Chen Shou writes the Records of the Three Kingdoms
After the Jin reunification of 280 the historian Chen Shou, a former official of Shu, wrote the Records of the Three Kingdoms, a history of Wei, Shu and Wu in 65 fascicles. It became one of China’s official dynastic histories, the basic source on its period and on the early peoples of Korea and Japan, and the foundation of the novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
- Date
- between 280 and 297exact date unknown: an interval is given
- Place
- Luoyangtoday: Han–Wei city site east of modern Luoyang, Henan, China · East Asia
- Participants
- Chen Shou, Jin dynasty (266–420)
- Threads
- East Asia in the 1st–5th centuries
- Also known as
- Sanguozhi; San guo zhi; Records of Three Kingdoms; Сань-го чжи; Саньго чжи; Записи о Трёх царствах; 三國志
Chen Shou (233–297), from Anhan in Shu (modern Nanchong), studied under the scholar Qiao Zhou and served Shu Han until its fall in 263; on the recommendation of Zhang Hua he entered the service of Jin, and in 274 he compiled the writings of Zhuge Liang. He wrote the Records after the conquest of Wu in 280. For Wei and Wu he drew on the histories those states had compiled — the Book of Wei of Wang Chen, Xun Yi and Ruan Ji and the Book of Wu of Wei Zhao and others — and on Yu Huan’s Weilüe; for Shu, which had no official history, he gathered the materials himself. The 65 fascicles, some 360,000 characters — 30 on Wei, 15 on Shu and 20 on Wu — are arranged mainly as biographies. Writing for the Jin, which had received the throne from Wei, Chen Shou treated Wei as the legitimate dynasty: only its rulers are called emperors. Fascicle 30 describes the Wuhuan, the Xianbei and the peoples of the northeast — Buyeo, Goguryeo, the Samhan of southern Korea and the Wa of Japan, with the story of Queen Himiko.
After Chen Shou’s death Emperor Hui ordered copies of the Records to be made at his home. The text is terse, and in 429 Pei Songzhi, commissioned by Emperor Wen of the Liu Song, added an extensive commentary that preserves alternative accounts and quotes many works now lost. With the Records of the Grand Historian, the Book of Han and the Book of the Later Han, it forms the “Four Histories”, which served as models for the official histories of Korea and Japan, and the 14th-century novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms took much of its historical framework from it.
Connections
Related events
- The Book of Han is writtenc. 54 – 111 · East AsiaChen Shou followed the form of the dynastic history set by the Book of Han
- Queen Himiko’s embassy to the Wei courtbetween 238 and 239 · East AsiaThe embassy is known from the Account of the Wa in the Records of Wei
- Lady Triệu’s uprising against Wu248 · Southeast Asia and Oceaniathe Chinese record of the rising of 248 is in the Records of the Three Kingdoms (biography of Lu Yin)
- Conquest of Wu by Jinbetween 21 December 279 and 18 January 280 – 1 May 280 · East AsiaChen Shou wrote the Records after the Jin reunification of 280
Same place
- Liu Xiu restores the Han: the Eastern Han25 · East Asia
- Cai Lun presents papermaking to the Han court105 · East Asia
- Zhang Heng presents the first seismoscope132 · East Asia
- An Shigao begins translating Buddhist texts in Luoyang148 · East Asia
- Envoys from Da Qin (Rome) at the Han court166 · East Asia
- Partisan Prohibitions: purges of scholar-officials166–184 · East Asia
- Lokaksema translates the first Mahayana sutras into Chinese179 · East Asia
- Sima Yan founds the Jin dynasty8 February 266 · East Asia
Adjacent events in the thread
- Kofun period: the age of keyhole tombsbetween 250 and 300 – 538 · East Asia
Meanwhile in the world
Other regions, within a year of this event
Western and Central Europe
- Establishment of the Tetrarchy1 March 293
- Crisis of the Third CenturyMarch 235 – 20 November 284
Eastern Europe
- Kyiv culturec. 200 – between 400 and 430
- Chernyakhov culturebetween 200 and 250 – between 400 and 430
Balkans and Anatolia
- Diocletian’s Palace at Splitc. 295 – c. 305
Middle East and Egypt
- Kartir’s inscriptions and the rise of the Zoroastrian priesthoodbetween 274 and 293
- Peace of Nisibisbetween 298 and 299
Africa
- Aksum begins to mint coinsbetween 270 and 300
Central and Northern Asia
- The Kushano-Sasanian kingdom in Bactriabetween 230 and 262 – between 350 and 370
- Toprak-Kala, palace of the kings of Khwarezm200–299
South Asia
- Mahasena builds the Jetavanaramayabetween 273 and 304
- Vijayapuri of the Ikshvakus: the monasteries of Nagarjunakondabetween 210 and 250 – between 300 and 350
Southeast Asia and Oceania
- Óc Eo, the port of Funanbetween 1 and 100 – between 601 and 700
- Gold pendant copying a coin of Antoninus Pius at Óc Eobetween 152 and 600
North America
- Late Basketmaker II erac. 50 – c. 500
- Hopewell traditionbetween 200 and 100 BC – c. 500
Latin America
- Tikal Stela 29: the earliest known Long Count date in the Maya lowlandsbetween 6 July and 8 July 292
- Nazca culture and the Nazca Linesbetween 200 and 100 BC – between 500 and 800
The same period
Sources
- Wikipedia (English): Records of the Three Kingdoms
- Wikipedia (English): Chen Shou
- Wikipedia (English): Pei Songzhi
- Wikipedia (Russian): Сань-го чжи
- Wikipedia (Russian): Чэнь Шоу
- Knechtges D. R. Chen Shou // Knechtges D. R., Chang T. (eds.) Ancient and Early Medieval Chinese Literature: A Reference Guide. Part One. — Leiden: Brill, 2010. — P. 112–116.
- История Китая с древнейших времён до начала XXI века: в 10 т. Т. III: Троецарствие, Цзинь, Южные и Северные династии, Суй, Тан (220–907) / отв. ред. И. Ф. Попова, М. Е. Кравцова. — М.: Наука — Восточная литература, 2014.
- Wikidata: Q247318