Chronicles of the Twenty

Author: (Song) Zheng Qiao (ed.)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1995-11-01
Features: Tongzhi Lüe is the essence of Zheng Qiao's Tongzhi, a book he authored. The entire Tongzhi consists of 200 volumes, organized into six forms: Jì (Annals), Pǔ (Tables), Lüe (Outlines), Shìjiā (Hereditary Houses), Tiánlè (Biographies), and Zàijì (Chronicles). The Lüe is divided into twenty parts, spanning fifty-two volumes, commonly referred to as Tongzhi Ershiliu Lüe (Twenty Lüe of Tongzhi) or simply Tongzhi Lüe. Zheng Qiao advocated for the principle of broad and comprehensive historical compilation, and Tongzhi was his work on a comprehensive history. Except for the twenty Lüe, the rest of the book is a rough synthesis of historical records before the Sui Dynasty. The twenty Lüe, however, have their unique merits. In terms of structure, they resemble the Tongdian by Du You (who lived before him) and the Wenyantongkao by Ma Duanlin (who lived after him), earning them the collective title of "Three Tong" (Three Compendia). In historical compilation, they stand alongside the Jìzhuanti (Biographical Records) and Biannian (Annals) as three equal pillars. The preface to Tongzhi is an excellent essay on the philosophy of history, beginning with the line: "All rivers have different sources but must converge into the sea, thus avoiding flooding in the nine provinces. All nations have diverse paths but must connect to the Xia region, thus eliminating stagnation in the eight corners of the world. The principle of convergence and connection is profound!" Zheng Qiao believed that all fields of study, including history, must embrace convergence and breadth, a central academic theory of his. Therefore, he highly praised Sima Qian, who wrote a comprehensive history in the Tongshi (Comprehensive History) style, while harshly criticized Ban Gu, who wrote in the Duan dai shi (Dynastic History) style, using terms that were somewhat extreme, such as calling Ban Gu "a superficial and academically void individual, who solely engaged in plagiarism." Sima Qian also acknowledged his own shortcomings: "A great work must be deeply rooted in both breadth and refinement, and only by reading all books in the world can one avoid regrets. In Sima Qian's time, the law restricting book ownership had just been lifted, and access to books was still limited. Across three millennia of historical records, he was constrained to rely on only a handful of sources. The greatest regret for Sima Qian was his lack of breadth." He also remarked: "Sima Qian's work relied entirely on existing texts, interspersed with colloquial language, due to insufficient research and limited time for editing. The greatest regret for Sima Qian was his lack of refinement." These critiques, though biased, do not require detailed discussion. However, when weighed against the principle of convergence and breadth, they reveal a fundamental distinction.