The Old History of the Five Dynasties was an official history mainly focusing on Five Dynasties era (907–960), which controlled much of northern China. And it also includes some history of other south states during the era. It was compiled by the Song dynasty official-scholar Xue Juzheng in the first two decades of the Song dynasty, which was founded in 960. It is one of the Twenty-Four Histories recognized through Chinese history. The book comprises 150 chapters, and was in effect divided into 7 books, they are: Book of Liang (24 volume), Book of Tang (50 volume), Book of Jin (24 volume), Book of Han (11 volume), Book of Zhou (22 volume), Liezhuan (7 volume) and Zhi (12 volume), respectively. After the New History of the Five Dynasties by Ouyang Xiu was published, it was no longer popular. In the 12th century it was removed from the Imperial Library and was no longer published by order of the Jin dynasty. The book was lost during this period. During the 18th century, Qing dynasty scholars found many complete quotes of the book in Yongle Da Dian. They extracted them and together with other sources of the same period, they were able to largely reconstruct the book, although missing a few chapters. Despite rumours that copies of the original book exist, none have been found.

Purpose

The primary purpose of The Five Dynasties History was to establish the claim of the Song dynasty to the Mandate of Heaven, essentially the divine right to rule the Chinese realm. The Song dynasty took over control of northern China from the last of the Five Dynasties, the Later Zhou. From there, they conquered southern China to eventually rule all but the northern fringe of China known as the Sixteen Prefectures, which was under the control of the Khitan Liao dynasty. Xue sought to establish the claim of the Song dynasty to the Mandate of Heaven through the succession of the Five Dynasties. Xue argued that as each of these five dynasties controlled the traditional heart of China and held territory vastly larger than any of the kingdoms to the south, the Mandate naturally flowed through these dynasties.

Issues

In establishing the path of the Mandate through from the Tang dynasty to the Song dynasty through the Five Dynasties, there are several issues that Xue Zhucheng had to address. The first of these was the brutality exercised by the Later Liang, the first of the five dynasties. Zhu Wen's brutality led many to want to exclude that dynasty from the Mandate of Heaven due to the requirement that the leader work with benevolence. Another issue had to do with the middle three, the Later Tang, Later Jin, and Later Han respectively. None of these were Han Chinese ruled dynasties, but were led by Shatuo. The final major hurdle was related to the ability to rule all of China. While each of these five dynasties held more territory than any of the other Chinese polities of the era, none of them had a realistic chance of conquering the southern kingdoms and uniting the entire realm.

Legacy

Xue's work provides valuable historical information regarding the Five Dynasties that ruled most of northern China from 907 to 960, relied on by historians today for much of what is known about this period of Chinese history. However, another legacy of the book is the use of official histories to strengthen claims to the Mandate of Heaven, including the bending of historical fact to suit the needs of the patron dynasty. Although this was not the first instance of distorting history to legitimize ruling claims (both within and outside China), the work strengthened this trend in Chinese history. In addition, the book was used to legitimize foreign dynasties, which set up the justification for later conquest dynasties that would control much of China's destiny for most of the next millennium.

Catalogue

Book of Liang

Book of Tang

Book of Jin

Book of Han

Book of Zhou

Liezhuan

Zhi (Document)

Citations

Sources