（20 volumes）

Author: Li Tao (Song Dynasty) / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-09-01
Features: This book is a chronological history of the Northern Song Dynasty, preserving a large amount of original historical materials and holding extremely high value. The existing manuscript and printed copies of this book contain numerous errors, but they have now been systematically collated, punctuated, and segmented, forming this new and more complete version, which provides convenience for the study of Song Dynasty history. The Continuation of the Zizhi Tongjian Changbian records events from Emperor Taizu Zhao Kuangyin's Jianlong era (960) to Emperor Qinzong Zhao Huan's Jingkang era (1127), covering 168 years of history from nine Northern Song dynasties. Li Tao extensively collected official histories, veritable records, and political treatises, "gathering diverse accounts to supplement the omissions in veritable records and official histories; seeking truth and refuting false arguments and confusing disputes," with a style modeled after Sima Guang's Zizhi Tongjian, based on the principle of "better to err on the side of excess than to err on the side of deficiency." Where conflicting accounts exist, both are preserved. It is said that when Li Tao collected materials, "he made ten wooden cabinets, each containing twenty sliding compartments, labeled with the corresponding year in the sexagenary cycle. Whenever he heard of events from the current year, he placed them in the appropriate compartment, arranging them in chronological order by month and day, in an orderly manner." Due to the vast volume of the work, it was submitted in four installments. Additionally, it includes The Essentials (68 volumes), The General Catalogue of Revisions and Replacements (10 volumes), and The General Catalogue (5 volumes), totaling 1,063 volumes. The Southern Song scholar Ye Shi remarked, "Li Tao's Continuation of the Zizhi Tongjian is the only book after the Spring and Autumn Annals that matches its caliber," while the Siku Quanshu states, "It is comprehensive and detailed, serving as a forest of evidence for those who study history." The original manuscript is lost, but it was later compiled from the Yongle Dadian, though parts of Emperor Yingzong, Emperor Shenzong, and Emperor Zhizong are missing, and the reigns of Emperor Huizong and Emperor Qinzong are entirely absent. Only 520 volumes remain in existence today.