Eighteen History Books of Jin are those history books which were published and used as the history books of the
Jin dynasty before the ''
Book of Jin
The ''Book of Jin'' is an official Chinese historical text covering the history of the Jin dynasty from 266 to 420. It was compiled in 648 by a number of officials commissioned by the imperial court of the Tang dynasty, with chancellor Fang ...
'' was published.
They comprised ''Book of Jin'' from nine kinds and ''Annals of Jin'' from nine kinds. Many history books of the Jin dynasty began to disappear from the scene after the Book of Jin was written in the period Zhenguan (貞觀: 627–649) of 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 ...
and they were going to be hard to find at the days of
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 res ...
(960–1279).
Some of their contents are extant in the form of the annotations of Liu Yiqing (劉義慶, 403–444)'s ''
A New Account of the Tales of the World'' (世說新語),
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 late ...
's annotations at
Records of 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 ...
(c. 429),
Xiao Tong
Xiao Tong (, September/October 501 – 30 May 531), courtesy name Deshi (), formally Crown Prince Zhaoming (昭明太子, literally "Accomplished and Understanding Crown Prince"), was a Crown Prince of the Chinese Liang Dynasty, posthumousl ...
(蕭統) 's book
Wen Xuan (文選: c. 520) and
Li Fang's book ''
Imperial Readings of the Taiping Era
The ''Taiping Yulan'', translated as the ''Imperial Reader'' or ''Readings of the Taiping Era'', is a massive Chinese ''leishu'' encyclopedia compiled by a team of scholars from 977 to 983. It was commissioned by the imperial court of the So ...
'' (太平御覽: c. 980). Especially Zang Rongxu (臧榮緒: 415–488)'s ''Book of Jin'' and Wang Yin (王隱)'s ''Book of Jin'' survived comparatively much to this day.
As most of them were written during the Jin dynasty itself, it seems that they were incomplete and some of them were only of the Western Jin, though the ''Book of Jin'' of Zang Rongxu is thought to be more complete, since it comprised from
Sima Yi
Sima Yi ( ; 179 CE – 7 September 251 CE), courtesy name Zhongda, was a Chinese military general, politician, and regent of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China.
He formally began his political career in 208 un ...
, the founder of Jin to the Jin's fall by the
Liu Yu (劉裕: 363–422) and it consisted of 110 books.
Therefore, ''Book of Jin'' of
Fang Xuanling
Fang Qiao (; 579 – 18 August 648), courtesy name Xuanling, better known as Fang Xuanling, posthumously known as Duke Wenzhao of Liang, was a Chinese statesman and writer who served as a chancellor under Emperor Taizong in the early Tang dynas ...
(房玄齡: 579–648) is thought to have consulted to Zang Rongxu's book.
Book of Jin (晉書) of nine kinds
*虞預 『晉書』 （晉）
*朱鳳 『晉書』 （晉）
*王隱 『晉書』 （晉）
*謝靈運 『晉書』 （宋）
*何法盛 『晉中興書』 （宋）
*臧榮緒 『晉書』 （斉）
*蕭子雲 『晉書』 （梁）
*蕭子顯 『晉書草』 （梁）
*沈約 『晉書』 （梁）
Annals of Jin (晉紀) of nine kinds
*陸機 『晉紀』 （晉）
*干寶 『晉紀』 （晉）
*曹嘉之 『晉紀』 （晉）
*鄧粲 『晉紀』 （晉）
*徐廣 『晉紀』 （晉）
*劉謙之 『晉紀』 （宋）
*王韶之 『晉安帝紀』 （宋）
*郭季產 『晉錄』 （宋）
*裴松之 『晉紀』 （宋）
{{Jin dynasty (265–420) topics
Chinese history texts
History books about the Jin dynasty (266–420)