Jiǔzhōu Chūnqiū 九州春秋
Annals of the Nine Regions by 司馬彪
About the work
A fragmentary historical miscellany covering the period from the Yellow Turban Rebellion through the Three Kingdoms, composed by 司馬彪 Sīmǎ Biāo (ca. 240–ca. 306 CE) of the Western Jin dynasty. The work is separate from Sima Biao’s more celebrated Xù-Hànshū 續漢書 (the treatises now appended to the Hòu-Hànshū); it survives only in fragments cited by later encyclopedists and commentators. The Kanripo edition is a reconstruction assembled from these scattered citations.
Tiyao
No tiyao found in source.
Abstract
司馬彪 Sīmǎ Biāo (ca. 240–ca. 306 CE) was a Western Jin prince of the imperial house (a scion of a collateral branch of the Sima clan) who devoted himself to historical scholarship because he was barred from political advancement by a physical blemish. He is best known for his Xù-Hànshū 續漢書 (Continuation of the Han History), whose eight treatises were incorporated into the standard edition of the Hòu-Hànshū 後漢書 in the Song period (Endymion Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual, §§57.2, 47.5.1).
The Jiǔzhōu Chūnqiū 九州春秋 (“Nine Regions” referring to the nine traditional administrative divisions of the Han empire) was a separate historical work. The “nine regions” title signals a comprehensive geographical approach to the history of the late Han. Like the Wèi-Jìn Shìyǔ, it was cited by Péi Sōngzhī in his Sānguózhì commentary and preserved only in fragments. The received Kanripo text (ca. 2,895 lines) is much longer than the first two texts in this division and appears to be a more substantial reconstruction, preserving anecdotes such as the famous “copper-stench” episode about Cui Lie 崔烈 purchasing a Three Excellencies appointment from Emperor Ling of Han 靈帝.
Translations and research
No substantial secondary literature on the 九州春秋 as an independent work. Discussed incidentally in studies of the Sānguózhì and its annotations.
Links
- Wikidata: Sima Biao