Historical records of the five dynasties / Ouyang Xiu ; translated, with an introduction by Richard L. Davis.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ouyang, Xiu, 1007-1072.

Contributor:

Davis, Richard L., 1951-

Sabin W. Colton, Jr., Memorial Fund.

Standardized Title:

Wu dai shi ji. English

Language:

Chinese

English

Subjects (All):

China--History--Five dynasties and the Ten kingdoms, 907-979.

China.

History.

Physical Description:

lxxix, 669 pages : maps ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Columbia University Press, [2004]

Summary:

This is the first major Chinese historical work from the Song dynasty and its only English translation. Written by the intellectual Ouyang Xiu, the history is done in the "ancient" style preferred by forward-thinking literati. Ouyang Xiu relied on his own moral categories, reevaluating the worth of historical figures in light of his own convictions, and rewrote the original documents quoted within biographies. Ouyang Xiu's history would eventually become the last state-sanctioned dynastic history of imperial China to be written by an individual in a private capacity. Provocative and insightful, this text is an eloquent statement on the art of historical writing in the eleventh century.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [643]-650) and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Sabin W. Colton, Jr., Memorial Fund.

ISBN:

0231128266

OCLC:

52464660