Song Shu (Complete Eight Volumes)

Author: (Liang) Shen Yue
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2003-10-01
Features: The Song Dynasty was a feudal regime established in the south after the Eastern Jin Dynasty. In the second year of the Yuanxing era of Emperor An of Jin, Huan Xuan, the governor of Jingzhou, usurped the Jin throne and declared himself emperor. The following year, Liu Yu, a commander of the Northern Fu forces, rose up in rebellion in both Jingkou (now Zhenjiang, Jiangsu) and Guangling (now Yangzhou, Jiangsu), overthrowing Huan Xuan and nominally restoring the Jin Dynasty's rule while actually seizing military and political control of the Eastern Jin. Fifteen years later, in the second year of the Yuanxi era of Emperor Gong of Jin, Liu Yu established the Song Dynasty, with its capital in Jiankang (now Nanjing). After Liu Yu, the dynasty lasted for seven generations until it was overthrown by Xiao Qi in the third year of the Shengming era of Emperor Shun of Song. The History of the Song Dynasty comprises one hundred volumes, including ten volumes of chronicles, thirty volumes of treatises, and eighty volumes of biographies, authored by Shen Yue of the Liang Dynasty.
The Song Dynasty was a feudal regime established in the south after the Eastern Jin Dynasty. In the second year of the Yuanxing era of Emperor An of Jin (403 AD), Huan Xuan, the governor of Jingzhou, usurped the Jin throne and declared himself emperor. The following year, Liu Yu, a commander of the Northern Fu forces, rose up in rebellion in Jingkou (now Zhenjiang, Jiangsu) and Guangling (now Yangzhou, Jiangsu), overthrowing Huan Xuan and nominally restoring the Jin Dynasty's rule while actually seizing military and political control of the Eastern Jin. Fifteen years later, in the second year of the Yuanxi era of Emperor Gong of Jin (420 AD), Liu Yu established the Song Dynasty, with its capital in Jiankang (now Nanjing). After Liu Yu, the dynasty lasted for seven generations until it was overthrown by Xiao Qi in the third year of the Shengming era of Emperor Shun of Song (479 AD).
The compilation of the official history of the Song Dynasty began in the sixteenth year of the Yuangai era of Emperor Wen of Song (439 AD). At that time, He Chengtian drafted the chronicles and biographies, and wrote the treatises on astronomy and the calendar. Later, Shan Xianzhi, Pei Songzhi, Su Baosheng, and others gradually participated in the compilation, but their tenure as historians was very short. In the sixth year of the Daming era (462 AD), Xu Ai served as the director of the Bureau of Historiography, compiling the "official history" based on previous drafts. It covered events from the first year of the Yixi era of the Eastern Jin (405 AD), when Liu Yu actually assumed power, to the Daming era. The Sui Dynasty's Catalogue of Classics records Xu Ai's History of the Song Dynasty in sixty-five volumes, indicating that his work coexisted with Shen Yue's History of the Song Dynasty. Fragments of Xu Ai's History of the Song Dynasty still survive in works like the Taiping Imperial Encyclopedia. However, Xu Ai was soon dismissed by the Song Dynasty, and the compilation of the Song Dynasty's official history was halted.
In the fifth year of the Yongming era of the Southern Qi (487 AD), Shen Yue was again commissioned to compile the History of the Song Dynasty. At that time, Shen Yue served as the chief of the Prince's Household and concurrently as the director of the Bureau of Historiography. He supplemented and revised the earlier works of He Chengtian and Xu Ai, and it took nearly a year to complete the seventy volumes of chronicles and biographies in the second year of the Yongming era (488 AD). In his memorial to the court, Shen Yue stated, "The treatises must be completed and submitted in sequence," indicating that the thirty volumes of eight treatises in Shen Yue's History of the Song Dynasty were later added. Among the eight treatises, the Treatise on Auspicious Signs referred to the Phoenix as the Divine Bird to avoid the taboo name of Emperor Ming of the Southern Qi, Xiao Luan. The Treatise on Law and Calendar replaced "Shun" with "Cong" to avoid the taboo name of Emperor Wu of the Liang Dynasty, Xiao Shunzhi. The Treatise on Music referred to Zou Yan as Zou Xian to avoid the taboo name of Emperor Wu of the Liang Dynasty, Xiao Yan. This shows that the final version of the History of the Song Dynasty was likely completed after Xiao Luan's accession to the throne (494 AD) or even after Emperor Wu of the Liang Dynasty ascended the throne (502 AD).
Around the same time as Shen Yue or shortly after, Sun Yan wrote the History of the Song Dynasty in sixty-five volumes, Wang Zhishen wrote the Annals of the Song Dynasty in thirty volumes, Pei Ziyao wrote the Brief History of the Song Dynasty in twenty volumes, Wang Yan wrote the Spring and Autumn Annals of the Song Dynasty in twenty volumes, and Bao Hengqing also wrote the Spring and Autumn Annals of the Song Dynasty in twenty volumes. However, these works have been lost to history. Among the relatively complete historical records of the Liu Song Dynasty, Shen Yue's History of the Song Dynasty is the only surviving work.
Shen Yue (441–513 AD), styled Xiuwen, was from Wu Kang (now Deqing County, Zhejiang). He served three dynasties: during the Song Dynasty, he was a minister in the Ministry of Finance; during the Southern Qi, he rose to the position of Minister of Five Armies and President of the Imperial Academy. During the transition from the Southern Qi to the Liang Dynasty, he strongly advised Emperor Wu of the Liang Dynasty, Xiao Yan, to usurp the throne of the Southern Qi, and as a result, he was enfeoffed as the Marquis of Jianchang and rose to the positions of Vice Minister of State, Minister of State, and Director of the Secretariat. Shen Yue wrote many works, but most of them, such as the History of the Jin Dynasty, Annals of the Southern Qi, Biographies of Emperor Wu of the Liang Dynasty, and Treatise on the Poems of the Song Dynasty, are now lost.
Since the late Eastern Han Dynasty, the feudal clan system had fully developed during the Eastern Jin and Southern-Northern Dynasties periods. The feudal clans and aristocratic families enjoyed privileges in politics and the economy, acquiring vast amounts of land and extensively recruiting "" () to exploit labor through various means, brutally oppressing and exploiting the people. They boasted of their lineage and monopolized official positions, as stated in the Commentary on Chu Yuan and Wang Jian's Biographies in the History of the Southern Qi: "High-ranking positions are all inherited through family prestige, and ordinary people can easily rise to become ministers and marshals." Emperor Wu of the Liang Dynasty, Xiao Yan, also strongly supported the feudal clans, and in his edicts, he specifically mentioned the need to correct the phenomenon of "reversed social hierarchy, where the noble and the humble are indistinguishable." Shen Yue's family originated from the Wu Xing clan, one of the most powerful aristocratic families in the Jiangdong region, as noted in the Biography of Zhou Chu in the History of the Jin Dynasty. Shen Yue's family held prominent positions in the Song, Qi, and Liang dynasties. The Selection of Poems by Xiao Tong includes Shen Yue's memorial criticizing Wang Yuan for the "illegitimate marriage and official career" of certain feudal landlords. Therefore, the History of the Song Dynasty compiled by Shen Yue during the Southern Qi and Liang dynasties reflects the characteristics of its time and class, particularly its praise for the powerful feudal clans and its defense of the feudal system. For example, in the biographies of the History of the Song Dynasty, nearly half are devoted to the representatives of the landlord class and the high-ranking aristocratic families, such as the Wang and Xie clans. In the History of the Song Dynasty, the Wang clan alone has fifteen or sixteen biographies, while the Xie clan has nearly ten. For instance, the biography of Xie Hongwei of Chen State describes how busy he was managing the Xie clan's properties, yet at the end of the biography, he is praised as a person who is "simple yet not lacking in refinement" and "detached yet not overly indulgent." Similarly, the biography of Wang Wei of Langye is filled with letters to his friends, yet he is described as "internally upright and possessing an unyielding character." These two individuals, being high-ranking aristocratic families, received "excellent biographies" in the History of the Song Dynasty.
In the History of the Song Dynasty, the feudal clans are generally described as "prominent families of the previous generations," with "elegant and noble demeanor," "lofty and dignified style," and "high regard for intellectual discourse," etc. In contrast, the History of the Song Dynasty still retains certain historical value. The Commentary on Treatises in the History of the Sui Dynasty states: "The years recorded in the Song Dynasty's chronicles span only fifty-six years, and the territory is limited to Jianghuai. Yet the book contains one hundred volumes, making it exceptionally rich." The one hundred volumes of the History of the Song Dynasty record the history of sixty years, preserving a wealth of historical materials, especially including many memorials, letters, and essays from that period, which provide insights into the social, political, and economic realities of the time. For example, in the Biography of Zhou Lang in volume 82, Zhou Lang's memorial discusses the harm caused by the zi (a form of taxation), which severely hindered the development of productivity at the time. The Biographies of Kong Linzhi in volume 56, Fan Tai in volume 60, and He Shangzhi in volume 66 discuss the controversies over coinage reform, reflecting how feudal rulers intensified their exploitation of the people during the process. The Biography of Yang Xuanbao in volume 54 and the attached biography of his brother Yang Xi, as well as the Biography of Xiyang Zixiang in volume 66, include memorials mentioning the polarization of rural areas in the early Southern Dynasties: "The wealthy and powerful occupied the mountains and hills, while the poor and weak had no place to gather firewood or forage. Even in fishing and gathering areas, it was the same." The Biography of Xie Lingyun in volume 67 includes the full text of his Mountains and Residences, providing material for studying the large landlord estates. From the records in the History of the Song Dynasty, it is also evident that the peasant uprisings at that time were not only numerous in number but also widespread in region and scale. For instance, in the first year of the Jingping era (423 AD), there was a rebellion led by Sun Faguang in Fuyang. In the ninth year of the Yuangai era (432 AD), Zhao Guang led a rebellion in Guanghan, with an army of over one hundred thousand people that besieged Chengdu, the capital of, for several months. Additionally, in the early Yuangai era, there were uprisings by ethnic minorities in Xichuan and Danchuan. By the late Yuangai era, ethnic minority uprisings became more frequent in the three states of Jing, Yong, and Yu, with participation reaching over one hundred thousand people (see the Biographies of Ethnic Minorities and the biographies of Zhang Shao, Shen Qingzhi, etc.). Although these records are extremely incomplete and heavily distorted, they still provide clues for studying the class contradictions and struggles of that time.
Furthermore, the Biography of Xie Lingyun and the historical commentary at the end discuss the development and evolution of literature since the Wei and Jin periods, as well as Shen Yue's own views on poetic tonal patterns, making them important materials for studying the history of literary criticism during the Six Dynasties. The Biography of Ethnic Minorities also appropriately describes the friendly economic and cultural exchanges between the early Southern Dynasties and people from various countries in Asia.