The Book of Liang was compiled under Yao Silian and completed in 635. Yao heavily relied on an original manuscript by his father Yao Cha, which has not independently survived, although Yao Cha's comments are quoted in several chapters. The Book of Liang is part of the Twenty-Four Histories canon of Chinese history.

Sources

Although the Book of Liang was finally attributed to Yao Silian, a number of people worked on it. Initially, Emperor Wen of Sui ordered Yao Cha 姚察 (533–606) to compile the Book of Liang but Yao Cha died without being able to complete it. Before dying Yao Cha requested that his son Yao Silian complete the work. Emperor Yang of Sui agreed to compilation of the text by Yao Silian. In the Tang, the compilation of the text was part of an initiative at the suggestion of Linghu Defen shortly after the founding of the Tang dynasty to compile a number of histories for the previous dynasties. Then, Yao Silian was ordered to complete the Book of Chen by Emperor Gaozu of Tang, who ordered other scholars to work on the Book of Liang. When those scholars did not complete their task, Yao Silian was again ordered to work on the text. The Book of Liang was finally compiled by Yao Silian under the supervision of Fang Xuanling and Wei Zheng in the Tang, incorporating at least some of the work of his predecessors.

Quotations on Japan and its surrounding neighbours

It contains the history of the Liang dynasty, and various descriptions of countries to the east of China. One such passage is the description by the monk Hui Shen (慧深) of the country of Fusang, 20,000 li east of China. Note, the Chinese measure of distance (li) used in the Book of Liang corresponds to 400 metres.

The State of Wa

Wa was an ancient kingdom of Japan. Though little concrete information can be found today, its capital precinct, Yamatai, was most likely located either in Kyūshū or in the Kinki region.

The State of Wenshen

The State of Dahan

Contents

Annals (本紀)

Biographies (列傳)

Citations

Sources