The Jinshu 晉書 is the official dynastic history (zhengshi 正史) of the Jin period 晉 (265-420). A such was long overdue when the 130 juan "scrolls" long Jinshu 晉書 was finished in 648.
Already during the second half of the Jin period, the Eastern Jin 東晉 (317-420), historiographers had compiled histories of the Western Jin 西晉 period (265-316). Including all the histories of the Jin dynasty that were written during the rest of the Southern and Northern dynasties period 南北朝 (420~589), the early Tang period 唐 (618-907) archives stored 18 histories of the Jin dynasty. All of these books - except Zang Rongxu's 臧榮緒 Jinshu 晉書 - did not include the Eastern Jin period or only covered a few decades of it. In 646 therefore, Emperor Taizong 唐太宗 (r. 626-649) decreed the compilation of an official dynastic history of the Jin. The compilation team was quite large, it was led by Fang Xuanling 房玄齡 and Chu Suiliang 褚遂良, the final redaction was made by Linghu Defen 令狐德棻. As primary source for the Tang-made Jinshu served in first place Zang Rongxu's Jinshu 晉書, but also the other histories of the Jin, and many literary sources, like the collection Shishuo xinyu 世說新語, Gan Bao's 干寶 Soushenji 搜神記, and the Shiliuguo chunqiu 十六國春秋, the annals of the Sixteen States.
These parallel empires posed a great problem for historians as they are polities existing synchronously to the "righteously" ruling dynasty that do not deserve own official histories because they were "rebels", "usurpers", and because they were "barbarians". The problem was solved in the same manner as in the first of official histories, the Shiji 史記 "Records of the [Grand] Historian" Sima Qian 司馬遷: He had created a special type of biography for the feudal lords called shijia 世家 "the hereditary house of ...". In the Jinshu these biographies were called zaiji 載記 "chronological records".
The personal biographies (liezhuan 列傳) do not simply tell the history of the particular persons but also include a great deal of their literary works that have been preserved in this way and otherwise would have been lost.
The first historic critique of China, Liu Zhiji's 劉知幾 Shitong 史通, criticises the Jinshu for having neglected the difference between phantastic tales or anecdotes as taken from the Soushenji and Shishuo xinyu, and real history. In his eyes - and that of many other scholars - the Jinshu does not deserve to be incorporated into the official dynastic histories.
After the compilation of the Jinshu as the official dynastic history of the Jin period, all other histories of the Jin were eclipsed by this standard history and were only "rediscovered" by Qing period 清 (1644-1911) scholars and republished with a critical apparatus. Unfortunately many of these older Jinshu are only preserved in fragments.
There are many alternative histories of the Jin period of which only parts have survived. The parallels to the official Jinshu have been published under the title of Jiujia jiu Jinshu 九家舊晉書 "The nine old histories of the Jin dynasty" by Tang Qiu 湯球 in the Shangwu Commercial Press 商務印書館 in 1936. Tang Qiu has also collected fragments of other histories on the Jin period that are assembled in a series of collectanea:
Source: Zhou Yiliang 周一良 (1992). "Jinshu 晉書", in: Zhongguo da baike quanshu 中國大百科全書, Zhongguo lishi 中國歷史, vol. 1, pp. 479 f. Beijing/Shanghai: Zhongguo da baike quanshu chubanshe.
Already during the second half of the Jin period, the Eastern Jin 東晉 (317-420), historiographers had compiled histories of the Western Jin 西晉 period (265-316). Including all the histories of the Jin dynasty that were written during the rest of the Southern and Northern dynasties period 南北朝 (420~589), the early Tang period 唐 (618-907) archives stored 18 histories of the Jin dynasty. All of these books - except Zang Rongxu's 臧榮緒 Jinshu 晉書 - did not include the Eastern Jin period or only covered a few decades of it. In 646 therefore, Emperor Taizong 唐太宗 (r. 626-649) decreed the compilation of an official dynastic history of the Jin. The compilation team was quite large, it was led by Fang Xuanling 房玄齡 and Chu Suiliang 褚遂良, the final redaction was made by Linghu Defen 令狐德棻. As primary source for the Tang-made Jinshu served in first place Zang Rongxu's Jinshu 晉書, but also the other histories of the Jin, and many literary sources, like the collection Shishuo xinyu 世說新語, Gan Bao's 干寶 Soushenji 搜神記, and the Shiliuguo chunqiu 十六國春秋, the annals of the Sixteen States.
These parallel empires posed a great problem for historians as they are polities existing synchronously to the "righteously" ruling dynasty that do not deserve own official histories because they were "rebels", "usurpers", and because they were "barbarians". The problem was solved in the same manner as in the first of official histories, the Shiji 史記 "Records of the [Grand] Historian" Sima Qian 司馬遷: He had created a special type of biography for the feudal lords called shijia 世家 "the hereditary house of ...". In the Jinshu these biographies were called zaiji 載記 "chronological records".
The personal biographies (liezhuan 列傳) do not simply tell the history of the particular persons but also include a great deal of their literary works that have been preserved in this way and otherwise would have been lost.
The first historic critique of China, Liu Zhiji's 劉知幾 Shitong 史通, criticises the Jinshu for having neglected the difference between phantastic tales or anecdotes as taken from the Soushenji and Shishuo xinyu, and real history. In his eyes - and that of many other scholars - the Jinshu does not deserve to be incorporated into the official dynastic histories.
After the compilation of the Jinshu as the official dynastic history of the Jin period, all other histories of the Jin were eclipsed by this standard history and were only "rediscovered" by Qing period 清 (1644-1911) scholars and republished with a critical apparatus. Unfortunately many of these older Jinshu are only preserved in fragments.
There are many alternative histories of the Jin period of which only parts have survived. The parallels to the official Jinshu have been published under the title of Jiujia jiu Jinshu 九家舊晉書 "The nine old histories of the Jin dynasty" by Tang Qiu 湯球 in the Shangwu Commercial Press 商務印書館 in 1936. Tang Qiu has also collected fragments of other histories on the Jin period that are assembled in a series of collectanea:
| Fragmentary surviving alternative histories to the Jinshu (Qing) 湯球 Tang Qiu (comp.) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 書名, length in juan | Title | Author(s) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 晉書輯本: | Jinshu jiben: | (Qing) 湯球 Tang Qiu (comp.) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 晉紀輯本: | Jinji jiben: | (Qing) 湯球 Tang Qiu (comp.) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 晉陽秋輯本: | Jinyang qiu jiben: | (Qing) 湯球 Tang Qiu (comp.) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 漢晉春秋輯本: | Han-Jin chunqiu jiben: | (Qing) 湯球 Tang Qiu (comp.) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Shanghai tushuguan 上海圖書館 (ed. 1982), Zhongguo congshu zonglu 中國叢書綜錄, vol. 1, pp. 243-244, as part of the Guangya shuju congshu 廣雅書局叢書. Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Source: Zhou Yiliang 周一良 (1992). "Jinshu 晉書", in: Zhongguo da baike quanshu 中國大百科全書, Zhongguo lishi 中國歷史, vol. 1, pp. 479 f. Beijing/Shanghai: Zhongguo da baike quanshu chubanshe.
| Contents |
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1-10 帝紀 diji Imperial biographies 11-13 志 zhi Treatises 31-100 列傳 liezhuan Normal and collective biographies --31-32 后妃 houfei Empresses and consorts --37 宗室 zongshi The imperial house --93 外戚 waiqi Families of the empresses --97 四夷 siyi The barbarians of the four cardinal directions 101-130 載記 zaiji Hereditary houses of the barbarian usurpatorious dynasties |
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