Dongxuan Records - Tang and Song Historical Materials

Author: None
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1983-10-01
Features: Dongxuan Brush Records is a collection of notes by Wei Tai on historical events from the Northern Song Dynasty's Taizu to Shenzong emperors. Wei Tai, styled Daofu, lived in the late Hanlin Academy, Xiangyang, during the reigns of Emperor Shenzong, Emperor Zhezong, and Emperor Huizong. He associated with figures like Wang Anshi, Wang Anguo, Wang Pang, Huang Tingjian, Dian Dalin, Xu Xi, and Zhang Dun. A scholar with extensive knowledge of books and skilled in poetry, Wei Tai was known for his extraordinary talent in his youth. Once, out of anger, he fought the chief examiner and failed to pass the imperial examination. He then chose to live in seclusion. During Emperor Huizong's reign, Zhang Dun recommended him for a government position, but Wei Tai refused and returned home. His sister-in-law's husband, Zeng Bu, was a key assistant to Wang Anshi's reforms. Later, he clashed with Lü Huiqing over the Market Exchange Law, was demoted, and returned to power after the Yuanyou Restoration. Wei Tai's ideological leanings were similar to Zeng Bu's, expressing criticism of the reforms but generally supporting Wang Anshi while harshly condemning Lü Huiqing.
Wei Tai's works include eleven volumes of Dongxuan Brush Records, one volume of Continuation Records, one volume of Poetry Notes from Linhan Seclusion, two volumes of Corrections, one volume of Notes on Readings, two volumes of Poems on Xiangyang, and twenty volumes of Linhan Seclusion Collection, as well as the Essay on Xiangyang's Topography. Today, only the Brush Records, Poetry Notes, and four poems remain. The book concludes with appendices including bibliographic records and inscriptions, materials on Wei Tai, referenced bibliographies, and abbreviations.