The ''Book of Chen'' or ''Chen Shu'' (''Chén Shū'') was the official history of the Chen dynasty, one of the Southern Dynasties of China. The ''Book of Chen'' is part of the official

Twenty-Four Histories The ''Twenty-Four Histories'' (), also known as the ''Orthodox Histories'' (), are the Chinese official dynastic histories covering from the earliest dynasty in 3000 BC to the Ming dynasty in the 17th century. The Han dynasty official Sima Qia ...

of imperial China. It was compiled by the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

historian Yao Silian and completed in 636 AD ( Zhenguan 10th year). The ''Chen Shu'' is a biographical history book with thirty-six volumes, recording the historical facts of 33 years from the accession of

Chen Baxian Emperor Wu of Chen (; 503– 9 August 559According to Chen Baxian's biography in ''Book of Chen'', he died aged 57 (by East Asian reckoning) on the ''bingwu'' day (written as "jingwu" to avoid the naming taboo of Li Bing, father of Tang Gaozu Li Y ...

( Emperor Wu of Chen) to the last emperor Chen Shubao ( Emperor Houzhu of Chen).Book of ChenBook of Tang

Synopsis

Chen Shu consists of 36 volumes, including 6 volumes of biographies of emperors and 30 volumes of other biographies. In addition to the national history of the Chen Dynasty and the old draft compiled by Yao's father and son, the historical sources of Chen Shu include eight volumes of ''Yongding Residence Note'' (《永定起居注》), twenty-three volumes of ''Tianjia Residence Note'' (《天嘉起居注》), ten volumes of Tiankang Everbright Residence Note (《天康光大起居注》), fifty-six volumes of ''Taijian Residence Note'' (《太建起居注》), four volumes of ''Zhide Residence Note'' (《至德起居注》) and other historical materials and books written by others. The Chen dynasty revitalized the economy of Southern China and was a metropolis for traders and Buddhists from as far as

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

and Southeast Asia. Although the ''Book of Chen'' is brief compared to the '' Book of Liang'' or the ''

Book of Sui The ''Book of Sui'' (''Suí Shū'') is the official history of the Sui dynasty. It ranks among the official Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. It was written by Yan Shigu, Kong Yingda, and Zhangsun Wuji, with Wei Zheng as the lead author. ...

'', much of the Chen dynasty history is also included in other books like the

. Moreover, the Chen royal family continued to hold high political office, prestige, and power within the subsequent

of China, for example with officials such as Chen Shuda and

Xuanzang Xuanzang (, ; 602–664), born Chen Hui / Chen Yi (), also known as Hiuen Tsang, was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making contributions to Chinese Buddhism, the travelogue of ...

(Chen Yi) holding high favor with Tang emperors and many other Chen family members being married into the Tang royal family. Xuanzang is known for his pilgrimage to India and features in China's epic novel ''

Journey to the West ''Journey to the West'' () is a Chinese novel published in the 16th century during the Ming dynasty and attributed to Wu Cheng'en. It is regarded as one of the greatest Classic Chinese Novels, and has been described as arguably the most popul ...

''. Xuanzang / Chen Yi was also the "sworn brother" (义兄) of

Emperor Taizong of Tang Emperor Taizong of Tang (28January 59810July 649), previously Prince of Qin, personal name Li Shimin, was the second emperor of the Tang dynasty of China, ruling from 626 to 649. He is traditionally regarded as a co-founder of the dynasty ...

and was bestowed the name

Tang Sanzang Tang Sanzang () is a central character in the 16th century novel ''Journey to the West'' by Wu Cheng'en. Tang Sanzang is based on the historical Buddhist monk Xuanzang. He is also widely known by his courtesy name, Tang Seng, () or Sanzang (). ...

. Thus, much of the history of the Chen royal family continued after the Chen dynasty and featured in China's subsequent dynasties and golden ages.

Sources

It heavily relied on Yao Silian's father

Yao Cha Yao or YAO may refer to: * Yao (surname), the transliteration of Chinese family names 姚, 銚, and 么 * Yao (ruler), a mythical Chinese ruler and emperor * Yao Ming, Chinese Basketball All-Star that played for the Houston Rockets * Euphrasie Kou ...

's original manuscript. The book is one of the more complete extant records of the Chen dynasty. There are also alternate commentaries, including one by Tang prime minister Wei Zheng, which is also included in the book. In addition to his use of Yao Cha's previous works, Yao Silian relied by contemporary court diaries by Gu Yewang 顧野王 (519-581) and Fu Zai 傅縡 (531-585) and an earlier text also named ''Chen shu'' 陳書, compiled by Lu Qiong 陸瓊 (537-586). There are other histories, including the

Zizhi Tongjian ''Zizhi Tongjian'' () is a pioneering reference work in Chinese historiography, published in 1084 AD during the Northern Song dynasty in the form of a chronicle recording Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD, covering 16 dynast ...

written during the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the res ...

Writing the Book of Chen

Yao Cha (533-606), born in Wu Kang, Xing Wu (now Deqing County, Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province), was a historian of the Southern Dynasties. Yao Silian (557 ~ 637), whose real name is Jian, was born in Yongzhou Wannian (now Xi'an, Shaanxi Province) during the Chen dynasty. During the Chen dynasty, he was an official minister and writer. During the Sui dynasty, he was a secretary and was ordered by the Sui emperors to continue writing the histories of the Liang and Chen dynasties. History has called Yao Silian an esteemed Confucian scholar who had seen the accomplishments of three generations of China (Chen, Sui, Tang). In 606, Yao Cha died, and Silian continued writing these books. After the Tang destroyed the Sui, Yao Silian was appointed as a writer of the Hongwen Museum (弘文馆学). In 629, under imperial edict, Yao worked to finish the Book of Liang and Book of Chen, which was completed in 636. Although Yao Cha and Yao Silian are historians, they both have profound literacy in writing. In terms of writing history, their writing is concise and simple, and they are forbidden to pursue the magnificence and superficiality of rhetoric. They inherit the style and style of writing of

Sima Qian Sima Qian (; ; ) was a Chinese historian of the early Han dynasty (206AD220). He is considered the father of Chinese historiography for his ''Records of the Grand Historian'', a general history of China covering more than two thousand years be ...

and

Ban Gu Ban Gu (AD32–92) was a Chinese historian, politician, and poet best known for his part in compiling the '' Book of Han'', the second of China's 24 dynastic histories. He also wrote a number of '' fu'', a major literary form, part prose ...

, and their writing is valuable in the history of Southern Dynasties. As for when Yao Silian wrote the essay,

Liu Zhiji Liu Zhiji (; 661–721), courtesy name Zixuan (), was a Chinese historian and politician of the Tang dynasty. Well known as the author of ''Shitong'', he was born in present-day Xuzhou, Jiangsu, during the Tang dynasty. Liu's father Liu Zangqi and ...

's " Shi Tong" refers to the beginning of Zhenguan, when Silian was written into two histories by imperial edict, which lasted for nine years before he finished his work. Ceng Gong's Preface to Collation refers to Yao's investigation of Liang and Chen's affairs, but his book is not finished, which belongs to Zi Silian's inheritance.

Brief chronology

In 557 AD, the Liang dynasty was succeeded by the Chen dynasty. By 589 AD, the Chen dynasty, Northern Zhou, and Northern Qi were succeeded by the Sui dynasty. In 618 AD, the Sui dynasty was destroyed by the Tang dynasty, which would rule China for around three centuries. It was in 636 AD, during the Tang dynasty, under the reign of Emperor Taizong of Tang that Yao Silian, a former Chen dynasty official, wrote the Book of Chen.

Annals (紀)

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Volume 1 Volume One, Volume 1, Volume I or Vol. 1 may refer to: Albums * ''Volume One'' (The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band album), 1966 * ''Volume One'' (Sleep album) * ''Volume One'' (Fluff album) * ''Volume One'' (She & Him album), 2008 * ''Volum ...

, , 本紀第1 高祖上 , , Emperor Wu , , , - , Volume 2 , , 本紀第2 高祖下 , , Emperor Wu , , , - , Volume 3 , , 本紀第3 世祖 , , Emperor Wen , , , - , Volume 4 , , 本紀第4 廢帝 , , Emperor Fei , , , - , Volume 5 , , 本紀第5 宣帝 , , Emperor Xuan , , , - , Volume 6 , , 本紀第6 後主 , , Houzhu , , , -

Biographies (列傳)

{, class=wikitable width=100% , - ! width=10%, # !! width=35%, Title !! width=50%, Translation !! width=5%, Notes , - , Volume 7 , , 列傳第1 皇后 , , Empresses , , , - , Volume 8 , , 列傳第2 杜僧明周文育侯安都 , ,

Du Sengming Du Sengming (509–554), courtesy name Hongzhao, was a military general of the Liang dynasty during the Northern and Southern dynasties period. Although he died three years before its establishment, he was pivotal in the rise of the Chen dy ...

; Zhou Wenyu; Hou Andu , , , - , Volume 9 , , 列傳第3 侯瑱歐陽頠吳明徹裴子烈 , , Hou Tian; Ouyang Wei; Wu Mingche; Pei Zilie , , , - , Volume 10 , , 列傳第4 周鐵虎程靈洗 , , Zhou Tiehu; Cheng Lingxi , , , - , Volume 11 , , 列傳第5 黃法𣰰淳于量章昭達 , , Huang Faqu; Chunyu Liang; Zhang Zhaoda , , , - , Volume 12 , , 列傳第6 胡穎徐度杜稜沈恪 , , Hu Ying; Xu Du; Du Leng; Shen Ke , , , - , Volume 13 , , 列傳第7 徐世譜魯悉達周敷荀朗周炅 , , Xu Shipu; Lu Xida;

Zhou Fu Zhou Fu (, also romanised as Chow Fuh; (道光十七年十一月二十三日 in Chinese calendar) December 20, 1837 – (九月二十一 in Chinese calendar) October 21, 1921) was a Han Chinese official of the Qing dynasty. He was Viceroy of Lia ...

; Xun Lang; Zhou Jiong , , , - , Volume 14 , , 列傳第8 衡陽獻王昌南康愍王曇朗 , , Chen Chang; Chen Tanlang , , , - , Volume 15 , , 列傳第9 宗室 , , Imperial Family , , , - , Volume 16 , , 列傳第10 趙知禮蔡景歷劉師知謝岐 , , Zhao Zhili; Cai Jingli; Liu Shizhi; Xie Qi , , , - , Volume 17 , , 列傳第11 王沖王通袁敬 , , Wang Chong); Wang Tong; Yuan Jing , , , - , Volume 18 , , 列傳第12 沈眾袁泌劉仲威陸山才王質韋載 , , Shen Zhong; Yuan mi; Liu Zhongwei; Lu Shancai; Wang Zhi); Wei Zai , , , - , Volume 19 , , 列傳第13 沈炯虞荔馬樞 , , Shen Jiong; Yu Li; Ma Shu , , , - , Volume 20 , , 列傳第14 到仲舉韓子高華皎 , , Dao Zhongju; Han Zigao; Hua Jiao , , , - , Volume 21 , , 列傳第15 謝哲蕭乾謝嘏張種王固孔奐蕭允 , , Xie Zhe;

Xiao Qian Xiao Qian (27 January 1910 – 11 February 1999), alias Ruoping (), was a famous essayist, editor, journalist and translator from China. His life spanned the country's history before and after the establishment of the People's Republic of C ...

; Wang Gu; Kong Huan; Xiao Yun , , , - , Volume 22 , , 列傳第16 陸子隆錢道戢駱牙 , , Lu Zilong, Qian Daoji, Luo Ya , , , - , Volume 23 , , 列傳第17 沈君理王瑒陸繕 , , Shen Junli; Wang Yang; Lu Shan , , , - , Volume 24 , , 列傳第18 周弘正袁憲 , , Zhou Hongzheng; Yuan Xian , , , - , Volume 25 , , 列傳第19 裴忌孫瑒 , , Pei Ji;

Sun Yang Sun Yang (; ; born 1 December 1991) is a Chinese Olympic and world-record-holding competitive swimmer. In 2012, Sun became the first Chinese athlete to win an Olympic swimming gold medal. Sun is the first male swimmer in history to earn Oly ...

, , , - , Volume 26 , , 列傳第20 徐陵 , , Xu Ling , , , - , Volume 27 , , 列傳第21 江總姚察 , , Jiang Zong;

, , , - , Volume 28 , , 列傳第22 世祖九王高宗二十九王後主諸子 , , Nine Princes of Wen; Twenty-nine Princes of Xuan; Princes of Houzhu , , , - , Volume 29 , , 列傳第23 宗元饒司馬申毛喜蔡徵 , , Zhuang Yuanrao; Sima Shen; Mao Xi; Cai Zhi , , , - , Volume 30 , , 列傳第24 蕭濟陸瓊顧野王傅縡 , ,

Xiao Ji Xiao Ji (蕭紀) (508 – August 5, 553), courtesy name Shixun (世詢), known by his princely title of Prince of Wuling (武陵王), was an imperial prince and pretender to the throne of the Chinese Liang Dynasty. He was the youngest son of the ...

; Lu Qiong; Gu Yewang; Fu Zai , , , - , Volume 31 , , 列傳第25 蕭摩訶任忠樊毅魯廣達 , , Xiao Mohe; Ren Zhong; Fan Yi; Lu Guangda , , , - , Volume 32 , , 列傳第26 孝行 , , Filial Piety , , , - , Volume 33 , , 列傳第27 儒林 , , Confucian Scholars , , , - , Volume 34 , , 列傳第28 文學 , , Writers , , , - , Volume 35 , , 列傳第29 熊曇朗周迪留異陳寶應 , , Xiong Tanlang; Zhou Di; Liu Yi; Chen Baoying , , , - , Volume 36 , , 列傳第30 始興王叔陵新安王伯固 , , Chen Shuling, Prince of Shixing; Chen Bogu, Prince of Xin'an , , , -

Evaluation

Among Yao Cha's old manuscripts left to Yao Silian, there were fewer that could be used for writing the history of Chen than for the history of the Liang. When Yao Silian wrote Chen Shu, he mainly referred to the writings by Lu Qiong, Gu Yewang, Fu Ying and others. Later writers such as

Northern Song Dynasty Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ...

writers remarked that the Chen dynasty rulers liked to live in peace. However, some of the historical contents recorded in Chen Shu are still meaningful. Wei Zhi of the Tang Dynasty, Ceng Gong of the Song Dynasty, and Zhao Yi of the Qing Dynasty all thought; "Chen Shu" has its historical value in describing "why it flourished at the beginning" and "why it died at the end" (the Chen dynasty), especially in revealing

's "measuring the grand outline, knowing people and being good at their duties" (度量恢廓，知人善任) and Chen Shubao's "drinking for a long night, and spoiling in the sins of a brilliant wife" (躭荒为长夜之饮，嬖宠同艳妻之孽). In addition, in the biography of Chen Shu, Empress Zhang Guifei intervened in the government affairs, and later the last emperor Chen Shubao was concerned more with inviting guests to banquets and fancy dinners than governing, which he left to his subordinates. This contrasts starkly with the first emperor Chen Baxian's more disciplined and active leadership in the dynasty and often served as an important lesson to later Chinese rulers on how to best govern. The Literature of He Zhiyuan (《文学·何之元传》) contains the preface of Liang Dian (《梁典》) written by He Zhiyuan, which is a valuable article in history. Liang Dian no longer exists, but today people can understand the genre, style and content of this book from this preface. The preface says, "opening this book is divided into six meanings", namely, "Retrospect", "Taiping", "Xu Chaos", "Shizu", "Respect for Emperor" and "Heir Master" (《追述》《太平》《叙乱》《世祖》《敬帝》《后嗣主》). It also quoted the historian Zang Rongxu as saying: "History has no judgment, but it is still important to pay attention to it." (史无裁断，犹起居注耳。) This is also one of the precious ideological heritages in the history of historiography. Although Chen Shu is briefer than Liang Shu on the whole, the Book of Chen is more rigorous and reasonable than the latter in editing. All these are worthy of recognition. Attention should be paid to the general remarks written by Wei Zhi for Liang Shu and Chen Shu. When Emperor Taizong wrote a letter to repair the history of Liang, Chen, Qi, Zhou, Sui and Five Dynasties, Fang Xuanling and Wei Zhi were the directors, and all the history summaries were made by Wei Zheng. The general introduction of Liang Shu is at the end of Volume 6, Emperor Ji. The general introduction of Chen Shu is also at the end of Volume 6 Emperor Ji, and in addition, at the end of Volume 7 Biography of Empress, he added historical facts to the romantic life between of Chen Shubao, Zhang Guifei and others. Reading the general remarks written by Wei Zhi can be used as a reference for grasping and analyzing the history of Liang and Chen Dynasties from a macro perspective. Generally speaking, Wei Zhi's (魏徵) knew more about Chen dynasty politics than Yao Cha and Yao Silian, which is largely due to the fact that the former commented on history from the perspective of politicians. However, in terms of style, Wei Zhi's historical theory still follows the parallel prose of the six dynasties (Liang, Chen, North Zhou, North Qi, Sui, Tang). However, Yao Silian and especially Yao Cha used prose (散文) in historical theory in the era when parallel prose (骈体文) is popular, which is the place where their style of writing exceeds that of Wei Zhi, and it also had an impact on the rise of ancient prose movement in the middle Tang Dynasty. Moreover, there are many facts that were glossed over in the Chen Shu, either out of being afraid to add them or other reasons. A typical example is the biography of Liu Shizhi (刘师知), which makes no mention of Liu Shizhi helping Chen Baxian rise to power. Such facts have been included in the History of the Southern Dynasties (《南史》). As for the laws and governance of the Chen dynasty, these are included in the annals of Sui Shu. In general, the

wrote about the evolution of the laws and regulations of the five dynasties of Liang, Chen, Qi, Zhou and Sui, which has been essential to historians in understanding the history of these five dynasties.

Notes

References

Citations

Sources

; Works cited * *

External links

* Text of the ''Book of Chen'', available fro
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Synopsis

Sources

Writing the Book of Chen

Brief chronology

Contents

Annals (紀)

Biographies (列傳)

Evaluation

See also

Notes

References

Citations

Sources

External links