This mistake was continued by Mao Jin毛晉’s Jigu Ge 汲古閣 edition at the end of Ming Dynasty and amplified in Wuying Dian 武英殿 edition in the early Qing Dynasty (1644‑1912). The mistake in the title was supposed to be caused by the loose handling of historical records soon after the Records of the Kingdoms came into being, while the error of material books was seen from Wu Guan 吳琯’s Xishuang Tang 西爽堂 edition during the reign of Wanli 萬曆 Emperor (1573‑1620) of Ming Dynasty. Title and EditionsħBoth historical documents and early woodblock printed editions of Song 宋 (960‑1279) and Yuan 元 (1279‑1368) dynasties demonstrate that the original name of the Records is Guozhi 國志, Records of the Kingdoms. This indicates that Jin was the legitimate inheritor of the Mandate of Heaven from Wei 魏. Due to this reason, the Shushu is the briefest one among the three parts in the Records.ĥAs same as the existing official histories such as the Shiji 史記 and the Hanshu 漢書, the Records of the Three Kingdoms was written in annals‑biographies style ( jizhuanti 紀傳體) including annals ( ji 紀) and biographies ( zhuan 傳), but it does not include tables ( biao 表) and treatises ( shu 書).ĦAs a subject of the Jin Dynasty, which was the successor of Wei Dynasty, Chen Shou referred to the rulers of Wei as “Emperors” and wrote “imperial annals” ( ji 紀) for them, while he reffered to the rulers of Shu and Wu as simply “Lords” and composed for them mere “biographies” ( zhuan 傳). However, since the State of Shu didn’t set the post of official historian, and therefore lacked documents about its history, the Shushu was composed by Chen Shou mainly according to the primary documents collected by himself, as well as his personal memories of his early life in the State of Shu. These works were the base on which Chen Shou composed the Weishu 魏書 and the Wushu 吳書 of the Records. and the Book of Wu ( Wushu 吳書) containing 20 juan.ĤBefore Chen Shou started compiling his work, both the states of Wei and Wu had already had their own official or private histories, such as the Book of Wei ( Weishu 魏書) by Wang Shen王沈 (d. 266), the Weilüe 魏略 “Brief History of Wei” by Yu Huan 魚豢, and the Book of Wu ( Wushu 吳書) by Wei Zhao 韋昭 (204‑273).the Book of Shu ( Shushu 蜀書) containing 15 juan.the Book of Wei ( Weishu 魏書) containing 30 juan. ![]() Compiling Background and Styleģ The Records of the Three Kingdoms contains 65 scrolls ( juan 卷) distributed in three parts which are : With these efforts, the Records were so preserved and handed down that it was at last taken as an official account of the Three Kingdoms period. Emperor Hui 惠帝 took Fan Yun’s advice and ordered the governor of Henan Prefecture 河南尹, together with the county magistrate of Luoyang 洛陽令, to go to Chen Shou’s house to copy his book 1. After his death, Fan Yun 范䪳 submitted the work to Emperor Hui of Jin 晉惠帝 (reign 259‑307) stating that Chen Shou wrote it in a way of admonition, which was beneficial to edification and morality, and hopefully his book could be officially adopted and transcribed. Although Chen Shou was an official historian, the Records were initially compiled as a private work. He began compiling the Records after Jin conquered Sun Wu 孫吳 and reunified China. After Shu Han was conquered by Cao Wei, which was soon replaced by the Western Jin Dynasty 西晉 (265‑317), Chen Shou was recommended by Zhang Hua 張華 (232‑300) and appointed as Editor of the imperial archives ( zhuzuo lang 著作郎). Chen Shou served the regime of Shu Han as the Secretary of Guange ( Guange lingshi 觀閣令史) in charge of literature archives. 1 Fang Xuanling 房玄齡, 1974, Jinshu 晉書, Zhonghua shuju, Beijing, p. 213 (.)ĢThe author of the Records of the Three Kingdoms is Chen Shou, who was a native of Anhan 安漢 (present‑day Nanchong 南充, Sichuan 四川) in the state of Shu 蜀.
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