Zhāng Shǒujié 張守節
Active in the Kāiyuán 開元 era of Tang Xuánzōng, fl. ca. 725–735. Zhūwáng shìdú lǜshì 諸王侍讀率史 in the imperial princes’ household, by his own preface to the Zhèngyì. Little else of his life is recorded; he is known almost entirely through his commentary.
Author of the Shǐjì zhèngyì 史記正義 in 130 juǎn (preface dated Kāiyuán 24 = 736; KR2a0001 Shǐjì; separately KR2a0004 Shǐjì zhèngyì). The Zhèngyì is the latest of the three classical commentaries (sānjiā zhù) and the most extensive geographically: Zhāng systematically identifies place-names in Shǐjì against Tang administrative geography, with reference to the Kuòdì zhì 括地志 and other early-Tang geographical works. His fánlì 凡例 (translation principles) and his yìnglì 諡法解 (on posthumous titles) circulate as independent works in some editions. Until the Northern Sòng the Zhèngyì circulated separately from the main text; in the Sòng sānjiā zhùběn tradition it was distributed as interlinear notes alongside the Jíjiě and the Suǒyǐn. Considerable portions of the Zhèngyì were lost in transmission and have been partially recovered in modern times from Japanese manuscript fragments held in the Kōzanji 高山寺 (Kyoto).