with the present moment, and the concealment of a narrator.