Wǔdài Mìshǐ 五代秘史
Secret History of the Five Dynasties by 羅貫中 (撰)
About the work
The Wǔdài Mìshǐ 五代秘史 (“Secret History of the Five Dynasties”) is a vernacular historical novel attributed to Luó Guànzhōng 羅貫中 羅貫中, covering the tumultuous period of the Five Dynasties (907–960 CE) — the five short-lived dynasties (Later Liáng, Later Táng, Later Jìn, Later Hàn, Later Zhōu) that succeeded one another in the north of China between the fall of the Táng and the founding of the Sòng. The novel’s 60 chapters (huí 回) follow the Kanripo source file’s table of contents from the Huáng Cháo 黃巢 rebellion (which toppled the Táng) through the careers of the warlords of the Five Dynasties period, focusing especially on Lǐ Kèyòng 李克用 and his adopted son Lǐ Cúnxiào 李存孝 (the heroic warrior who is a central figure in Five Dynasties legend), and concluding with the founding of the Sòng by the Zhōu general Guō Wēi 郭威 and the eventual abdication in favor of Zhào Kuàngyìn (Sòng Tàizǔ 宋太祖).
Tiyao
No tiyao found in source.
Abstract
The attribution to Luó Guànzhōng 羅貫中 (born ca. 1315) is traditional. The Wǔdài Mìshǐ belongs to a cluster of shorter vernacular historical novels attributed to Luó covering the major transitional periods of Chinese history — alongside the Suí Táng Yěshǐ KR4k0067 and the Sānguó Yǎnyì KR4k0063. The term mìshǐ 秘史 (“secret history”) in the title signals a work that presents behind-the-scenes details and unofficial information beyond the scope of the official Wǔdàishǐ 五代史 (compiled by Ōuyáng Xiū 歐陽修 and Xuē Jūzhèng 薛居正).
The Kanripo source file reveals a preface in the form of a verse meditation on dynastic cycles, attributed to the Northern Sòng official Sūn Fǔ 孫甫 (the “Sòng Dàizhì Sūn Fǔ” mentioned in the opening chapter). The narrative arc covers: the Huáng Cháo rebellion’s destruction of the Táng capital; the rise of Lǐ Kèyòng and his “Sha Tuo” Türk forces; the tragic life of the superhuman warrior Lǐ Cúnxiào 李存孝 (who is eventually killed by five oxen pulling him apart — a famous legendary death); the founding of the Later Táng, Later Jìn, Later Hàn, and Later Zhōu; and the eventual rise of the Sòng. The novel was composed or assembled in the late fourteenth to early fifteenth century, consistent with the Luó Guànzhōng attribution; the dating bracket of 1370–1430 represents the tightest defensible window.
The question of whether the Wǔdài Mìshǐ, the Suí Táng Yěshǐ, and other minor historical novels truly derive from Luó Guànzhōng’s hand, or represent later works published under his commercial name, remains unresolved in the scholarship.
Translations and research
- No substantial secondary literature on this specific text located.
- For historical background on the Five Dynasties period, see Witting, Antonino. Five Dynasties. Cambridge History of China, vol. 3 (forthcoming).
- Wang Gungwu. The Structure of Power in North China during the Five Dynasties. University of Malaya Press, 1963.