WúYuè Bèishǐ 吳越備史
Comprehensive History of Wú-Yuè by 錢儼 (撰), originally attributed to 范坰 (Fàn Jǐong) and 林禹 (Lín Yǔ)
About the work
The WúYuè Bèishǐ, in 4 juàn with a 1-juàn appendix (bǔyí 補遺), is the official internal history of the WúYuè 吳越 kingdom (907–978) of Hángzhōu and the Lower Yangtze, recording the four generations of the Qián 錢 family from 錢鏐 Qián Liú (Wǔsùwáng 武肅王) down to 錢俶 Qián Chù. It carries the old attribution to 范坰 Fàn Jǐong (Wǔshèngjūn jiēdùshǐ zhǎngshūjì 武勝軍節度使掌書記) and 林禹 Lín Yǔ (xúnguān 巡官) — but both 陳振孫’s Shūlù jiětí and the Sìkù editors converge on the conclusion that the actual author is 錢儼 Qián Yǎn (937–1003), Qián Chù’s brother, who composed the WúYuè yíshì 吳越遺事 with a Kāibǎo 5 (972) preface — and that the Bèishǐ is a related (or identical) work by him under cover of his subordinate officials’ names. The book begins with the founding of the WúYuè state in 907 and ends in Wùchén 戊辰 = 968 (= Kāibǎo 1), with the appendix continuing to Dīnghài 丁亥 = 987 (= Yōngxī 4 of the Sòng). Of the original 12 + 3 juàn, the Sòng-recension begins only at the HòuJìn Kāiyùn 後晉開運 era — the first three juàn already lost in the Southern Sòng — and is consolidated into 4 juàn + appendix. It is the principal Sòng-period source on WúYuè.
Tiyao
The old text is attributed to Wǔshèngjūn jiēdùshǐ zhǎngshūjì Fàn Jǐong 范坰 and xúnguān Lín Yǔ 林禹 of the Sòng. It records the events of the four generations of the Qián family from 錢鏐 Qián Liú to 錢俶 Qián Chù. According to the old mùlù, the cover of the book listed niánhào shìxìtú 年號世系圖, zhūwáng zǐdì guānjué fēngshìbiǎo 諸王子弟官爵封諡表, Shísānzhōu tú 十三州圖, Shísānzhōu kǎo 十三州考; today only the Shísānzhōu kǎo survives, the tú and biǎo lost. Appended is one juàn of Bǔyí 補遺, the author of which is also unknown. Chén Zhènsūn’s Shūlù jiětí records that 錢俶’s younger brother 錢儼 Qián Yǎn wrote the WúYuè yíshì 吳越遺事, with a Kāibǎo 5 (972) preface; he also says that the Bèishǐ was written by Qián Yǎn under the false names of Lín and Fàn. As for the references to “the four generations 四代” and “seven generations 七代” in the two colophons (one by Sìdàisūn Zhōngfú 中孚 dated Jiāyòu 嘉祐 1 [= 1056], the other by Qīdàisūn Xiūhuàn 休渙 dated Shàoxīng 紹興 2 [= 1132]) — by counts that begin with 錢鏐 Qián Liú, “four generations” should be Liú→Yuánguàn→Hóngzuǒ→Hóngchù, but Hóngchù is Qián Chù himself; “fourth generation” would be his sons’ generation. So “the four generations” and “seven generations” are reckoning down from the author (Qián Yǎn) — confirming that the author is Qián Yǎn, not “Lín / Fàn.” Qián Zēng’s Mǐnqiú jì notes a Wǔzōng Jiājìng (= 1522–1566) reprint by Qián Liú’s 17th-generation descendant Déhóng 德洪 (in the WúYuè shìjiā yíbiàn 吳越世家疑辨, a 19th-generation reckoning is given — the discrepancy is unsolved); the Qián Zēng preface attributes the Bǔyí to Mǎ Jìnchén 馬藎臣 (Déhóng’s ménrén) — but the Bǔyí of the present text retains entries (the jiàn jīnlùjiào 建金籙醮 at Yījǐnchéng 衣錦城, the yíng Shìjiā 迎釋迦 episode) that the Mǎ Jìnchén version omits, so the present recension is not the Déhóng reprint. Mǎ Jìnchén did separately write WúYuè shìjiā yíbiàn 吳越世家疑辨 — but did not in his self-preface claim to have continued this Bǔyí. The preface to the Bǔyí in the present text is anonymous and undated; “jiāwáng gùshì” 家王故事 (the affairs of our familial king) suggests it is written by the Qián family, perhaps Zhōngfú or Xiūhuàn — but the matter cannot be settled. The Bèishǐ records events down to Tàizǔ wùchén 太祖戊辰 (= 968); the Bǔyí down to Tàizōng dīnghài 太宗丁亥 (= 987) — agreeing with the Zhōngxīng shūmù 中興書目 entry that the original book ran 12 juàn ending in Kāibǎo 1, with a 3-juàn supplement ending in Yōngxī 4. The 12 + 3 juàn are now compressed into 4 + 1. Chén Zhènsūn already records that the present beginning is at the HòuJìn Kāiyùn 開運 era — the first three juàn lost in the Southern Sòng. The mutilation is therefore long-standing.
Abstract
錢儼 Qián Yǎn (937–1003), the younger brother of the last WúYuè ruler 錢俶 Qián Chù (929–988), is the actual author of the WúYuè Bèishǐ and its companion WúYuè yíshì. The yíshì preface is dated Kāibǎo 5 (972); composition of the Bèishǐ was probably contemporaneous (the catalog meta does not give Qián Yǎn’s dates; CBDB id 13103 gives 937–1003 with fl. 949–978). The frontmatter date range notBefore 968 / notAfter 988 captures the original recension’s ending years (the main text reaches 968, the Bǔyí reaches 987). The book was composed within the WúYuè court — Qián Yǎn was a senior royal — and presents the official Qián-family view of the kingdom’s century. Qián Chù’s voluntary submission to the Sòng in 978 retroactively sanctified the WúYuè rulers as paragons of the Bǎojìngānmín 保境安民 (“preserve the territory, secure the people”) principle of statesmanship; the Bèishǐ is the principal historical-textual exposition of that view. The original 12-juàn main text + 3-juàn appendix is now reduced to 4 + 1 (the first three juàn — covering 907–944 — were already lost in the Southern Sòng); the bǔyí may be the work of a later Qián descendant. The Bèishǐ’s use of false attribution to junior officials 范坰 and 林禹 reflects the political delicacy of a defeated royal recording his own dynasty under a successor sovereign. The book is heavily cited by 吳任臣 Wú Rènchén in the Shíguó Chūnqiū KR2i0021 for the WúYuè chapters.
Translations and research
- Wáng Wěi 王偉. 2010. Wú-Yuè-guó shǐ-liào lùn-cóng 吳越國史料論叢. — Substantial modern study of Wú-Yuè sources.
- Hugh R. Clark. 2009. “The Southern Kingdoms between the T’ang and the Sung”. CHC 5.1.
- Worthy, Edmund H. 1976. The Founding of Sung China, 950–1000: Integrative Changes in Military and Political Institutions. Princeton dissertation. — Discusses Wú-Yuè integration into the Sòng.
- Standard modern Chinese edition: in Wǔ-dài shǐ-shū huì-biān 五代史書彙編 (Hangzhou, 2004).
- No standalone English translation.
Other points of interest
The WúYuè kingdom’s voluntary submission to the Sòng (in 978, by 錢俶) was famously held up as the model of bǎojìngānmín statesmanship, and the Bèishǐ is the unique narrative source produced from within the family’s perspective. The lost first three juàn (covering 錢鏐 from 907 to c. 944) are partially recoverable through quotation in Sòng lèishū and in the Sòng historical-encyclopedic tradition.