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1073 book by Ouyang Xiu
This article is about the 1073 book by Ouyang Xiu. For the 974 book by Xue Juzheng et al., see Old History of the Five Dynasties.
Historical Records of the Five Dynasties
Title page for Historical Records of the Five Dynasties, English language translation from 2004
The Historical Records of the Five Dynasties (Wudai Shiji) is a Chinese history book on the Five Dynasties period (907–960), written by the Song dynasty official Ouyang Xiu in private. It was drafted during Ouyang's exile from 1036 to 1039 but not published until 1073, a year after his death. An abridged English translation by Richard L. Davis was published in 2004.
One of the official Twenty-Four Histories of China, the book is frequently referred to as the New History of the Five Dynasties (Xin Wudai Shi) in order to distinguish it from the Old History of the Five Dynasties which was published in 974. Though both books follow a similar format, Ouyang's book is more concise and markedly more analytical.
Contents
New History of the Five Dynasties covers the Later Liang, Later Tang, Later Jin, Later Han, and Later 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."
Chapter 70: Hereditary House of Eastern Han (東漢世家)
Chapter 71: Timeline for the Hereditary Houses of the Ten Kingdoms (十國世家年譜)
Chapters 72–74: Appendixes on the Four Barbarians (四夷附錄)
The book has been partially translated into English:
Ouyang Xiu (2004) . Historical Records of the Five Dynasties. (transl. Richard L. Davis). New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN0-231-12826-6.
Derivative works
A couple decades later (c. 1090), Wu Zhen published a 3-chapter Wudai Shiji Zuanwu (五代史記纂誤; "Compendium of Errors in the Historical Records of the Five Dynasties") which was appended to the original. This new work was considered lost in 18th-century Qing dynasty, but partly recovered by compilers of the Complete Library of the Four Treasuries from indications quoted in the 15th-century Yongle Encyclopedia. Thereafter, in 1778 Wu Lanting (吳蘭庭) published a 4-chapter Wudai Shiji Zuanwu Bu (五代史記纂誤補; "An Addendum to the Compendium of Errors in the Historical Records of the Five Dynasties"), and in 1888 Wu Guangyao (吳光耀) published a 6-chapter Wudai Shiji Zuanwu Xubu (五代史記纂誤續補; "Further Addendum to the Compendium of Errors in the Historical Records of the Five Dynasties").
Davis, Richard L. (2004). "Introduction". In Ouyang Xiu (ed.). Historical Records of the Five Dynasties. New York: Columbia University Press. pp. xliii–lxxiv. ISBN0-231-12826-6.
Tonami, Mamoru (1978). "Wu-tai shih-chi". In Hervouet, Yves (ed.). A Sung Bibliography. Translated by B. Albertat. Hong Kong: Chinese University Press. p. 63. ISBN962-201-158-6.
Title page for Historical Records of the Five Dynasties, English language translation from 2004