Research On Commentary Annals On Tang Dynasty Written By Scholars Of The Northern Song Dynasty

In the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty,the domestic strife and foreign aggression of the country caused a serious social crisis.It was in this context that the monarch and his subjects in Northern Song Dynasty had been committed to seeking ways to save the crisis from history.In the academic circles of the Northern Song Dynasty,there was a craze for studying the history of Tang Dynasty,which had a profound impact on the history comments of historians with the emergence of Neo-Confucianism.The three critical historical books,including The Judgment on History of Tang Dynasty by Sun Fu,Tang Chien by Fan Zuyu and Ignored History in Tang Dynasty by Zhang Tangying,are representative critical history books in the Northern Song Dynasty.Taking the history of the Tang Dynasty as the research object,these books analyze and evaluate the historical figures and historical events at that time,and summarize the experiences and lessons of the rise and fall of the Tang Dynasty,thus providing reference and enlightenment for the political rulers.The Judgment on History of Tang Dynasty,written by Sun Fu,mainly introduces the judgement on historical events in the Tang Dynasty.It includes two main aspects:First,it makes the discussion of the monarch-subject relationship.Second,it makes investigations on several important events in the demise of the Tang Dynasty,such as the clique issues,the issue of the eunuch's arbitrariness,the regime politics,as well as national relation;Tang Chien,written by Fan Zuyu,is enriched in Neo-Confucianism thought,and it has always been influenced by traditional ethics of Neo-Confucianism in discussing "Jundao",ethnic issues and "ancestor's law".While the Ignored History in Tang Dynasty written by Zhang Tangying includes the defense or criticism on monarchs in the Tang Dynasty,and further explores the historical events had been ignored,no matter wittingly or unwittingly,thus revealing the potential truth of these historical events.In addition,Zhang Tangying also emphasized the history study concept of "Chun-Qiu Writing Method".(a style of writing in which sublime words with deep meaning are used)Although the three historians have their own inclinations and focuses on the history and study of the Tang Dynasty,their study showed the common features of historians'study on history of Tang Dynasty at that time.In other words,they all made chronological commentary books with reference to previous generation history while showing development tendency of the neo-Confucianism of historical science.The three history books possess an important position in the development of the history of the Northern Song Dynasty.From the perspective of the development of historiography,these books not only have improved the study of the history of the Tang Dynasty but have heightened the comments on ancient history of China.In addition,in reality,the three historians clearly inherit the tradition of warning from history that provides examples for the monarch and his subjects to save the social crisis in Northern Song Dynasty,both reflecting the interaction between history and society and showing the social function of history.