Book of Northern Qi (1--2)

Author: Li Baiye of the Tang Dynasty
Publisher:
Publishing Date: Not available
Features: The Book of Northern Qi, a 50-volume work, comprising 8 volumes of chronicles and 42 volumes of biographies, written by Li Baiye of the Tang Dynasty. In the late years of the Northern Wei Dynasty, the Northern Six Towns experienced a massive wave of rebellion. Gao Huan, who rose from the rank of a low-level military official in Huaihuo Town, eventually gained leadership over over 200,000 Xianbei people and controlled the Northern Wei court. In 534, Emperor Xiaowu of Northern Wei, Yuan Xiu, was forced to flee west to Chang'an, where Gao Huan then established Emperor Xiaojing of Eastern Wei, Yuan Shanjian, and moved the capital to Ye, marking the beginning of the Eastern Wei Dynasty. In 550, Gao Huan's son, Gao Yang, deposed Emperor Xiaojing and established the Northern Qi Dynasty. The Eastern Wei and Northern Qi ruled territories extended south to the Yangtze River, engaging in conflicts with the Liang and Chen dynasties, while their western borders were with the Western Wei and Northern Zhou in modern-day Shanxi, Henan, and Hubei. In 577, the Northern Qi was conquered by the Northern Zhou. The Book of Northern Qi was originally titled The Book of Qi, and the addition of "Northern" came later during the Song Dynasty to form its current name. Although it primarily records the history of the Northern Qi, it actually covers approximately 80 years of history from Gao Huan's uprising to the fall of the Northern Qi, focusing on the rise and fall of the Eastern Wei and Northern Qi dynasties. Li Baiye (565–648 AD), styled Chonggui, was a native of Anping in Dingzhou (now Anping, Hebei), belonging to a scholarly family. From a young age, Li Baiye was eager to learn and extensively read classic texts. In the early Sui Dynasty, he served as a Prince Imperial Attendant and inherited his father's title as Duke of Anping. He passed away in the 22nd year of the Zhenguan era (648 AD) at the age of 84. During the Northern Qi regime, internal conflicts between cousins and brothers of the imperial family led to the short-lived dynasty having six emperors in just 20 years. The Book of Northern Qi contains extensive accounts of power struggles among feudal rulers. The book has suffered severe damage in transmission, with only 17 volumes remaining in their original form, while the rest have been supplemented by later scholars using works such as The Book of Northern Dynasties. This has significantly diminished the value of The Book of Northern Qi. Nevertheless, it still serves as a valuable historical record for understanding the Eastern Wei and Northern Qi dynasties.