Study On The Chronological Biographies Of Song Dynasty

Foreword: Chronological biography is a biographical style of the life stories of historical figures according to the chronological order. Ever since Song Dynasty, this style has developed with a history of about 1000 years. It thrives even more today, regarded by scholars as an important way to study. It has attracted extraordinary attention as a biographical style. However, with the difference in interpretations, if the definition of "the record of life stories of figures according to chronological order" is adopted without adequate attention to the variations in styles, some concepts can be wrongly regarded as chronicles such as tombstones, inscriptions on the gravestones, brief obituaries, autobiographies, diaries, travels, official recordings, and even those writings with such characteristics in the official history written in biographical style including the record of daily lives, faithful records, and annals. In fact, the indexes in some chronicles have included such writings. In consequence, the distinction between chronicles and the above mentioned styles has become blurred, thus the inevitable trend of "pan-chronicle", resulting in the unexpected difficulty to the study of chronicles. Thus, the study of chronicles should attach importance to the variations in styles as well as the major features of chronological order.Chapter 1: the Formation of Chronological Biography: chronological biography incorporates the styles of chronicle and biography, and also genealogies, chronological tables, inscriptions on the memorial tablet within a tomb, etc. Therefore, these styles have something in common with chronological lives. Thus, three theories...