Old Tang Book
Later Jin Liu Yun and others were collectively compiled. 200 volumes, 20 volumes, 30 volumes of chronicles, and 150 volumes of biographies, which is one of the 24 histories. It contains the historical facts from the founding of the Tang Dynasty (618 AD) to its demise (907 AD). Originally known as the Book of Tang, it is called the Old Book of the Tang Dynasty in order to distinguish it from the New Tang Book compiled by Song Ouyang Xiu and others.
Source of the above: Chinese Dictionary of the Ministry of Education
A chronicle of the history of the Tang Dynasty. Two hundred volumes. There are 20 volumes of the Inner Emperor's Chronicles, 30 volumes of Chronicles, and 150 volumes of Biography. Five generations later, in the Jin Dynasty, Liu Yun, Zhang Zhaoyuan and others wrote. It records the history of the Tang Dynasty from the first year of Gaozu Wude (618) to the fourth year of Emperor Wai Tianyou (907), a total of 290 years.
There are records of the Tang Dynasty in the past dynasties. Since the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, he has written national history on the basis of actual records, and Wu Jing and Wei Shu are the most famous. Wu Jing wrote 65 volumes of the Tang Dynasty (98 volumes), and Wei Shu filled in the gaps and wrote 112 volumes of national history. Since then, Liu Fang and others have sequels. However, the actual record of Wuzong is incomplete, and the actual records of the subsequent dynasties have not been completed, and the historical events are missing. Both the Later Liang and Later Tang dynasties ordered a wide collection of Tang historical materials. In the Later Jin Dynasty, Jia Wei compiled the collected posthumous texts and old legends into the 65 volumes of the "Supplement to the Tang Dynasty". In February of the sixth year (941) of the sixth year of Tianfu (941), the Gaozu of the Later Jin Dynasty ordered the compilation of the history of the Tang Dynasty, which was supervised by the prime minister Zhao Ying. He selected scribes and drew up a complete and vast plan for the collection and compilation of the information. The writing is based on the history of the Tang Dynasty and supplemented by the historical materials collected at that time. Since the editors did not make necessary changes to the original text of the actual record and the national history, some of the original texts that should have been revised have been preserved. For example, in the biography of the "Old Tang Book", the words "ascending to the throne", "today", and "relying on it so far" appear many times, which are all clear evidence of following the old history. There is no old history to rely on in the future of Wuzong, and the historians will collect all the information obtained from the interview, no matter how big or small. This also shows that the compilation of the Old Tang Book is relatively sparse, but because of this, a large number of original historical materials have been preserved, which cannot be compared with the New Tang Book. When Sima Guang compiled the Tang Dynasty of Zizhi Tongjian, he fully adopted the Old Tang Book.
Table of Contents of the Book of the Old Tang Dynasty
The eleven chronicles of the Old Tang Dynasty have a total of 30 volumes, of which the "Chronicles of Etiquette" is seven volumes, which is the largest, mainly adapted from the "Kaiyuan Ceremony". The four volumes of "Music Chronicles", mostly based on the "General Dictionary", describe the origin and lyrics of Wu Sheng and Western songs in the Southern Dynasties, but the music and lyrics of the Tang Dynasty are considered to be "too many words" and are not recorded. The three volumes of "Chronicles" record the "Wuyin Calendar" made by Fu Renjun in the early Tang Dynasty, the "Linde Calendar" made by Li Chunfeng in the time of Gaozong, and the "Dayan Calendar" made by Xuanzong and his entourage. The second volume of the "Astronomical Chronicles" records the astronomical instrument ecliptic traveler made by the monk and Liang Lingzan, as well as the passage of the distance between each degree of the meridian measured by the line. The "Five Elements Chronicles" is a volume that lists different natural disasters in various places, and there are many materials that reflect the hardships of people's livelihood, the state of industry and commerce, and domestic and foreign transportation. The four volumes of the Geographical Chronicles record the distribution of border towns and the number of soldiers and horses in the country, and take the territory of the 11th year of Tianbao (752) as the standard, and describe the setting of prefectures and counties and household registration in various places. In the three volumes of the "Records of Career Officials", many of the texts are copied from the "Six Classics of the Tang Dynasty", and record the changes in official products in the second year of Yongtai (766) of Daizong. The volume of "Yufu Zhi" records the emperor, queen, king, concubine and hundreds of officials of the Tang Dynasty according to the rules of the car, clothing, and clothing system, which is used to distinguish the noble and lowly scholars, which is the embodiment of the feudal hierarchy. The two volumes of the "Chronicles of the Scriptures", based on the prosperous era of the Kaiyuan Dynasty, record the four books of the scriptures, history, children, and collections. The preface also briefly describes the damage to state books after the Anshi Rebellion and during the period from the Later Liang Dynasty to Qianluo. The two volumes of "Food and Goods Chronicles" record the relevant economic history materials of the Tang Dynasty, such as the field system, servitude, coinage, salt law, transportation, warehouses, and even miscellaneous taxes and liquor. The Chronicles of the Criminal Law, a volume that records the process of formulating the laws, decrees, grids, and formulas (see the format of the legal decrees) of the Tang Dynasty, and provides a brief description of their implementation. Generally speaking, the Zhuzhi of the Old Tang Dynasty has collected a lot of valuable historical materials, but there are also errors and major omissions.
After the "New Tang Book" compiled by the Northern Song Dynasty came out, the "Book of Tang" began to be divided into old and new. The "New Tang Dynasty Book" was popularized, and the book received a cold reception. There was no printing for a long time after the engraving in the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty. In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, some people obtained the biography and chronicles of the Song version of the Book of Tang respectively in Wuzhongzhang and Wang. In the seventeenth year of Jiajing (1538), Yuyao Wenrenquan and others re-engraved the "Old Tang Book", but it was not widely spread. During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, the "Old Tang Book" was reprinted in the world. Due to the fact that there has been no copy for a long time, there are many defects and discrepancies in the book. Luo Shilin and others of the Qing Dynasty wrote 66 volumes of "Survey of Old Tang Dynasty Books", which can be used for reference. The Book of the Old Tang Dynasty is a copy of the 67 volumes of the Shaoxing edition of the Southern Song Dynasty, which is photocopied by Wen Renquan, and is also the best edition at present. The proofreading published by Chung Hwa Book Company in 1975 is now more popular.
The above source: China Encyclopedia Wisdom Collection