Historical Records of the Five Dynasties


The Historical Records of the Five Dynasties is a Chinese history book on the Five Dynasties period, written by the Song dynasty official Ouyang Xiu in private. It was drafted during Ouyang's exile from 1036 to 1039 but not published until 1073, a year after his death. An abridged English translation by Richard L. Davis was published in 2004.
One of the official Twenty-Four Histories of China, the book is frequently referred to as the New History of the Five Dynasties in order to distinguish it from the Old History of the Five Dynasties which was published in 974. Though both books follow a similar format, Ouyang's book is more concise and markedly more analytical.

Contents

New History of the Five Dynasties covers the Later Liang, Later Tang, Later Jin, Later Han, and Later Zhou dynasties. The book consists of 74 chapters total. It includes biographies, annuals, case studies, family histories, genealogies, and coverage about Chinese tribes. The layout of the work was inspired by the style of Li Yanshou and it pulls content from Xue Juzheng's work. It has been described as being more important than the work that Xue Juzheng created and upon its discovery "Xue Juzheng's earlier history was largely forgotten and nearly lost to the world."
The book has been partially translated into English:
A couple decades later, Wu Zhen published a 3-chapter Wudai Shiji Zuanwu which was appended to the original. This new work was considered lost in 18th-century Qing dynasty, but partly recovered by compilers of the Siku Quanshu from indications quoted in the 15th-century Yongle Encyclopedia. Thereafter, in 1778 Wu Lanting published a 4-chapter Wudai Shiji Zuanwu Bu, and in 1888 Wu Guangyao published a 6-chapter Wudai Shiji Zuanwu Xubu.

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