Annotated Records of the Three Kingdoms () by Pei Songzhi (372âÂÂ451) is an annotation completed in the 5th century of the 3rd century historical text Records of the Three Kingdoms, compiled by Chen Shou. After the fall of the Eastern Jin, Pei Songzhi became the Gentleman of Texts under the Liu Song dynasty, and was given the assignment of editing the book, which was completed in 429. This became the official history of the Three Kingdoms period, under the title Sanguozhi zhu (zhu meaning "notes").
Pei went about providing detailed explanations to some of the geography and other elements mentioned in the original. More importantly, he made corrections to the work, in consultation with records he collected of the period. In regard to historical events and figures, as well as Chen Shou's opinions, he added his own commentary. From his broad research, he was able to create a history which was relatively complete, without many of the loose ends of the original. Some of the added material was colourful and of questionable authenticity, possibly fictional. All the additional material made the book close to twice the length of the original. Pei Songzhi scrupulously cited his sources, and always introduced his opinion as such.
List of texts used in Pei Songzhi's annotations
Official and private histories
Government documents
Individual, family, and group biographies
Encyclopoediae, dictionaries, and references
Poetry, essays, philosophy, and literature
Correspondence
Classics
Quoting classics was an inescapable reality of Chinese political and academic life as early as the Eastern Zhou period. Pei Songzhi often cites classics in order to contextualize quotations made by speakers in Chen Shou's original text, and occasionally to explain the philosophy or background behind a person's actions. These works do not constitute historical sources for Pei Songzhi's purposes, but are included here for sake of completeness.
Texts of uncertain identity or disputable citation
Other sources
Pei Songzhi occasionally quotes other historians without citing any book or document title. Sun Sheng, Gan Bao, and Xi Zuochi are especially common. These may have been marginal notes in Pei's copy of Records of the Three Kingdoms, or personal notes to which he had access. Rarely, Pei Songzhi will report hearsay without any attribution.
Notes
References
Bibliography
- Crump, J.I., Jr., transl. Chan-Kuo Ts'e. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971.
- Fang Xuanling inter al., eds. æÂÂæÂ¸ (Book of Jin), 648. Beijing: Zhonghua Publishing, 1974. 10 vols.
- Gao Min (é«ÂæÂÂ), ãÂÂä¸ÂÃ¥ÂÂå¿ÂãÂÂ裴æÂ¾ä¹Â注å¼ÂæÂ¸è ("Books Used by Pei Songzhi on Noting of History of the Three Kingdoms"). Journal of Henan University of Science and Technology (Social Science), 25.3 (June 2007), pp 5âÂÂ21.
- Lu Ji, 鏿©Âé (Collected Works of Lu Ji), Jin Taosheng (éÂÂ濤è²), ed. Beijing: Zhonghua Publishing, 1982.
- Lu Yaodong (é¯èÂÂæÂ±), 裴æÂ¾ä¹Âä¸ÂÃ¥ÂÂå¿Â注å¼ÂéÂÂå³éÂÂé ("Collected Explanations of Various Biographies Cited in Pei Songzhi's Annotation of Records of the Three Kingdoms"). å°大æÂ·å²å¸報, 1 (May 1974), pp 1âÂÂ18.
- Pei Songzhi, ä¸ÂÃ¥ÂÂå¿Â注 (Annotated Records of the Three Kingdoms). 429. Hong Kong: Zhonghua Publishing, 1971. 5 vols.
- Qian Daxin, 廿äºÂå²èÂÂç° (Examination of Discrepancies in the Twenty-Two Histories). 1797. Cited in Gao.
- Schaberg, David, A Patterned Past: Form and Thought in Early Chinese Historiography. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2001.
- Shen Jiaben, æ²Âç°Âç±ÂÃ¥Â
ÂçÂÂéºæÂ¸ä¹Â篠(Mr Shen Yiji's Leftover Documents, Volume Two). 1910s. Cited in Gao.
- Wang Zuyi (çÂÂç¥Âå½Â), ä¸ÂÃ¥ÂÂå¿Â人åÂÂé (List of Personal Names in Records of the Three Kingdoms). Commercial Press, 1956. Cited in Gao.
- Wei Zheng inter al., eds. éÂÂæÂ¸ (Book of Sui), 636. Beijing: Zhonghua Publishing, 1973. 6 vols.
- Zhao Yi, 廿äºÂå²åÂÂ訠(Notebook of the Twenty-Two Histories). 1770s. Cited in Gao.
External links