Research On The History Of The New Five Dynasties

History of the Five Dynasties is compiled by Ouyang Xiu as his magnum opus in historiography. Ouyang Xiu has high level of achievements in various aspects including study of Confucian classics, historiography and literature. Being a generalist, Ouyang Xiu has advantages in compiling history records. History of the Five Dynasties is unique in literariness, moral judgement and selection of historical materials. Ouyang Xiu realized both inheritance and innovation in this epic work. Both History of the Five Dynasties and Old History of the Five Dynasties should be fairly evaluated. By analyzing and summarizing the basic features of History of the Five Dynasties, this paper gives attention to building an overall cognition of Ouyang Xiu's academic thought and historical background.The main text divides into three chapters.The first chapter mainly discriminates misunderstandings in current study both concerning History of the Five Dynasties and Old History of the Five Dynasties. By analyzing and discussing these misunderstandings, this chapter clarifys the basis of evaluation.The second chapter mainly discusses the concept of historiography and literary features of History of the Five Dynasties. Ouyang Xiu has an overall academic concept which is fully showed in his academic study.The third chapter summaries Ouyang Xiu's concept of selecting historical materials. Ouyang Xiu broadens the resources of historical materials by referring to conti. Gui-Tian-Lu, which is written by Ouyang Xiu himself, also reflects his concept.