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The ''History of Liao'', or ''Liao Shi'' (''Liáo Shǐ''), is a Chinese historical book compiled officially by the
Mongol The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member ...
-led
Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongols, Mongol-led Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after Division of the M ...
(1271–1368), under the direction of the historian Toqto'a (Tuotuo), and finalized in 1344.Xu Elina-Qian, p.22 Based on Khitan's primary sources and other previous official Chinese records, it details the Khitan people, Khitan's tribal life and traditions, as well as the official histories of the
Liao dynasty The Liao dynasty (; Khitan: ''Mos Jælud''; ), also known as the Khitan Empire (Khitan: ''Mos diau-d kitai huldʒi gur''), officially the Great Liao (), was an imperial dynasty of China that existed between 916 and 1125, ruled by the Yel ...
and its successor, the Western Liao dynasty.


Main sources

''History of Liao'' of 1344 was compiled using older sources, mainly: * the ''Shilu'' 實錄 (Veritable Records), completed in the Liao dynasty (916-1125) under the direction of Yelü Yan (耶律儼), no longer extant; * a draft ''Liao Shi'', compiled in the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty under the direction of an official named Chen Daren (陳大任), never published and no longer extant; * and several other sources such as the
Zizhi Tongjian ''Zizhi Tongjian'' () is a pioneering reference work in Chinese historiography, published in 1084 AD during the Northern Song dynasty in the form of a chronicle recording Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD, covering 16 dynas ...
(1080's),
Qidan Guo Zhi ''Qidan Guo Zhi'' ("Records of the Khitan State") is a 13th-century Chinese book chronicling the history of the Liao dynasty (916–1125) and the Khitan people. It was written by Ye Longli of the Southern Song dynasty, probably published 1265– ...
and other descriptions of the Khitans in the previous dynastic histories ( Wei Shu,
Sui Shu 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 autho ...
, ...). The ''Liao Shi'' contains 116 volumes, including 30 volumes of Imperial Annals, 32 volumes of Records of Institutions, 8 volumes of Tables, 48 volumes of Biographies and Descriptions, and 1 volume of Glossary of National Language 國語解 Guoyijie (the Khitan language), which is a list of Khitan language words transcribed in Chinese characters. It is found in Chapter 116
遼史/卷116
.


Creation and reliability

Many Chinese scholars of the time argued that the non- Han, "barbarian" Liao dynasty did not merit its own official history, but rather posited that the Liao histories should be an addendum to the history of the
Song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetiti ...
, which was ethnically
Han Chinese The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctive v ...
. This was part of the larger dispute between the Yuan court and the Chinese literati scholars, in which the Chinese political theory whereby only one dynasty could be deemed legitimate at a time clashed with the Mongol's beliefs to the contrary. Due to this dispute between two different political cultures, the ''Liao Shi'', as well as the histories of the concurrent Jin and Song dynasties, was not officially compiled until 1343–1344, when the pro-Chinese Chief Councillor Toqto'a took up the pre-Yuan histories project again. In its final form, this project conceded to the Yuan court's desire to treat the Liao, Jin, and Song as equally legitimate dynasties. The compilation of the ''Liao Shi'' was finished in one year by imperial historians, although without undergoing any but the most minimal of proofreadings. Because of this, the ''Liao Shi'' and the other two pre-Yuan histories are known for their technical errors, lack of precision, inconsistencies in transcribing non-Chinese terms and names, and over-lapping subject matter. Qing scholars Qian Daxin and Zhao Yi noted inconsistencies in the ''History of Liao'' in their works ''Study of the Discrepancies in the Twenty-two Standard Histories'' (廿二史劄記) and ''Critical Notes on the Twenty-two Histories'' (二十二史劄記). Nonetheless, the ''Liao Shi'' provides a large amount of knowledge on Khitan's imperium's tribal politics and traditions. Since Yelü Yan's ''Shilu'' and Chen Daren's ''Liao Shi'' have been lost, Toqto'a's ''Liao Shi'' is the only extant Chinese-style historical record of the Liao dynasty.


Editions

The work of collation and punctuation have been done several times,Xu Elina-Qian, pp.22-23 by example in the Qianlong edition, the Nanjian edition, the Beijian edition, Baina edition and the Daoguang edition.
The nowadays commonly use edition is the Zhonghua Shuju Press edited ''Liao Shi'', under direction of the Khitan studies' specialists Feng Jiasheng and Chen Shu, and based on the Baina edition. This Zhonghua Shuju Press version and its annotations also refer to other historical sources such as the Cefu Yuangui,
Zizhi Tongjian ''Zizhi Tongjian'' () is a pioneering reference work in Chinese historiography, published in 1084 AD during the Northern Song dynasty in the form of a chronicle recording Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD, covering 16 dynas ...
, Xu Zizhi Tongjian Changbian, Jiu & Xin Tangshu, Jiu & Xin Wudai Shi, Song Shi, Jin Shi,
Qidan Guo Zhi ''Qidan Guo Zhi'' ("Records of the Khitan State") is a 13th-century Chinese book chronicling the history of the Liao dynasty (916–1125) and the Khitan people. It was written by Ye Longli of the Southern Song dynasty, probably published 1265– ...
and Liao Wenhui.遼史, 脱脱, 中华书局, 1974. The History of Liao was translated into
Manchu The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized ethnic minority in China and the people from whom Manchuria derives its name. The Later Jin (1616–1636) and Q ...
as (Wylie: ''Dailiyoo gurun i suduri'', Möllendorff: ''Dailiyoo gurun i suduri''). The
Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...
Qianlong Emperor The Qianlong Emperor (25 September 17117 February 1799), also known by his temple name Emperor Gaozong of Qing, born Hongli, was the fifth Emperor of the Qing dynasty and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1735 ...
erroneously identified the Khitan people and their language with the Solons, leading him to use the Solon language to "correct" Chinese character transcriptions of Khitan names in the History of Liao in his "Imperial Liao Jin Yuan Three Histories National Language Explanation" (欽定遼金元三史國語解 Qinding Liao Jin Yuan sanshi guoyujie) project. Qianlong's "corrections" ended up compounding the errors and making the transcription of some foreign words even worse. Marshall Broomhall wrote that ''So unscientific was this work that the K'ien-lung editions of the Liao, Kin, and Yüan histories are practically useless.'' Emil Bretschneider demonstrated how the etymologies in the Qianlong edition were incorrect.


Content

The annals are covered in Volumes 1-30 beginning with founder Abaoji (Taizu) in volumes 1–2. Volume 30 covers Yelü Dashi, who fled and founded of the state of
Qara Khitai The Qara Khitai, or Kara Khitai (), also known as the Western Liao (), officially the Great Liao (), was a Sinicized dynastic regime based in Central Asia ruled by the Khitan Yelü clan. The Qara Khitai is considered by historians to be a ...
also known as the Western Liao at the dissolution of the Liao dynasty. Biran describes volume 30 of the text as the one of the most important sources for the history of the Qara Khitai. Treatises are covered in volumes 31–62. The administrative divisions of the Liao are described in volumes 37 through 41 under the title Geography (地理), organized by the five primary level circuits (道). Official posts (百官) are described in volumes 45–48. Standen gives English translations for some of the official posts in a glossary. Volumes 63-70 are tables including the lineage of the ruling Yelü clan as well as other clans in volume 63, tribes (部族) in volume 69, and vassal states (屬國) in volume 70. Notable figures included in the Biographies section include Han Yanhui, Liao chancellor of Han origin in volume 74; Zhao Yanshou general from the Later Tang who also served the Liao in volume 76; and Wang Jizhong 王繼忠, who helped broker the Chanyuan Treaty of 1004–1005 in volume 81.


Legacy

The debate about the legacy of the Liao as a legitimate dynasty continued after the completion of the text. Around the time of publication
Yang Weizhen Yáng Wéizhēn (Yang Wei-chen, traditional: 楊維楨, simplified: 杨维桢); ca. (1296 – 1370) was a Chinese painter and calligrapher during the Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368). Yang was born in the Zhejiang province. His style name was 'L ...
stated that only the Song was a legitimate dynasty and the Liao and Jin were usurpers. He continued to argue this point and composed an essay titled 'On legitimate Succession' 正統辯. Ming scholar Wang Zhu 王洙 wrote an alternative history of the Song titled ''Verified History of the Song'' 宋史質 in which the Liao and Jin states were relegated to treatises on foreign states. However, Wang Chu's text received criticism itself from Qing scholars who viewed it as an intentional distortion of history. In addition, the text ''Great Outline of Historical Records'' by Ming scholar Shao Jingbang 邵經邦 (1491-1561) gave the Liao and Jin the status of alien usurpers.


References


Citations


Sources

* * Marsone, Pierre. ''La Steppe et l’Empire : la formation de la dynastie Khitan (Liao)'', Paris, Les Belles Lettres, 2011. * Hok-lam Chan. ''China & the Mongols: History and Legend under the Yuan and Ming''. Brookfield, VT: Ashgate Publishing, 1999. * ''Liao Shi'' (LS) 遼史 (History of Liao). Tuotuo 脱脱 et al. eds. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju 中华书局, 1974. * *


External links


''History of Liao'' 《遼史》
Chinese text with matching English vocabulary {{DEFAULTSORT:History Of Liao Twenty-Four Histories 14th-century history books Khitan history Yuan dynasty literature History books about the Liao dynasty