Wu Zhen (historian)

Wu Zhen (fl. 11th century), courtesy name Tingzhen, was a Song dynasty historian from Chengdu who wrote 2 books enumerating mistakes found in New Book of Tang and Historical Records of the Five Dynasties, both history books by Ouyang Xiu (Ouyang had several co-authors with New Book of Tang). As pointed out in the 18th-century Siku Quanshu, Wu Zhen was "inclined to criticise for the sake of criticism".[1]

Wu Zhen
Traditional Chinese吳縝
Simplified Chinese吴缜
Wu Tingzhen
Traditional Chinese吳廷珍
Simplified Chinese吴廷珍
In this Chinese name, the family name is Wu.

Works

Although he apparently wrote other works (including a monograph on the Five Dynasties period Later Liang dynasty), Wu Zhen's only 2 surviving books are:

  • Xin Tang Shu Jiumiu (新唐書紏謬; "Correcting Mistakes in the New Book of Tang"), published in 1089, in 20 chapters. It enumerated 400 mistakes of the New Book of Tang.[1]
  • Wudai Shiji Zuanwu (五代史記纂誤; "Compendium of Errors in the Historical Records of the Five Dynasties"), published c. 1090, in 3 chapters, later lost but partly recovered in the 18th century. It enumerated 200 mistakes of the Historical Records of the Five Dynasties, but the recovered version only contained 112.[2]

Both were published after Ouyang Xiu's death in 1072. In the first book's preface, Wu Zhen blasted the New Book of Tang as the worst official history book ever written.[1]

References
  1. Tonami, Mamoru; (transl. B. Albertat) (1978). "Hsin T'ang-shu chiu-miu". In Balazs, Etienne; Hervouet, Yves (eds.). A Sung Bibliography. The Chinese University Press. p. 67. ISBN 962-201-158-6.
  2. Tonami, Mamoru; (transl. B. Albertat) (1978). "Wu-tai shih-chi tsuan-wu". In Balazs, Etienne; Hervouet, Yves (eds.). A Sung Bibliography. The Chinese University Press. pp. 68–9. ISBN 962-201-158-6.


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