Sānguó Záshì 三國雜事
Miscellaneous Affairs of the Three Kingdoms by 唐庚
About the work
A brief critical miscellany (záshì 雜事, “miscellaneous affairs”) on the Three Kingdoms period by 唐庚 Táng Gēng (1071–1121; CBDB id 1598), a Northern Song prose writer and poet associated with Sū Shì’s 蘇軾 circle. The text consists of a series of short critical observations on historical events and figures of the Sān Guó 三國 period (220–280 CE), approaching them from the perspective of Song-dynasty historical methodology and political thought. It is a fine example of the Song bǐjì mode applied to ancient history.
Tiyao
No tiyao found in source.
Abstract
唐庚 Táng Gēng (1071–1121; CBDB id 1598) was a Sichuan native who passed the jìnshì examination and served in various provincial posts. He was stylistically and personally associated with Sū Shì’s circle, though he outlived Su Shi (d. 1101) and continued writing through the Huizong reign. His surviving works include collected essays and the Tǎoyuán jí 淘原集.
The Sānguó Záshì opens with a sustained argument that Chén Shòu 陳壽 — the author of the Sānguó Zhì 三國志 — was wrong to call Liu Bei’s kingdom “Shu” 蜀 rather than “Han” 漢. Tang Geng argues that since Liu Bei consistently styled his realm “Han” and claimed the mantle of Han dynastic succession, Shu is the Jin-imposed outsider’s label, not the correct historical designation. He supports this by analogy with Ouyang Xiu’s practice in the Xīn Wǔdài shǐ 新五代史. This kind of historical-philosophical argument over the naming conventions of the Histories — which encode legitimacy judgments — is characteristic of Song historiographic thought.
Translations and research
- De Crespigny, Rafe. 2007. A Biographical Dictionary of Later Han to the Three Kingdoms (23–220 AD). Brill. Primary reference for the Three Kingdoms period Tang Geng discusses.
- Bol, Peter K. 1992. “This Culture of Ours”. Stanford UP. Context of Song historical and political thought.
Links
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