The ''Book of Wu'' or ''Wu shu'' () is a lost history of the state of

Eastern Wu Wu ( Chinese: 吳; pinyin: ''Wú''; Middle Chinese *''ŋuo'' <

: ''*ŋuɑ''), known in h ...

(229–280). It was compiled by the official historians of the Wu court under orders from the Wu emperors. Portions of the text survive only as quotations preserved in

Pei Songzhi Pei Songzhi (372–451), courtesy name Shiqi, was a Chinese historian and politician who lived in the late Eastern Jin dynasty and Liu Song dynasty. His ancestral home was in Wenxi County, Shanxi, but he moved to the Jiangnan region later. He i ...

's '' Annotations to the Records of the Three Kingdoms'' (429). Emperor

Sun Quan Sun Quan (, Chinese: 孫權) (183 – 21 May 252), courtesy name Zhongmou (), posthumously known as Emperor Da of Wu, was the founder of the Eastern Wu dynasty, one of the Three Kingdoms of China. He inherited control of the warlord regime es ...

() likely commissioned the work around 250, with and as compilers. A new committee was formed several years later at the beginning of Sun Liang's reign () to replace Ding and Xiang, likely due to court factionalism—consisting of

Wei Zhao Wei Zhao and Zhao Wei may refer to: People surnamed Wei *Wei Zhao (Eastern Wu) (韋昭; 204–273), Chinese scholar during the Three Kingdoms period *Wei Zhao (footballer) (魏釗; born 1983), Hong Kong football goalkeeper People surnamed Zhao *Zh ...

, ,

Xue Ying Xue Ying (died 282), courtesy name Daoyan, was a Chinese historian, poet, and politician of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period (220–280) of China. After the fall of Wu, he continued serving under the Jin dynasty (266–4 ...

, Liang Guang, and

Hua He Hua He (219–278), courtesy name Yongxian, was an official and historian of the state of Eastern Wu during the late Three Kingdoms period of China. Hua He served mainly under the fourth and last Wu ruler, Sun Hao Sun Hao (243 – January ...

. The second committee faced difficulties due to interference, as Zhou Zhao and Liang Guang died within 20 years of the committee's creation and Wei Zhao and Hua He died soon after. The last surviving member of the committee, Xue Ying, lived through the fall of Wu and died in 282. The book was probably not completed, and it was lost sometime after the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

(618–907). The other two of the Three Kingdoms also compiled their own official histories:

Cao Wei Wei ( Hanzi: 魏; pinyin: ''Wèi'' <

Middle Chinese

: *''ŋjwei^C'' <

with the and

Shu Han Han (; 221–263), known in historiography as Shu Han ( ) or Ji Han ( "Junior Han"), or often shortened to Shu (; pinyin: ''shŭ'' <

Dongguan Hanji'', which was compiled by several generations of official historians during the Eastern Han.

Compilation

The ''Wu shu'' was first commissioned by

probably around 250. According to a memorial written by

submitted to the last Wu emperor Sun Hao in around 273, quoted in the ''

Sanguozhi The ''Records or History of the Three Kingdoms'', also known by its Chinese name as the Sanguo Zhi, is a Chinese historical text which covers the history of the late Eastern Han dynasty (c. 184–220 AD) and the Three Kingdoms period (220– ...

'' biography of

, around the end of his reign, Sun Quan ordered the Court Historian (太史令) and the Palace Gentleman (郎中) to compile the ''Wu shu''. In 252, at the start of Sun Liang's reign, another compilation committee replaced Ding Fu and Xiang Jun at the suggestion of regent Zhuge Ke, consisting of

, ,

, Liang Guang (梁廣), and Hua He himself. The new committee faced difficulty in compiling the work due to interference. Zhou Zhao and Liang Guang died within 20 years of the second committee's creation. No more details about Liang Guang's death are recorded, but a supplementary note in the ''Sanguozhi'' biography of

Bu Zhi Bu Zhi (died June or July 247), courtesy name Zishan, was a Chinese military general and politician of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. Originally a scholar of humble background, he became a subordinate of the wa ...

states that Zhou Zhao was sent to prison, and although Hua He petitioned the emperor on his behalf, he would be executed. Wei Zhao was executed at the age of more than seventy and his family exiled to , despite pleas by Hua He. He had angered Sun Hao by refusing to write a chapter of annals for Sun Hao's father Sun He, whom he had canonized as an emperor posthumously; and refusing a ceremonial toast at a banquet, citing health reasons, as he was trying to retire from the court due to old age. Xue Ying had once commanded a garrison at

Wuchang Wuchang forms part of the urban core of and is one of 13 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province, China. It is the oldest of the three cities that merged into modern-day Wuhan, and stood on the ri ...

, but around 273, he was exiled to the far south for involvement in a mistaken strategy, soon after Wei Zhao's disgrace. Hua He pleaded to the emperor on his behalf, and in his memorial concerning the history project he wrote that Xue Ying was one of he few men who could assist in his work. This time, his words were acted upon and Xue Ying was recalled back to the capital and made State Historian on the Left. However, the project did not advance much more as only two years later in 275 Hua He himself was dismissed for a minor offense and died at home a year later. Xue Ying had also been exiled to the far south a second time. He was later recalled again, but his chief service during his time as a minister was to write the Wu's surrender document to the Jin dynasty. Xue Ying served the Jin court for a short time before dying in 282.

Political controversies

In his memorial, Hua He states that the change of committee was due to Ding Fu and Xiang Jun being incapable of completing the work, but

Rafe de Crespigny Richard Rafe Champion de Crespigny (born 1936), also known by his Chinese name Zhang Leifu (), is an Australian sinologist and historian. He was an adjunct professor in the College of Asia and the Pacific at the Australian National University. ...

argues that it likely that the change of committee was caused by political factionalism, as Ding Fu was learned enough to have compiled the ''Hanguan yishe xuanyong'', a study of the official selection system of the Han, and the ''Han yi'', a study of the rituals of the Han, and their drafts were clearly useful to the successors and may have survived independently into the 4th century. Rafe de Crespigny also notes that it is recorded that when Zhuge Ke came to power at the end of the reign of Sun Quan he pushed liberal and reformist policies, which further suggests a political component to the change of committee.

Lack of biography of Sun Shao

Yu Xi Yu Xi (虞喜; 307–345 AD), courtesy name Zhongning (仲寧), was a Chinese astronomer and writer of the Jin dynasty (266–420 AD). He is best known for his discovery of the precession of the equinoxes, independently of the earlier ancient Gr ...

, the author of the ''Zhi lin'' (志林), quoted in

's annotations to the ''Sanguozhi'' annals of

, wrote that he was surprised that the ''Sanguozhi'' did not include a biography of Sun Shao, an important politician and the first chancellor of Wu, so he asked the learned scholar Liu Shengshu (劉聲叔) for his opinion. Liu Shengshu claimed that Ding Fu and Xiang Jun's work contained a biography of Sun Shao, but since the later compiler Wei Zhao sided with Sun Shao's political opponent Zhang Wen, it was excluded from the later text.

's ''Zhi lin'' (志林) quoted in the annotations to vol. 47: "吳之創基，邵爲首相，史無其傳，竊常怪之。嘗問劉聲叔。聲叔，博物君子也，云：「推其名位，自應立傳。項竣、吳孚 ��孚��已有注記，此云與張惠恕不能。後韋氏作史，蓋惠恕之黨，故不見書。」"

states that this explanation is plausible, and notes that similar omissions are found in other histories.

Content

The only substantial portion of the ''Wu shus text that remains is the quotations in

's '' Annotations to the Records of the Three Kingdoms'', along with the likely inclusion of large amounts of uncredited text included in the ''

Records of the Three Kingdoms The ''Records or History of the Three Kingdoms'', also known by its Chinese name as the Sanguo Zhi, is a Chinese historical text which covers the history of the late Eastern Han dynasty (c. 184–220 AD) and the Three Kingdoms period (220– ...

'' by

Chen Shou Chen Shou (; 233–297), courtesy name Chengzuo (), was a Chinese historian, politician, and writer who lived during the Three Kingdoms period and Jin dynasty of China. Chen Shou is most known for his most celebrated work, the ''Records of the ...

. The Pei Songzhi's quotations of the ''Wu shu'' contain indications of the book's original contents. The ''Wu shu'' is quoted in the biographies of

Cao Cao Cao Cao () (; 155 – 15 March 220), courtesy name Mengde (), was a Chinese statesman, warlord and poet. He was the penultimate Grand chancellor (China), grand chancellor of the Eastern Han dynasty, and he amassed immense power in the End of ...

and Dong Zhuo, indicating that the book covered the career of

Sun Jian Sun Jian () () (155–191?), courtesy name Wentai, was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He allied himself with Yuan Shu in 190 when warlords from eastern China formed a ...

during the final years of the Han dynasty. However, in the annals of the three Wu emperors after Sun Quan, the ''Wu shu'' is only quoted once by Pei, and the quotation is rather irrelevant. The ''Sanguozhi'' biographies of people involved with the final years of the Wu are also rather lacking. This suggests that the book was never completed, although this could also mean that

had fully incorporated its material into the main ''Sanguozhi'' text. Pei Songzhi's quotations of the ''Wu shu'' present an important Wu perspective on events that otherwise would have been missing. For example, the first time Pei cites the ''Wu shu'' is in the biography of

, which states that Cao Song was killed by Tao Qian, while the ''Wu shu'' quotation states that it was one of Tao's subordinates who killed Cao Song, and that Cao Cao unjustly blamed the murder on Tao. The ''

Book of Sui The ''Book of Sui'' (''Suí Shū'') is the official history of the Sui dynasty. It ranks among the official Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. It was written by Yan Shigu, Kong Yingda, and Zhangsun Wuji, with Wei Zheng as the lead author. ...

'' records a copy of the ''Wu shu'' containing 25 chapters out of an original 55, and the bibliographies of the ''

Old Book of Tang The ''Old Book of Tang'', or simply the ''Book of Tang'', is the first classic historical work about the Tang dynasty, comprising 200 chapters, and is one of the Twenty-Four Histories. Originally compiled during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdo ...

'' and the ''

New Book of Tang The ''New Book of Tang'', generally translated as the "New History of the Tang" or "New Tang History", is a work of official history covering the Tang dynasty in ten volumes and 225 chapters. The work was compiled by a team of scholars of the So ...

'' record a copy of the book containing the complete 55 chapters. The book was later lost.

References

Bibliography

* * * {{Cite journal , last=Tian , first=Xiaofei , date=2016 , title=Remaking History: The Shu and Wu Perspectives in the Three Kingdoms Period , url=https://doi.org/10.7817/jameroriesoci.136.4.0705 , journal=

Journal of the American Oriental Society The ''Journal of the American Oriental Society'' is a quarterly academic journal published by the American Oriental Society The American Oriental Society was chartered under the laws of Massachusetts on September 7, 1842. It is one of the olde ...

, volume=136 , issue=4 , pages=705–731, doi=10.7817/jameroriesoci.136.4.0705 3rd-century history books Three Kingdoms literature Lost books