 Title page forHistorical Records of the Five Dynasties, English language translation from 2004 | |
| Author | Ouyang Xiu |
|---|---|
| Language | Classical Chinese |
| Subject | history of theFive Dynasties period |
Publication date | 1073[1] |
| Publication place | Song dynasty |
Original text | Historical Records of the Five Dynasties at ChineseWikisource |
| Historical Records of the Five Dynasties | |||||||||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | 五代史記 | ||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 五代史记 | ||||||||||||
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| New History of the Five Dynasties | |||||||||||||
| Chinese | 新五代史 | ||||||||||||
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TheHistorical Records of the Five Dynasties (Wudai Shiji) is a Chinese history book on theFive Dynasties period (907–960), written by theSong dynasty officialOuyang Xiu in private. It was drafted during Ouyang's exile from 1036 to 1039 but not published until 1073, a year after his death.[2] An abridged English translation by Richard L. Davis was published in 2004. The history book is a typical representative of the use of Spring and Autumn style (春秋笔法). It has high literal value but its content may not be accurate enough.
One of the officialTwenty-Four Histories of China, the book is frequently referred to as theNew History of the Five Dynasties (Xin Wudai Shi) in order to distinguish it from theOld History of the Five Dynasties which was published in 974.[3] Though both books follow a similar format, Ouyang's book is more concise and markedly more analytical.[1]
New History of the Five Dynasties covers theLater Liang,Later Tang,Later Jin,Later Han, andLater Zhou dynasties. The book consists of 74 chapters total. It includes biographies, annuals, case studies, family histories, genealogies, and coverage about Chinese tribes. The layout of the work was inspired by the style of Li Yanshou (李延寿) and it pulls content from Xue Juzheng's work. It has been described as being more important than the work that Xue Juzheng created and upon its discovery "Xue Juzheng's earlier history was largely forgotten and nearly lost to the world."[3]
The book has been partially translated into English:
A couple decades later (c. 1090),Wu Zhen published a 3-chapterWudai Shiji Zuanwu (五代史記纂誤; "Compendium of Errors in theHistorical Records of the Five Dynasties") which was appended to the original. This new work was considered lost in 18th-centuryQing dynasty, but partly recovered by compilers of theComplete Library of the Four Treasuries from indications quoted in the 15th-centuryYongle Encyclopedia. Thereafter, in 1778 Wu Lanting (吳蘭庭) published a 4-chapterWudai Shiji Zuanwu Bu (五代史記纂誤補; "An Addendum to the Compendium of Errors in theHistorical Records of the Five Dynasties"), and in 1888 Wu Guangyao (吳光耀) published a 6-chapterWudai Shiji Zuanwu Xubu (五代史記纂誤續補; "Further Addendum to the Compendium of Errors in theHistorical Records of the Five Dynasties").[4]
