Chapter 9 The second section details the interesting new and old "History of the Five Dynasties"

"Old History of the Five Dynasties", written by Xue Juzheng and others in the Northern Song Dynasty, was originally called "History of the Five Dynasties" or "Liang, Tang, Jin, Han and Zhou Shu", referred to as "Xue Shi".It was written in 18 months from April of the sixth year of Kaibao (AD 973) to October of the seventh year of Song Taizu Kaibao.Prime Minister Xue Juzheng led the supervision, and Lu Duoxun, Hu Meng, Zhang Dan, Li Fang and others participated in the compilation.Later, "Historical Records of the Five Dynasties" (referred to as "Ou Shi") written by Ouyang Xiu came out. To distinguish it, "Xue Shi" was called "Old History of the Five Dynasties".

From 907 AD when Zhu Wen proclaimed himself emperor to 960 AD when the Northern Song Dynasty was established, it was another period of large-scale division and separatism in my country's feudal society. For more than 50 years, there were three dynasties successively in the Central Plains: Houliang, Later Tang, Later Jin, Later Han, and Later Five. Outside the Central Plains, there were Wu, Southern Tang, Wuyue, Chu, Fujian, Southern Han, Former Shu, Later Shu, Nanping, and Northern Dynasties. The 10 separatist regimes including the Han Dynasty, as well as the minority regimes such as Khitan, Tubo, and Uighur, were known as the "Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms" in history. "Old History of the Five Dynasties" mainly records the history of this historical period, but it dates back to the second year of Emperor Xizong of Tang Dynasty Qianfu (875 AD), and actually records about 85 years of history.

The original book of "Old History of the Five Dynasties" has been lost, and the current version is compiled by Shao Jinhan, a minister of the Siku library, and others from "Yongle Dadian" and other types of books or history books when the "Siku Quanshu" was revised during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. The completed edition has restored about seven or eight tenths of the original book.There are 24 volumes of "Liang Shu" (including 10 volumes of this Ji and 14 volumes of biography); 50 volumes of "Tang Shu" (including 24 volumes of this Ji and 26 volumes of biography); 24 volumes of "Book of Jin" (including 11 volumes of Benji and 13 volumes of biographies); 11 volumes of "Han Shu" (including five volumes of Benji and six volumes of biographies); 22 volumes of "Book of Zhou" (including 11 volumes of Benji and 11 volumes of biographies).In addition, there are two volumes of "hereditary biographies", three volumes of "tyranny biographies", two volumes of "foreign biographies", and 10 chapters and 12 volumes of annals.The regimes of the ten countries each separated from one side, and those who paid tribute to the Central Plains Dynasty will be included in "Hereditary Biographies", otherwise they will be included in "Arrogant Biographies". "Foreign Biographies" records Goryeo, Silla, Champa and other countries as well as domestic minority regimes.Zhishu is a general record of the laws and regulations of the Five Dynasties.

Although the Five Dynasties was an era of turmoil, the organization of the historical museum still existed, and the records of each dynasty were compiled and preserved until the Song Dynasty. Fan Zhi compiled 65 volumes of "Five Dynasties Tonglu" in the chronological style in the early Song Dynasty. The relevant historical documents are relatively complete. The editors of "Old History of the Five Dynasties" were all well-known historians at that time. Most of them had personally experienced the historical scenes of the Five Dynasties, were familiar with the historical events at that time, and had practical knowledge, so the compilation work was carried out very quickly.Most of the biography in the book is complete from the beginning to the end, the narrative is accurate and detailed, and relatively rich original materials are preserved.However, since this book is mainly based on the actual records of various dynasties, it was completed quickly and was not carefully compiled and rewritten. Therefore, both the text and the viewpoints clearly reflect the original standpoints of the rulers of the Five Dynasties.Some of the words that cover up the historical truth in order to protect the rulers of the current dynasty, such as praising the emperor Shi Jingtang for "旰〔gangan〕food night clothes, courtesy and virtuous advice", etc., are mostly inherited and unchanged, and many historical figures Appreciation is also inappropriate.There are also problems such as messy materials, poor generalization, different views, and weak writing style.

In the Northern Song Dynasty, "Old History of the Five Dynasties" and "New History of the Five Dynasties" were published in parallel.In the seventh year of Jinzhang Zongtaihe (1207 A.D.), it was stipulated that "Xue Juzheng's "History of the Five Dynasties" should be cut off, and Ouyang Xiu's writing should not be used."After the Yuan Dynasty, "Old History of the Five Dynasties" gradually became lost and unknown.Fortunately, it was included when the "Yongle Dadian" was compiled in the Ming Dynasty, and it was possible to compile it into a book when the "Siku Quanshu" was revised during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, and it was generally restored to its old appearance.In the compilation, Shao Jinhan and others also collected relevant materials from dozens of classics such as other historical books, class books, the Song Dynasty, anthologies, steles of the Five Dynasties, etc., as notes on different researches, which complement and confirm with the main text, thus enriching the original text. book content.During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, this book was included in the official history.

"New History of the Five Dynasties", written by Ouyang Xiu in the Northern Song Dynasty.Originally known as "Historical Records of the Five Dynasties", it is the only privately compiled official history among the twenty-four histories since the Tang Dynasty.In order to distinguish it from the "History of the Five Dynasties" officially compiled by Xue Juzheng and others, it is called "New History of the Five Dynasties", or "European History" for short.The writing time began about the third year of Renzong Jingyou (AD 1036), and was basically completed in the fifth year of Huangyou (AD 1053), and it took about 18 years.When Ouyang Xiu was alive, he kept this book secret, and even shirked the imperial court's collection.After Ouyang Xiu's death, it was confiscated by the imperial court and promulgated to the world in the tenth year of Xining (AD 1077).The whole book includes 12 volumes of Ji, 45 volumes of biographies, three volumes of examinations, 11 volumes of aristocratic families and chronicles, and three volumes of Shiyi appendices, totaling 74 volumes.It mainly records the history of 53 years from the first year of Kaiping in the Later Liang Dynasty (907 AD) to the seventh year of Xiande in the Later Zhou Dynasty (960 AD).Its "Liang Benji" also briefly dates back to the fourth year of Qianfu Emperor Xizong of Tang Dynasty (877 A.D.), and in detail it records 83 years of history.

Ouyang Xiu believes: "Historians are the codes and laws of the country." The purpose of history books to record the good and evil of monarchs and ministers and the abolition of all kinds of things is to set an example and admonish future generations.Therefore, he deliberately imitated the writing style of "Spring and Autumn", paying attention to the meaning of praise and derogation, emphasizing the words of love and hate, praise and criticism, and carefully evaluating characters and historical events.He negates the separation and separation, but attributes the root cause of the separation and separation only to the corruption of feudal ethics and morals, which exposes the limitations of his historical thinking.

Xue Juzheng's "Old History of the Five Dynasties" is divided into books, and each dynasty is described separately.Ouyang Xiu integrated the Five Dynasties into one, comprehensively narrated, and arranged them in chronological order.This Ji narrates the Five Dynasties, the narrative is concise and smooth, and all edicts have been deleted.The characters are grouped by category, and the biographies are divided into family members, ministers, death festivals, death events, a party, Tang Liuchen, righteous children, actresses, eunuchs, and miscellaneous biographies.The concubine and the clan are included in the family biographies; those who are officials in a certain generation are included in the biographies of a certain generation; "The Biography of the Six Officials of the Tang Dynasty" records all the ministers in the late Tang Dynasty who helped Zhu Wen usurp the Tang Dynasty power, and they are named "Tang". It is a satire of its injustice; the inclusion of those who have been in office for various generations and have no category can be included in miscellaneous biographies, which means derogatory.The Ten Kingdoms are called families, and briefly describe the "Chronology of the Ten Kingdoms and Families".Ouyang Xiu believed that the Five Dynasties were a troubled time, and his articles on rites and music were not worthy at all. Therefore, except for "Sitian Kao" (similar to "Tianwen Zhi") and "Zhifang Kao" (similar to "County and County Chronicles"), other laws and regulations Nothing was written.

In "Old History of the Five Dynasties", Ouyang Xiu corrected all the words written to protect the rulers of the Five Dynasties, and reported the facts directly; for the popular superstitions of auspiciousness in the world, Ouyang Xiu mostly deleted them, or took a reserved and suspicious attitude.He also saw some historical materials that the editors of the "Old History of the Five Dynasties" did not see, such as Wang Pu's "Five Dynasties Hui Yao", Tao Yue's "Five Dynasties History Supplement", Wang Yucheng (known as) "Five Dynasties History Que Wen" and other related The historical writings of the Five Dynasties, as well as records such as notes and novels, enrich and supplement the historical facts that are missing in the "Old History of the Five Dynasties", such as the biographies of Wang Jingren, Guo Chongtao, An Chonghai, Li Maozhen, etc., are more or less A number of facts are supplemented carefully, and vivid plots are inserted in some places to see the big from the small and deepen readers' understanding of the characters and events.Another example is the "Appendix of the Four Yis", which mainly records historical materials about the Khitan and other ethnic groups in our country, which is not included in the "Old History of the Five Dynasties".Ouyang Xiu is a famous ancient writer with high literary achievements. The whole book is written by one person, and the writing is rigorous and clean, which is far from the messy and humble "Old History of the Five Dynasties".However, due to the pursuit of brevity and one-word praise and criticism, or sticking to rigid calligraphy meanings (such as "there is no victory or defeat in military use, no gain or loss in siege, no writing"), some places are either too omitted or the records are unclear.If the "Old History of the Five Dynasties" had not been recompiled from the "Yongle Dadian", there would be almost nowhere to check these slightly unclear historical facts.In short, in terms of the value of historical materials, "New History of the Five Dynasties" and "Old History of the Five Dynasties" can complement each other and cannot be ignored.

Since Emperor Zhangzong of Jin ordered it to be established in academic officials, "European history" has been widely popular in society, especially in the areas ruled by the Southern Song Dynasty, where Confucianism prevailed, and "New History of the Five Dynasties", famous for its "Spring and Autumn" writing style, has achieved exclusive status in one fell swoop. status.It has been passed down from generation to generation.Today, there is a school version of Zhonghua Book Company, which is easier to read.