International Social Science Journal (Chinese Edition)

No.3, 2020

An analysis of scholars’ comments on History of Song Dynasties in the Yuan Dynasty

(Abstract)

WANG, Yu

The publication of History of Song Dynasties immediately attracted the attention from such representative scholars as Huang Jin (1277-1357), Song Lian (1310-1381) and Yang Weizhen (1296-1370) in the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). They approved its value of the historical materials included, and applied it to their studies of the history of Song Dynasties and the correction of historical records. Meanwhile, they also pointed out the shortcomings of the book: 1) selection of historical materials and textual research on historical facts were not reviewed sufficiently; 2) there missed too many important figures’ biographies; 3) the method, the stylistic rules and layout were incorrect (above all, Liao, Jin and Song, three dynasties, all had been regarded as orthodox). The research on the history of Song Dynasties in the Yuan Dynasty surpassed that of the Ming Dyansty (1368-1644) in terms of possession of historical materials, and the correction of the book also pointed out the direction for Ming. By making clear the scholars’ studies in the Yuan Dynasty, therefore, it can not only fill a gap between the publication of the book and the Ming Dyansty, but also inspire scholars today and expand their horizons.