Chapter 3 Section 3 "Book of the Later Han Dynasty" and "Three Kingdoms"

"Book of the Later Han Dynasty" is a biographical history book that records the history of the Eastern Han Dynasty.It mainly records the historical facts of a total of 195 years from the first year of Jianwu (25 AD) of Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han Dynasty to the 25th year of Jian'an of Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty (220 AD).The author of Ji and Zhuan was Fan Ye [ye Ye] in Liu Song Dynasty in the Southern Dynasty, and the author of Zhi was Sima Biao in Jin Dynasty. Fan Ye, courtesy name Weizong, was born in Shunyang (now southeast of Xichuan County, Henan) during the Liu and Song Dynasties of the Southern Dynasties.He lives in Shanyin (now Shaoxing City, Zhejiang Province).Born in 396 AD.Born in a family, his grandfather and father were both officials, and both loved writing and ink.My grandfather once wrote annotations for "The Biography of Gu Liang", and my father has a collection of essays handed down to the world.Influenced by his family since he was a child, Fan Ye has read many books, and is good at writing and ink, and is quite talented.When Emperor Wen of the Song Dynasty was the Minister of the Ministry of Officials, he was relegated to the prefect of Xuancheng due to his arrogance and uninhibitedness.Later, although he was promoted to General Zuowei and Prince Zhan, he participated in secret affairs, but he was framed by others because of his arrogance, and was killed in the 22nd year of Yuanjia (AD 445) at the age of 48. .When Fan Ye was killed, the manuscript of "Book of the Later Han Dynasty" had not been completed, and it was later destroyed by others. Only two parts, Ji and Zhuan, have been handed down to the world.When Liu Zhao in the Liang Dynasty was annotating Fan, because there was no ambition in the book, he added 30 volumes of the eight annals from Sima Biao's "Continued Hanshu" into "Later Hanshu", which has become a popular book now.

Sima Biao, courtesy name Shaotong, was the eldest son of Sima Mu, king of Gaoyang in the Jin Dynasty.He once wrote a history for the Eastern Han Dynasty, including 80 chronicles, chronicles, and biography, called "Continued Han Shu".Fan Ye's "Book of the Later Han Dynasty" was published, and Sima Biao's "Book of the Continued Han Dynasty" was gradually eliminated, and only Ba Zhi was handed down because it was added to Fan Ye's book. Before Fan Ye wrote "Book of the Later Han Dynasty", there were already many historical books dedicated to the Eastern Han Dynasty, such as "East View of Han Dynasty" written by Liu Zhen, Xie Cheng's "Book of the Later Han Dynasty", Sima Biao's "Book of Continued Han Dynasty", Xue There are more than 10 kinds, such as "Book of the Later Han Dynasty" by Ying, "Book of the Later Han Dynasty" by Hua Qiao, "Book of the Later Han Dynasty" by Xie Chen, and "Southern Records of the Later Han Dynasty" by Zhang Ying.Fan Ye took the strengths of each family, and after his "Book of the Later Han Dynasty" was published, the books of each family gradually disappeared.

Fan Ye's main source of historical materials for "Book of the Later Han" is "East View of Han Ji".The so-called "East View" refers to the place where books and historians wrote in the Eastern Han Palace. The compilation of "Dong Guan Han Ji" began in the fifth year of Emperor Yongping of Han Ming Dynasty (AD 62), and it was compiled five times by centralized historians before and after, and it was not completed until the sixth year of Emperor Wen of Wei Huangchu (AD 225).After 163 years, dozens of scholars including Ban Gu, Liu Zhen, Cui Shi [shishi], Cai Yong, Yang Biao, etc. participated in the event. "Eastern View of the Han Dynasty" is actually a collection of historical materials of the Eastern Han Dynasty.Basically followed the genre of "Historical Records" and "Hanshu".Because it was compiled by the people of the Eastern Han Dynasty based on the historical facts at that time, the historical materials are of high value.Since the Wei and Jin Dynasties, those who compiled the history of the Eastern Han Dynasty have taken their main materials from "East View of Han Ji".Before the Tang Dynasty, "East View of Han Ji", "Historical Records" and "Hanshu" were called the Three Histories.In the Tang Dynasty, Fan Ye's "Book of the Later Han Dynasty" replaced "East View of Han Ji", and together with "Historical Records" and "Hanshu", they were called the Three History. Although "Dong Guan Han Ji" has been lost, most of its historical materials have been preserved in "Hou Han Shu".

Although the style of "Book of the Later Han Dynasty" (Figure 5) basically follows "Historical Records" and "Hanshu", it has also changed and innovated. "Hanshu" is a book of one emperor.In the Eastern Han Dynasty, the three emperors Shang, Chong, and Zhi reigned for a short time and did not have many deeds. The "Book of the Later Han Dynasty" refers to the precedent of the second emperor Hu Hai and Qin Ziying attached to the "Historical Records: The First Ji of Qin Shihuang", proceeding from reality, in "He Di "Ji" is followed by Emperor Shang, and "Shundi Ji" is followed by Chong and Zhi.This not only saves space, but also does not omit historical facts.The last chapter of this Ji is "Queen Ji". In the past "Historical Records" and "Hanshu", except for Empress Lu who was included in this Ji, the empress was included in "Biography of Foreign Relatives".Fan Ye wrote this biography for the empress. This change is in line with the historical fact that the six empresses of the Eastern Han Dynasty were called in court.

In the biographies of the Book of the Later Han Dynasty, seven new categories were added: Danggu, eunuch, Wenyuan, Duxing, Fangshu, Yimin and Lienv.The biography of Danggu and eunuch is not only an innovation, but also reflects the situation of the Eastern Han Dynasty.Most of the eunuchs in the Eastern Han Dynasty participated in government affairs, and many more honest and honest ministers were killed for the crime of forming a party. The eunuchs were the chief culprits who created the party prison.These two stories vividly reflect the conflicts and struggles within the ruling class, which are very characteristic of the times. "Yi Min Zhuan" records that Liang Hong and his wife Meng Guang are noble and talented. Chi.There is also the old father of Hanyin who wrote that the people-oriented thought is very clear ("Hou Hanshu" Volume 83).Emperor Heng of the Han Dynasty often traveled to various places, and the common people would watch wherever he went. When he was in Hanyin, there was an old farmer who continued to plow the land and ignored him.Zhang Wen, the Shang Shulang who followed the emperor, was very surprised, so he sent someone to ask: "Why does everyone come to see the emperor, but you keep plowing the land?" The old farmer smiled and did not answer.Zhang Wen came to ask him in person, and the old farmer said: "I am a man in the mountains and fields. I can't speak. May I ask whether the emperor is established when the world is in chaos, or when it is in good order? The purpose of establishing the emperor is to let him rule the world like a father. Or do you want the people of the world to serve the emperor? When Yao and Shun ruled the country in the past, they didn’t even scrape the rafters used to build the houses, and didn’t cut the mausoleums (to save people’s power), but the people (that is, the people) were at peace. Now your emperor, indulge yourself Lao Min, wander around without any scruples. I am ashamed of you, why do you let people watch it!" Zhang Wen felt ashamed after hearing this.Asking the old farmer's name, (the old father) left without telling.Fan Ye was able to write a biography for the old father of Hanyin, which shows that his historical thinking is relatively advanced.It set a precedent for setting up biographies for women, which deserves special attention.Fan Ye thought it was wrong for history books not to write biographies for women. He chose various types of women with talent and good conduct and wrote biographies for them.For example: Ban Zhao, a female historian who succeeded Ban Gu in completing the "Book of Han"; Le Yangzi's wife who cut off the phone to persuade her husband to study; Huan Shaojun who chose her husband to value character over wealth; Wang Ba's wife who valued fame and wealth and Qing Festival; and The talented Cai Wenji didn't refuse to write a biography because of her remarriage, which shows that Fan Ye did have unique insights.Later histories changed "Lie Nv" to "Strong Nv", and turned it into an inscription of chaste women and martyrs who strictly abide by the three cardinal guides and five constant rules.

"Book of the Later Han Dynasty" likes to follow the narrative of people, regardless of the age. Wang Chong, the author of "Lunheng", was born in the early Eastern Han Dynasty. Wang Fu, the author of "Tunfu Lun", and Zhong Changtong, the author of "Changyan", were born in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. Biography, so that the deeds of these thinkers will not be lost.Zhang Chun and Zheng Kangcheng were not at the same time, because they were both good at Confucian classics, and they were also combined into one biography.

The "Yufu Zhi" and "Baiguan Zhi" in "Hou Hanshu" are also unprecedented in history. "Yufu Zhi" records the styles and evolution of various vehicles, vehicle decorations, clothing and accessories that reflect the feudal hierarchy, and is an important historical material for the study of Yufu culture in the Han Dynasty. "Hundred Officials" records the situation of the establishment of officials in the Eastern Han Dynasty from the central to the local. "Book of the Later Han Dynasty" lacks "Shihuozhi" and "Yiwenzhi", which omits a generation of economic system and cultural classics.Later, "Book of Jin Shihuo Zhi" traced the economic situation of the previous generation, and only made up for some shortcomings. Although "Book of the Later Han Dynasty" only has Ji and Zhuan (annals are supplemented later), Fan Ye's writing is very good, the arrangement is orderly, and he is good at cutting historical materials. The narratives are coherent but do not repeat each other. They meet each other and complement each other.Just as the famous historian Liu Zhiji commented, "Simple and thorough, sparse but not missing" ("Shi Tong Supplementary Note").

Fan Ye's thinking is relatively progressive, his writing history is clear, his love and hatred are strong, and his writing style is sharp.He wrote "Biographies of Solitary Walking" for many husbands who are upright, indifferent to fame and fortune, and "excellent in conduct".In "Danggu Biography", with vivid brushwork, Zhang Jian, Fan Pang, Li Ying and others are written about the awe-inspiring righteousness of Zhang Jian, Fan Pang, Li Ying and others who regard death as home.It is no wonder that after thousands of years, Tan Sitong, a patriot in the late Qing Dynasty, wrote a desperate poem before his execution, "Wangmen seeks refuge and thinks about Zhang Jian, and endures death for a moment to wait for Dugan. I laugh at the sky with my sword, and go to Kunlun to save my heart and gall." The Book of the Later Han Dynasty has far-reaching influence and moving images. In "The Eunuch's Biography", Cai Lun was praised as a loyal person; Hou Lan was denounced as the bane of "the evil family harming the country". It is not accidental that "Book of the Later Han Dynasty" can stand out among the works of other schools and spread to later generations since it was written late. It does have many valuable advantages.

The annotated version of "Book of the Later Han Dynasty", the Ji and Biography parts mainly include the annotations of Li Xian, Prince Zhanghuai of the Tang Dynasty, and the annotations of Liu Zhao of the Liang Dynasty in the Southern Dynasties.The "Supplementary Notes to the Book of the Later Han Dynasty" written by Hui Dong of the Qing Dynasty, and the "Jijie Jiejie" written by Wang Xianqian are both major works on the study of the Book of the Later Han Dynasty.The corrected version of "Book of the Later Han Dynasty" published by Zhonghua Book Company is based on the earliest Song and Shaoxing period version (Figure 6), and it is the most convenient to read and use.

"Three Kingdoms" has 65 volumes, including 30 volumes of "Shu Shu", 15 volumes of "Shu Shu", and 20 volumes of "Wu Shu", mainly recording the history of the three kingdoms of Wei, Shu, and Wu. Before the Northern Song Dynasty, the "Three Kingdoms" were three books, "Wei Shu", "Shu Shu", and "Wu Shu", which were popular separately. It was only in the Northern Song Dynasty that they were printed together and renamed "Three Kingdoms".The whole book has only Ji and Zhuan, but no Zhi and Biao.

The author, Chen Shou, styled Chengzuo, was born in Anhan (now Nanchong, Sichuan) in the early Western Jin Dynasty.Born in the eleventh year of Jianxing (233 A.D.), Liu Chan, the queen master of the Han Dynasty.He was eager to learn since he was a child, and he once worshiped Qiao Zhou, a scholar from the same county, as his teacher.During the Shu Han Dynasty, he served as the official historian of Guange, and after entering the Jin Dynasty, he became the author of the book and led Zhongzheng of the county. "Three Kingdoms" was written at this time.People at that time praised him for being good at narration and having a talent for good history.A man named Xia Houzhan once wrote a "Book of Wei", but after reading "Three Kingdoms" written by Chen Shou, he destroyed his book and stopped writing.Zhang Hua, a senior official at the time, once said to Chen Shou: "You should pay attention to the "Book of Jin"." It can be seen that his talent and "Three Kingdoms" are highly respected by people.Later, he was promoted to be the official secretary and censor. He died in the seventh year of Emperor Hui of Jin Yuankang (297 A.D.) at the age of 65.At that time, Liangzhou Dazhongzheng, Shang Shulang Fan Kai (jun Jun) and others wrote on the table: "Therefore, Chen Shou, the censor of the government, wrote "Three Kingdoms". It is similar, but the quality is straight, and I would like to collect and record it.” He praised its advantages very much, so Emperor Hui of Jin ordered that Henan Yin Luoyang Ling send someone to Chen Shou’s house to copy a copy, and since then, "Three Kingdoms" has been officially handed down to the world. Before Chen Shou wrote "Three Kingdoms", there had been some historical works about Wei and Wu, such as Wang Shen's "Wei Shu", Yu Huan (huanhuan)'s "Wei Lue", Wei Zhao's "Wu Shu", etc. The "Book of Wei" and "Book of Wu" in "Three Kingdoms" are mainly based on these historical books.The Shu regime did not set up a historian, and no one was responsible for compiling the history of Shu. The materials of "Book of Shu" were collected and compiled by Chen Shou himself.The era when Chen Shou wrote the book was close to the Three Kingdoms, and there were not many other people's achievements that could be used for reference. In addition, he wrote it privately, so he did not have the conditions to obtain a large number of documents and files.When we read "Three Kingdoms", we can feel that Chen Shou has the difficulty of insufficient historical materials, and the content is not sufficient. Some important figures such as Xu Gan, Chen Lin, Ying Yu, Ding Yi, Ding Yu [yiyi], etc. do not have biographies , People who have biography, but also often miss the brief.Cao Cao promised to farm, and the nine-rank Zhongzheng system prevailed in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, all of which are recorded in the books. "Book of Jin Chen Shou Biography" once quoted "or cloud" as saying: Ding Yi and Ding Yan were celebrities at that time. Chen Shou once asked Ding's descendants for "thousands of dendrobium rice", but was rejected, so he did not give Ding a biography.He also said: Chen Shou's father joined the army with Ma Di, and Ma Di was killed by Zhuge Liang after losing the street pavilion, and his father was also implicated.Therefore, in "Three Kingdoms", Chen Shou derogated Zhuge Liang as a general who was not good enough to deal with the enemy.However, over the years, many well-known scholars have studied and verified these claims, which have been proved to be unfounded and untrue, and cannot be fully believed.In this way, people have a clear understanding of the accuracy and credibility of the historical materials of "Three Kingdoms". The three pillars of Wei, Shu, and Wu stand together, and the name of "Three Kingdoms" (Figure 7) comes from this.Chen Shou was a person who entered Jin from the Three Kingdoms and became an official of Jin. Jin inherited Wei and unified the whole country, so he had to use "Book of Wei" as the first to describe several generations of emperors in Wei.But for the two masters of Shu and Wu, they are formally called "biography", but the method of recording events is the same as that of this Ji, and the narrative is narrated according to the year. In fact, Shu and Wu are placed on the same status as Wei, which objectively reflects the real situation of history.It can be seen that Chen Shou is an insightful historian. The narrative of "Three Kingdoms" is concise and well-cut, and there are few repetitions in the three books.He was also very careful in the selection of materials, leaving behind a lot of valuable information.For example, "Hua Tuo Biography" preserves ancient medical materials; "Zhang Lu Biography" preserves the historical materials of Taoism in my country. The ethnic historical materials about Xianbei, Wuhuan, Goguryeo, etc. in "Three Kingdoms" are very precious. In terms of literature, "Three Kingdoms" also has a high status.Chen Shou's writing style is very elegant, such as "Zhou Yu's Biography" and "Lu Xun's Biography" are very vivid.Ye Shi in the Northern Song Dynasty once said: "Chen Shou's pen is at the height of his pen, chasing after Sima Qian." Liu Xizai in the Qing Dynasty said of him: "Every word and sentence is extremely important. Even if it is moved or fixed, be careful not to break it." These comments have some truth.Many historians in the past believed that among the history books recording the history of the Three Kingdoms, Chen Shou's book is comparable to "Historical Records" and "Hanshu".Therefore, the history of the Three Kingdoms of other schools has disappeared one after another, and only "Three Kingdoms" has been handed down to the present.Historians regard "Historical Records", "Hanshu", "Later Hanshu" and "Three Kingdoms" as the first four histories, and they are regarded as masterpieces of biographical history. "Three Kingdoms" also has its shortcomings. Chen Shou did not compile the annals, so we have to rely on "Book of Jin" to understand the regulations and systems of the Three Kingdoms.Chen Shou used Qubi to record the affairs of the Jin royal family in the book, and he praised Cao Wei and Sima. This is also a common problem in history books of feudal society, and we should pay attention to it when reading. When Chen Shou wrote "Three Kingdoms", due to various reasons, he failed to see many historical materials.Emperor Wen of the Song Dynasty in the Southern Dynasty thought that "Three Kingdoms" was too brief, so he ordered Pei Songzhi to write an annotation.Pei Songzhi (372-451 A.D.) was born in Wenxi, Wenxi (now Wenxi, Shanxi).During the Eastern Jin Dynasty, he successively served as the internal historian of Lingling and the doctor of Guozi.After Liu Song entered the Southern Dynasties, he served as the Minister of Zhongshu. The annotations of "Three Kingdoms" are different from those of "Historical Records" and "Hanshu". Pei Songzhi's annotations are mainly to add historical facts, and the materials are extremely rich.According to rough statistics, there are more than 200 kinds of writings by people from the Wei and Jin Dynasties listed in the annotations, the intercepted historical materials are relatively complete, and there are quite a lot of entries in the annotations, about 540,000 characters, almost three times that of the main text.In terms of historical value, it is no less than "Three Kingdoms" itself.Most of the books cited in the notes have been lost, and we can only see the outline of them because of the citations in Pei's notes, which makes Pei's notes more valued.According to Pei Songzhi's own conclusion, the content of the annotations focuses on four aspects: one is to supplement the historical events that should be included but not included by Chen Shou.For example, in "Wei Zhi · Emperor Wu Ji", the information about Cao Cao's personality and the situation of Wei Guo's farming are all added.The second is the same thing, but there are different ways of saying it, so we will collect and record different stories for future generations to study.The third is to correct the wrong records.For example, Sun Ce's age is identified in the annotation of "Sun Ce Biography".The fourth is to debate current events and Chen Shou's incorrect views.To sum up, it is to fill in vacancies, prepare for differences, correct errors, and argue.This method of annotating books has created a new situation in annotating books.Historians have always regarded Pei Zhu as an important part of "Three Kingdoms" and are inseparable.Therefore, when reading "Three Kingdoms", you must read Pei's annotations as official historical texts (Figure 8). The main works of later generations studying and annotating "Three Kingdoms" include Liang Zhangju's "Three Kingdoms Circumstances", Hang Shijun's "Three Kingdoms Supplementary Notes", and Lu Bi's "Three Kingdoms Collection". The important editions include photocopies supplemented by the engraved editions of Shaoxing and Shaoxi in the Song Dynasty, included in "The Twenty-Four Histories of Baina Edition";The corrected version of "Three Kingdoms" published by Zhonghua Book Company is based on the above-mentioned books, and also refers to the fragments of the Eastern Jin Dynasty manuscript "Wu Zhi". The biographical style created by "Historical Records" was finalized in "Hanshu". Although "Books of the Later Han" and "Three Kingdoms" only have records and biographies, but no records and tables, their achievements are higher than those written by contemporaries, so they can be widely circulated and play a role in consolidating the records and biographies.These four books were written earlier, and their achievements are also higher. "Sui Shu·Jing Ji Zhi" is called together by these four books. By the Qing Dynasty, the term "first four histories" was finally widely popular.