Zhào Shū 趙書
Book of Zhao by 田融
About the work
Zhào Shū 趙書 (also titled Tián Róng Zhào Shū 田融趙書) is a jíyìběn reconstruction of a history of the Hòu Zhào 後趙 state (319–351 CE) of the Sixteen Kingdoms, compiled by Tián Róng 田融. Hòu Zhào was founded by Shí Lè 石勒, a Jié 羯 tribesman who rose from slavery to become one of the most powerful warlords of the early fourth century. The reconstruction preserves nearly 1000 lines of text, making it a significant source for the history of this pivotal non-Chinese regime.
Tiyao
No tiyao found in source. This is a jíyìběn reconstruction.
Abstract
Hòu Zhào under Shí Lè and his ruthless successor Shí Hǔ 石虎 controlled most of North China from their capital at Yè 鄴. The regime was notorious for its violence — Shí Hǔ was one of the most brutal rulers in Chinese history — but also for its adoption of Chinese administrative methods and its patronage of Buddhism (notably the missionary Fótúchéng 佛圖澄). Tián Róng’s Zhào Shū was recorded in the Suí Shū 隋書 bibliography in 10 juǎn. The author appears to have been a contemporary or near-contemporary of the Hòu Zhào period, perhaps serving under a successor state.
The jíyìběn, reconstructed from Táng-Sòng citations and encyclopedias, preserves substantial biographical and political material on the Shí clan rulers, their military campaigns against the Eastern Jin and other Sixteen Kingdoms, and the internal dynamics of the Hòu Zhào court. The text was lost after the Táng.
Translations and research
No substantial secondary literature located.