Characteristic And Scientific Value Of "Annotation For Romance Of The Three Kingdoms"

Pei Songzhi(372-451), named as Shiqi, was bom in the Nan Chao Dynasty at Wenxi, Dongjun. He is an outstanding historian in ancient China. From a child, he was taught as Confucianism. In the book of "Song Shu·Biography of Pei Songzhi ", it was said "He mastered 'the Analects' and 'Mao's Poem' at the age of eight; He read books extensively and lived a simple life". Pei experienced the dynastiesof Jin and Liu Song . His official position reached"ZhongshuShilang."Pei Songzhi annotated "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" written by Chen Shou who was born in the West Jin Dinasty. The book was divided as 65 volumes that recorded a history of about 60 years of the period of the three kingdoms, Wei, Shu, and Wu. Chen Shou was regarded as a talent of narrating and telling the history. Pei Songzhi also believed that the book was a good history book with extensive and just depictions. However, there is a well-known regret that the book is too curtailed and some parts were missed. Therefore, Emperor Song Wen Di ordered Pei Songzhi to annotate the book. It took Pei Songzhi about three years to try his best to finish the work. After reading Pei's book, Liu Yilong praised it as monumental.In "Annotation for Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Pei Songzhi's annotations can be divided to four parts: supplying the lacks, finding similarities and differences, correcting mistakes, and evaluating gain and loss. He created a new method of annotating history books and developed historical textual research and historiographic criticism. There are four characteristics of Pei Songzhi's "Annotation for Romance of the Three Kingdoms": 1) extensive citations; 2) elegant languages; 3) bizarre materials and heterogeneous contents; 4) prudent adoption of materials and paying attention to historical facts. Historical values of Pei Songzhi's "Annotation for Romance of the Three Kingdoms" were incarnated as its historica1 materials values, historiography history values, and values of study methods of history. In "Annotation for Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Pei Songzhi favored the historical materials full of literary talents. He paid much attention to the development of literature because it is an important part in the field of ideology. The literature values of his quotations are mainly of historical and miscellaneous biographies, which greatly influenced the development of later literature. In the book, the writer also showed the idea of aspiring after success, exceeding the world, opposing violence, and advocating loyalty, fealty, moral integrity and righteousness.