Old Five Dynasties History (1-6) -- Four Great Classical Novels Collection

Author: Xue Juzheng
Publisher:
Publication Date: 1997-03-01
Features: In the history of China, there was a period of large-scale division and fragmentation in the feudal society between the Tang and Song dynasties. From the year 907 when Zhu Wen replaced the Tang dynasty and declared himself emperor to the establishment of the Northern Song dynasty in 960, there were fifty-three years. During this time, the Central Plains region successively saw the emergence of five dynasties: Later Liang, Later Tang, Later Jin, Later Han, and Later Zhou. Outside the Central Plains, there existed ten smaller states such as Wu, Southern Tang, Wu-Yue, Chu, Min, Southern Han, Former Shu, Later Shu, Nanping, and Northern Han. In the surrounding regions, there were also regimes established by ethnic minorities such as the Khitan, Tibetan, Bohai, Dangxiang, Nanzhao, Yuquan, and Dongdan, which are traditionally referred to as the "Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms." The Old History of the Five Dynasties (a six-volume set) records this period of history. The Old History of the Five Dynasties, originally titled The History of the Five Dynasties, was also known as The Book of Later Liang, Later Tang, Later Jin, Later Han, and Later Zhou. Later, to distinguish it from Ouyang Xiu's New History of the Five Dynasties, it became commonly known as The Old History of the Five Dynasties. This was an official history commissioned by Emperor Taizu of Song. Xue Juzheng (912–981) supervised its compilation, with Lu Duksen, Hu Meng, Zhang Dan, Li, Liu Jian, Li Mu, and Li Jiuling among the co-authors. The project began in April of the sixth year of the Kaibao era (973 AD) and was completed and submitted on the day of Jiazi in the intercalary October of the following year, taking only about a year and a half. The speed at which the book was completed was mainly due to Emperor Taizu's high (emphasis), the high caliber and strong team of compilers organized for the project; at the same time, because it was not long after the ancient times, there were quite sufficient historical materials available for reference. Each of the five dynasties had official records, and Fan Zhi further compiled a concise version of these records titled Jianlong Five Dynasties General Record, which greatly facilitated the compilation of the history.