Two "tang" The Prime Minister Chuan Comparative Study

The Old History of the Tang and the New History of the Tang were both the Biographies and historical records according Tang Dynasty. Because the two books were published one after another, there were many items could be compared. By comparing their advantages and disadvantages, thus people could get a more comprehensive understanding of its value. The most important part of the two books in the length was the Biographies. By their part of the comparative study of the Biographies, it could be found that the two books were different due to different historical situation and the preparation of structure, then we could come to a conclusion that the editors of the two books were difference in historical sources, historical thought, historical concepts and the ideology of social class that they represented. The special status of the prime ministers in Tang Dynasty decided that the prime ministers as the protagonist of the social and political life had the obvious impact on all aspects of society, which also allowed prime ministers become the most typical group in Biographies of the two books. Through the contrast of the prime ministers' Biographies of the two books, the differences between the two books could be more deeply reflected. The New History of the Tang was written on the basis of the Old History of the Tang, and the Most of the Biographies of its prime ministers of the former were rewritten by latter. The former expanded and increased a lot of Biographies of the prime ministers, which enhanced its comprehensiveness under the condition that the former was richer in the historical sources than latter. In addition to factor of the historical sources, the most important reasons leading to the difference between the Biographies of the prime ministers of the two books were the differences of the editors' concept and the political ideas. The Biographies of the prime ministers of the New History of the Tang especially emphasized on the evaluating the figures and describing events, which was in line with the intention of editors, However, for which was often criticized too.