Historical Records of the Five Dynasties facts for kids
Title page for Historical Records of the Five Dynasties, English language translation from 2004
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| Author | Ouyang Xiu |
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| Country | Song dynasty |
| Language | Classical Chinese |
| Subject | history of the Five Dynasties period |
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Publication date
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1073 |
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Original text
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Historical Records of the Five Dynasties at Script error: The function "name_from_code" does not exist. Wikisource |
| Historical Records of the Five Dynasties | |||||||||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | 五代史記 | ||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 五代史记 | ||||||||||||
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| New History of the Five Dynasties | |||||||||||||
| Chinese | 新五代史 | ||||||||||||
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The Historical Records of the Five Dynasties (also known as Wudai Shiji) is an important Chinese history book. It tells the story of the Five Dynasties period (907–960). This was a time in China when several different ruling families, or dynasties, quickly followed each other.
The book was written by a smart official from the Song dynasty named Ouyang Xiu. He wrote it on his own, not as an official government project. He started writing it around 1036 to 1039, but it wasn't officially published until 1073, which was a year after he passed away. Later, in 2004, a shorter English version of the book was published.
This book is one of China's official Twenty-Four Histories, which are a collection of important historical records. People often call it the New History of the Five Dynasties (Xin Wudai Shi). This helps to tell it apart from an older book called the Old History of the Five Dynasties, which came out in 974. Both books cover the same time period, but Ouyang Xiu's book is shorter and gives more analysis, meaning it explains why things happened.
What's Inside the Book?
The New History of the Five Dynasties tells the story of five main dynasties that ruled China during this period. These are the Later Liang, Later Tang, Later Jin, Later Han, and Later Zhou dynasties.
The book has 74 chapters in total. It's filled with different types of information to give a full picture of the time:
- Basic Annals: These chapters are like a yearly diary of events for each of the five main dynasties.
- Biographies: These sections tell the life stories of important people, including royal family members, government officials, and other notable figures. There are also special biographies for people who showed great courage or loyalty.
- Treatises: These parts explain specific topics, like how astronomy was understood or how different regions were governed.
- Hereditary Houses: These chapters focus on the histories of ten smaller kingdoms that existed at the same time as the five main dynasties.
- Appendixes: These sections provide information about the different tribes and groups of people living around China during this period.
Ouyang Xiu's book was inspired by other historical writings. When his book was discovered, it became very important. In fact, the older history written by Xue Juzheng was almost forgotten because Ouyang Xiu's version was seen as better.
Other Books Based on This Work
Years after Ouyang Xiu's book came out, other historians added to it or corrected it. Around 1090, a historian named Wu Zhen wrote a book called Wudai Shiji Zuanwu. This book pointed out any mistakes or errors in the original Historical Records of the Five Dynasties.
Later, in the 18th century, parts of Wu Zhen's book were found again. Then, in 1778, another historian named Wu Lanting added even more corrections and notes. Finally, in 1888, Wu Guangyao published a further addition, showing how important and studied Ouyang Xiu's work remained over centuries.
