Wu Zhen (historian) explained

Wu Zhen (11th century), courtesy name Tingzhen, was a Song dynasty historian from Chengdu who wrote 2 books enumerating mistakes found in New Book of Tang and Historical Records of the Five Dynasties, both history books by Ouyang Xiu (Ouyang had several co-authors with New Book of Tang). As pointed out in the 18th-century Siku Quanshu, Wu Zhen was "inclined to criticise for the sake of criticism".^[1]

Works

Although he apparently wrote other works (including a monograph on the Five Dynasties period Later Liang dynasty), Wu Zhen's only 2 surviving books are:

• Xin Tang Shu Jiumiu (新唐書紏謬; "Correcting Mistakes in the New Book of Tang"), published in 1089, in 20 chapters. It enumerated 400 mistakes of the New Book of Tang.^[1]
• Wudai Shiji Zuanwu (五代史記纂誤; "Compendium of Errors in the Historical Records of the Five Dynasties"), published 1090, in 3 chapters, later lost but partly recovered in the 18th century. It enumerated 200 mistakes of the Historical Records of the Five Dynasties, but the recovered version only contained 112.^[2]

Both were published after Ouyang Xiu's death in 1072. In the first book's preface, Wu Zhen blasted the New Book of Tang as the worst official history book ever written.^[1]

Notes and References

1. Book: Tonami, Mamoru. Hsin T’ang-shu chiu-miu. 67. (transl. B. Albertat). Balazs. Etienne. Étienne Balazs. Hervouet. Yves. Yves Hervouet. A Sung Bibliography. The Chinese University Press. 1978. 962-201-158-6.
2. Book: Tonami, Mamoru. Wu-tai shih-chi tsuan-wu. 68–9. (transl. B. Albertat). Balazs. Etienne. Étienne Balazs. Hervouet. Yves. Yves Hervouet. A Sung Bibliography. The Chinese University Press. 1978. 962-201-158-6.