Chapter 21 The second section "The Chronicle of Song History" and "The Chronicle of Yuan History"

"The Chronicle of Song History" and "The Chronicle of Yuan History" were written by one person.The author, Chen Bangzhan, styled Deyuan, was born in Gao'an (now Gao'an County, Jiangxi) in the Ming Dynasty.He was born as a Jinshi, and once served as the left servant of the Ministry of War and other official positions.Before Chen Bangzhan, Feng Qi drafted "Song History Chronicles" and Shen Yue compiled "Shi Ji", both of which used the genre of chronicles to describe the history of the Song Dynasty, and these two books were not completed.At the suggestion of others, Chen Bangzhan revised the books of Feng Qi and Shen Yue and combined them into one volume. He started compiling in the 22nd year of Wanli (AD 1604), and it took about a year to complete the whole book.A total of 109 items, about 600,000 words. After the publication of "The Chronicles of Song History", Chen Bangzhan spent another year or so writing the first draft of "The Chronicles of Yuan History", which was edited and supplemented by Zang Maoxun.Zang Maoxun mainly wrote a supplementary article "Determination of Laws and Orders".The book has 27 items, about 100,000 words.The "Fan Li" in front of the book explains that the events before the fall of the Song Dynasty in the 16th year of the Yuan Dynasty (1279 AD) were included in the Song Dynasty, and the events after Zhu Yuanzhang's rebellion were listed in the Ming History, so the content of "Yuan History Chronicles" is relatively brief.

"The Chronicle of Song History" and "The Chronicle of Yuan History" mainly refer to the "Continued Tongjian Compendium" compiled by the official Ming Dynasty and the "Song and Yuan Zizhi Tongjian" by the Neo-Confucianist Xue Yingqi, so the ideas and viewpoints are relatively old and backward. Negative tendencies such as hostility to peasant uprisings, opposition to political reforms, advocacy of Confucianism, and maintenance of feudal principles and teachings are relatively serious.However, these two books describe the general outline of the history of the Song and Yuan dynasties and the major historical events at that time, which are of certain reference value for understanding the history of the Song and Yuan dynasties.The author has also made considerable achievements in selecting topics, setting up topics and organizing compilations.The "History of the Song Dynasty" compiled by the Yuan Dynasty has as many as 500 volumes, and several famous historical books about the Song Dynasty are full of words.The official "Yuan History" is also relatively messy, so it is very difficult for beginners.Chen Bangzhan's two books cut, organized and concentrated a large amount of historical materials in a relatively small space according to historical events, and indeed showed the characteristics of "before and after, the whole and the end at a glance" in the chronicle. , the narrative is well-organized and easy to grasp.The contents of the two books are quite extensive, including general descriptions of major political events in the Song and Yuan Dynasties, as well as the histories of Liao, Xia, Jin, Tubo, Guangyuan and other ethnic minorities.There are also special chapters on laws and regulations, camping fields and rivers, school imperial examinations, ceremonies and music, astronomy and calendar, academic religion, etc.Major peasant uprisings, such as the Wang Xiaobo and Li Shun uprisings in the Song Dynasty that put forward the slogan of "equalizing the rich and the poor", the Wang Ze and Fang La uprisings launched by religious organizations, the Zhong Xiang and Yang Yao uprisings, and the Red Scarf Army uprising at the end of the Yuan Dynasty And so on, there are also special chapters in the book.As for ethnic conflicts and war issues; the loyal and brave men who defended the country, persisted in the war of resistance, and resisted foreign aggression, such as Kou Zhun, Li Gang, Zhong [chong Chong] Shidao, Zong Ze, Yue Fei, Chen Liang, etc. in the Song Dynasty, were commended. Affirmative attitude; negative attitude towards acts of aggression and expansion, such as Yuan Shizu's use of troops against Japan, Champa and other places.In addition, because it was completed by one person, the narratives of the two books can be connected and echo each other, much like the top and bottom of a book.

During the reign of Chongzhen, Zhang Pu, a famous writer in Taicang, Jiangsu, wrote histories for these two books one by one, attached them to the main text, and republished them, changing them into volumes by chapters.Many versions that were widely circulated later were published based on Zhang Pu's adaptation.Zhonghua Book Company has published the punctuated versions of these two books in recent years, correcting some mistakes in the old versions, making them easier to read. During the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty, Li Minghan and Li Yukai, father and son, compiled "Continued Tongjian Jishi Benmo", a total of 110 volumes.In addition to Chen Bangzhan's two books, there are many supplementary historical facts, especially the parts of Liao, Xia, and Jin, which can be referred to with the above two books.