Jìn Shū 晉書 (Yǔ Yù)
History of the Jin, by Yu Yu by 虞預
About the work
Jìn Shū 晉書 by 虞預 (Yǔ Yù, styled Shūníng 叔寧) is a jíyìběn reconstruction of one of the early unofficial Jin histories. Yǔ Yù, a native of Guǎjī 會稽, was a historian-official of the Eastern Jin whose Jìn Shū was reportedly compiled from materials he secretly copied from Wáng Yǐn’s draft — a famous case of plagiarism in Chinese historiographical lore. The reconstruction preserves annalistic entries, biographical notices, and official encomia from the Western Jin through the early Eastern Jin.
Tiyao
No tiyao found in source. This is a jíyìběn reconstruction.
Abstract
The Jìn Shū of Yǔ Yù is recorded in the Suí Shū 隋書 bibliography in 26 juǎn (or 44 juǎn in some citations). According to the official Jìn Shū biography of Wáng Yǐn, Yǔ Yù was a protégé of Yǔ Liàng 庾亮 who had access to Wáng Yǐn’s incomplete draft; he copied the materials and published his own Jin history first, leaving Wáng Yǐn impoverished. The plagiarism charge, whether fully accurate or not, made Yǔ Yù’s Jìn Shū an object of historiographical controversy.
The surviving fragments include: an encomium on Sīmǎ Yì (Emperor Xuān); an account of Emperor Wǔ’s 武帝 deliberations on rewarding the officials who advocated for the conquest of Wú 吳 (Yáng Hù 羊祜, Wáng Jùn 王浚, Zhāng Huá 張華); an episode about a wrongful execution case under the Chancellery of Emperor Yuán 元帝; and biographical notices on Wáng Xiáng 王祥, Yáng Hù, and other notables. All citations are drawn from the Tàipíng Yùlǎn and Běitáng Shūchāo. The full work was lost after the Táng.
Translations and research
No substantial secondary literature located.