Wang Cheng (died 1200),
courtesy name
A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.Ulrich Theobald ...
Jiping, was a
Song dynasty
The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...
historian who authored the monumental history book ''
Dongdu Shilüe''. He also published 4 volumes of poetry which are no longer extant.
Biography
Wang Cheng's
ancestral home
An ancestral home is the place of origin of one's extended family, particularly the home owned and preserved by the same family for several generations. The term can refer to an individual house or estate, or to a broader geographic area such as a ...
was
Mei Prefecture, but since his father Wang Shang (王賞) and grandfather Wang Huai (王淮) were both officials, it's unlikely Wang Cheng was born there. His father Wang Shang worked in the editorial office for the Veritable Records in 1142–1143 and had access to a lot of government information, which was an important source for Wang Cheng's ''
Dongdu Shilüe''. In 1178, historian
Hong Mai Hong Mai (, 1123 Poyang County, Poyang-1202 Hangzhou), courtesy name Jinglu (), art name Yechu () and Rongzhai (), was a Chinese statesman, Confucianism, Confucian scholar and writer during the Southern Song dynasty.
He was the author of ''Yijianzh ...
submitted a memorial to
Emperor Xiaozong
Emperor Xiaozong of Song (27 November 1127 – 28 June 1194), personal name Zhao Shen, courtesy name Yuanyong, was the 11th emperor of the Song dynasty of China and the second emperor of the Southern Song dynasty. He started his reign in 1 ...
in which he recommended ''Dongdu Shilüe'' as highly valuable for his compilation of the ''National History of Four Emperors'' (四朝國史). Emperor Xiaozong then granted Wang Cheng an office in
Long Prefecture as a Gentleman for Discussion (承議郎).
[ Wang Cheng]
''Dongdu Shilüe'', Preface.
/ref>
References
*
*
Song dynasty historians
12th-century Chinese historians
{{China-hist-stub