Jin Shu (Upper and Lower)

Author: (Tang) Fang Xianling et al.
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1997-10-01
Features: The Jin Shu (Book of Jin) was compiled by a team of historians organized by the Tang government more than two hundred years after the fall of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. In the eighteenth year of the Zhenguan era, Emperor Taizong decreed that Fang Xianling and Xu Jingzong be tasked with compiling the history of Jin. Xu Jingzong, La Ji, Lu Yuanshi, Liu Zixun, Linghu Defan, Li Yifu, and Shangguan Yi were assigned specific roles in the compilation. Later, Xu Jingzong was appointed as the overall supervisor, with Lu Chengji, Li Chunfeng, Li Yannian, and Jing Bo added to the team, bringing the total number of actual compilers to eighteen. Among them, Jing Bo and Linghu Defan played significant roles. "In most cases, the general principles were proposed by Bo, while Defan, being more experienced, played a key role in finalizing the categories and examples." However, since Fang Xianling held the highest official position among the compilers, the book was attributed to "Fang Xianling et al." Additionally, as the Jin Shu was commissioned by Emperor Taizong, and he personally wrote prefaces for the Biographies of Emperor Xuan (Emperor Xuan Di), Emperor Wu (Emperor Wu Di), Lu Ji, and Wang Xizhi, the book is officially titled "Imperial Taizong's Preface." The compilation of the Jin Shu began in the eighteenth year of the Zhenguan era (644 AD) and was completed in the twentieth year (646 AD), lasting less than three years. The Tang historians were able to complete the Jin Shu in such a short time not only because official history compilation allows for centralized efforts and division of labor but also because the Tang historians made full use of the research achievements of their predecessors.