Jìn Shū 晉書 (Wáng Yǐn)
History of the Jin, by Wang Yin by 王隱
About the work
Jìn Shū 晉書 by 王隱 (Wáng Yǐn, styled Chùshū 處叔) is a jíyìběn reconstruction of one of the earliest and most important unofficial histories of the Jin dynasty. Wáng Yǐn’s father Wáng Quán 王銓 had begun compiling a Jin history; after his death, Wáng Yǐn continued the project with assistance from Yǔ Yù 虞預. The reconstructed text, in 11 juǎn, covers the Western Jin in annalistic form, beginning with Emperor Xuān 宣帝 (Sīmǎ Yì 司馬懿). It was one of the principal sources for the official Táng-era Jìn Shū 晉書.
Tiyao
No tiyao found in source. This is a jíyìběn reconstruction.
Abstract
Wáng Yǐn was a native of Chén Prefecture 陳郡 who enjoyed the patronage of Yǔ Liàng 庾亮. According to the Jìn Shū biography, Yǔ Yù 虞預 privately copied Wáng Yǐn’s draft and published his own Jin history first — a notorious case of scholarly plagiarism that left Wáng Yǐn impoverished. Nevertheless, Wáng Yǐn’s Jìn Shū was highly regarded in the early Táng, and Fáng Xuánlíng’s 房玄齡 official committee drew heavily on it.
The jíyìběn was reconstructed by the Qīng scholar 湯球 (published in the Guǎngyǎ Shūjú Cóngshū 廣雅書局叢書). It draws extensively from the Tàipíng Yùlǎn 太平御覽 (338 citations), Běitáng Shūchāo 北堂書鈔 (129), Yìwén Lèijù 藝文類聚 (84), Shìshuō Xīnyǔ 世說新語 commentary, and Wénxuǎn 文選 commentary. The reconstruction preserves substantial biographical, administrative, and omen-related material not found in the official history. An appendix of additional fragments is appended at the end.
Translations and research
No substantial secondary literature located.