Tang shu

Tang shu
Name	Tang shu
Title orig	舊唐書 / 新唐書 (depending on recension)
Author	Liu Xu, Ouyang Xiu, Song dynasty scholars and others
Country	China
Language	Classical Chinese
Genre	Official dynastic history
Subject	History of the Tang dynasty
Pub date	Compiled 10th–11th centuries

Tang shu

The Tang shu is the standard name for the principal official histories of the Tang dynasty, compiled in successive recensions during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period and the Northern Song dynasty. The works record rulers, officials, institutions, examinations, foreign relations, rebellions, and cultural figures of the Tang dynasty, serving as foundational texts for later historians, philologists, and bibliographers such as Sima Guang, Zhu Xi, and Wang Anshi. The two main redactions—the earlier compilation produced under orders of the Later Jin (Five Dynasties) and the later work edited under Ouyang Xiu and Song dynasty scholars—have both shaped modern understanding of Tang political history, diplomatic contacts with Tubo, Arab Caliphate, Nanzhao, and Khitans, and the literary careers of poets like Li Bai and Du Fu.

Title and Authorship

The composite title of the works appears in classical sources as 舊唐書 (the earlier recension) and 新唐書 (the later recension). The earlier recension was commissioned by Shi Jingtang of Later Jin (Five Dynasties) and attributed to multiple compilers including Liu Xu among others assembled by the Five Dynasties court; the later recension lists chief editors such as Ouyang Xiu and Song Qi under imperial patronage of the Northern Song dynasty. Imperial bibliographic lists and imperial edicts of Li Cunxu and Emperor Taizu of Song record authorial committees drawn from officials in the Hanlin Academy and provincial archives, while subsequent commentaries and colophons name contributors like Fan Zuyu and Zhang Zhiwan in later editorial layers.

Historical Context and Compilation

Compilation of the earlier recension occurred during the turbulent transition after the fall of the Tang dynasty in 907, amid competing regimes such as Later Liang, Later Tang, and Later Jin. The later recension was produced in the context of the centralizing reforms of the Northern Song dynasty in the 11th century, when historiographical agendas emphasized chronological correction, textual emendation, and moral interpretation aligned with Neo-Confucian intellectual currents associated with figures like Zhu Xi. Imperial historiographers referenced court archives held in the Imperial Library and regional secretariats, and used edicts, memorials, and epitaphs circulated through networks including the Guowenju and private collections of scholars such as Su Shi.

Structure and Contents

Both recensions follow the traditional Chinese Twenty-Four Histories format with annals (本紀), treatises (志), and biographies (列傳), but differ in organization and selection. Typical sections include imperial annals for emperors from Emperor Gaozu of Tang to Emperor Ai of Tang, treatises on rites, calendar, law, music, and the imperial examination system, monographs on the Three Departments and Six Ministries administrative divisions, and biographical sketches of chancellors, generals like An Lushan and Gao Xianzhi, foreign rulers, and cultural figures such as Bai Juyi and Li He. The later recension reorganized certain treatises, expanded bibliographies, and revised genealogical tables for aristocratic clans like the Li clan of Zhaojun.

Sources and Methodology

Compilers relied on earlier dynastic records, court archives, memorials, stele inscriptions, local gazetteers, private collections, and literary anthologies. Major documentary inputs cited or incorporated include the Tang court’s Veritable Records (實錄), regional staff rolls, and works by contemporaries such as Du You and Zhao Ying. Editorial methods included collation of variant texts, chronological reconstruction, and biographical selection based on memorials and recommendation lists from metropolitan exams. Later editors applied philological corrections, cross-referencing sources like the Old Book of Tang and newly discovered epitaphs, while sometimes introducing moralizing commentaries reflecting Song historiography debates involving Sima Guang and Wang Anshi.

Language and Style

Written in Classical Chinese, the prose adheres to the conventions of official historiography: economy of diction in annals, technical exposition in treatises, and rhetorically charged portraits in biographies. The language incorporates official terminology from Tang statutes and bureaucratic registers, literary quotations from poets including Wang Wei and historians such as Ban Gu reused for didactic ends. Later redactors introduced textual standardization and occasional Neo-Confucian interpretive glosses, producing stylistic divergence between the earlier brisk bureaucratic register and the later recension’s more elaborate, didactic phrasing.

Reception and Influence

The works have been authoritative references for subsequent historians, lexicographers, and philologists; they influenced compilations such as the Comprehensive Mirror to Aid in Government and the Zizhi Tongjian. Scholars in the Ming dynasty and Qing dynasty produced commentaries and annotated editions; notable critics included Zhang Zeduan and Qian Daxin. The histories shaped sinological studies in modern scholarship, informing research on Tang diplomacy with Annam, Japan (Nara period), and the Sogdians, as well as studies of Tang law codes and administrative reforms under Emperor Xuanzong of Tang. Debates over factual accuracy, editorial bias, and omission persist in modern historiography.

Manuscripts and Editions

Surviving witnesses include printed Song editions, Yuan and Ming reprints, woodblock impressions in private and provincial collections, and manuscript fragments discovered in Dunhuang and other sites. Major printed editions were produced under Song imperial supervision and later reissued in the Ming dynasty’s Siku Quanshu project and Qing collations overseen by scholars such as Huang Zongxi. Modern critical editions rely on collation of Song woodblocks, Dunhuang fragments, and Qing scholarly collations to reconstruct variant readings. Recent catalogues in institutions like the National Library of China and archives in Beijing and Taipei list extant copies and fragmentary holdings.

Category:Chinese history books Category:Twenty-Four Histories