Tang Dynasty Chronicle

Author: Cai Dongfan
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-01-01
Features: Cai Dongfan's works are written in the traditional Chinese chapter format, which is popular among the common people of China, and in colloquial language, making them easy to understand. These aspects are no different from the "Yanyi" (historical tales) writers since the Ming and Qing dynasties. The great feature of Cai Dongfan's works lies in his strict pursuit of historical truth. From a young age, Cai Dongfan had a passion for history, thoroughly reading traditional classics, histories, and philosophical texts, conducting in-depth research on Chinese history, and even developing a "disease" for textual research. When writing historical tales, "every word has a source," striving to ensure that the main plot is based on historical records. Cai Dongfan did not yield to power, refusing to write if he could not, and never forged history, demonstrating the valuable integrity of a historian. His works seek to find the "key points" of the rise and fall of dynasties, urging virtue and punishing evil, praising the right and condemning the wrong, brimming with a clear sense of historical justice, patriotism, and democratic spirit. Reading Cai's works allows one to gain historical knowledge in a relaxed and enjoyable way while also receiving ideological education and enlightenment.
In the past, Liu Xuan of the Shijin dynasty and the historian Zhang Zhaoyuan compiled a 200-volume history of the Tang dynasty, chronicling 290 years of Tang history. Later generations criticized it, saying that its organization was disorganized and the facts were scattered. Therefore, during the Qingli period of Emperor Renzong of the Song dynasty, a new edition was compiled, totaling 225 volumes, completed in 17 years, with Ouyang Xiu and Song Qi in charge. Ouyang and Song were renowned scholars of the Northern Song dynasty, with greater literary fame than Liu Xuan and Zhang Zhaoyuan. After more than ten years of collecting and researching historical materials, all the works not published during the Five Dynasties period had been preserved and passed down by then. Based on these, they should have been more precise and detailed. Moreover, it is difficult to achieve perfection in the initial creation but easy to polish and improve. Replacing the old with the new is inevitable. However, critics still criticized its use of obscure and awkward language, lacking refinement, and its excessive cutting of imperial decrees, making it too brief. How difficult it is to write history!
Yet, writing history is difficult, and reading history is also difficult. The Old Book of the Tang Dynasty has 200 volumes, and the New Book of the Tang Dynasty has as many as 225 volumes. Who can read them all without missing a single word? Besides these, there are works like Sun Fu's Historical Records of the Tang Dynasty, Zhao Zhan's Spring and Autumn Annals of the Tang Dynasty, Chen Pengnian's Records of the Tang Dynasty, Yuan Shu's Annals of the Tang Dynasty in Events, ranging from 100 to dozens of volumes. Even if one reads at the desk day and night without stopping, it is unlikely to memorize them all.
Young people, with limited knowledge, want to read all of Tang history. Not only do they lack the time, but they also lack the ability. Thus, they turn to the old novels available in the market, such as The Romance of the Sui and Tang Dynasties, The Complete Story of the Tang Dynasty, The Xue Family Generals, Eastward Expedition, Westward Expedition, Luo Tong Sweeping the North, as well as Journey to the West, The Palace of Eternal Life, Flowers in the Mirror, and Green Plum. They read these day and night, taking them as real events. How could they know that these stories are baseless and full of fabrications? They do little to enrich knowledge but enough to confuse people's minds!
I, though not talented, have compiled popular tales of the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, publishing them in installments. The refined scholars of the country did not mock my simplicity and even believed that they could help with popular education. Therefore, I decided to go against the tide and write about the Tang dynasty, completing a 100-chapter tale, using official history as the foundation and striving for accuracy, while using anecdotes as supplementary threads, avoiding falsehoods. Xu Mao Gong did not become a strategist before, so how could Li Yao have magical powers? Luo Yi rebelled and died, yet how could he have descendants? Shu Zong did not achieve fame until after his children. Tang Xuanzang went west to India to obtain scriptures, yet how could he encounter demons? Xue Ren Gui achieved merits in the heavens, yet how could he rely on his son-in-law? Empress Wu Zetian was lewd, yet how could she have a private son? Yang Guifei was executed, yet how could she achieve enlightenment and reunite with her husband in the afterlife? All these absurdities and vulgar tales—refuting them is where we break the of the secular and support the wings of historians. The Mr. Subsistence and the like will not be able to sneer from the sidelines.
However, the book was completed in haste and has not been revised. Errors are inevitable. I hope the scholars of history in the country will correct my shortcomings.
On the 9th day of the 9th month of the summer of the 11th year of the Republic of China, in the year Wuxu, I, Cai Dongfan of Guye, wrote this preface at the Linjiang Study.