The Research On “The Liao History·Bai Guan Zhi”

Among the records of bureaucrat systems in official history books,“The Liao History.Bai Guan Zhi”(???·????),which not only include many errors and duplicates in the records,but also the unreasonable design of its style.This dissertation mean to take“The Liao History.Bai Guan Zhi”as basic research object both at the text and the bureaucrat system levels,combing and summarizing the formation,the origin,and all kinds of errors on both of style and content,selecting representative items and corresponding error types for specific research.Eliminate the interference of wrong historical materials and provide a new idea for the further study of the bureaucrat system in Liao Dynasty.Except introduction and conclusion,this dissertation is divided into six chapters.The introduction mainly introduces the significances of the research topic in this thesis and delimits the research scope of this dissertation.Reviews the research actuality of“The Liao History.Bai Guan Zhi”and bureaucrat system in Liao Dynasty comprehensively.Summarizes the deficiencies in current research.Sketches out the research strategy and methods,the innovation and difficulty points of this dissertation.Chapter one,The Historical Sources,Compiling and Main Problems of“The Liao History.Bai Guan Zhi”.Becauses of lacking complete decrees and regulations as basis,the current“The Liao History.Bai Guan Zhi”came from six different historical sources including“Dynasty's Veritable Records”(??????)compiled by Yelu Yan(???),“The Liao History”compiled by Chen Daren(???),“The Record of Liao's Destroyed”(?????)written by Shi Yuan(??),the writings of Yuan Haowen(???),bureaucrat system in Tang Dynasty contained in the book“A New Book of Tang.Bai Guan Zhi”(????·????)and bureaucrat system in Yuan Dynasty.As for the compiling method of“The Liao History.Bai Guan Zhi”,the book was compiled taking bureaus as the key link;inherited the title,the style,and the design of several entries from“Dynasty's Veritable Records.Bai Guan Zhi”;inherited the general understanding of the bureaucrat system and the criterion for the selection of historical materials from the writings created by adherents of Liao dynasty or people in Jin Dynasty like Yuan Haowen;the concrete contents might becompiled based on the bureaucrat system in Tang Dynasty contained in the book“A New Book of Tang.Bai Guan Zhi”,or extracted from the official titles recorded in Ji,Zhuan,Zhi of“Dynasty's Veritable Records”and“The Liao History”compiled by Chen Daren(???);this book also was affected by this bureaucrat system in Yuan Dynasty in writing process.The style problems of“The Liao History.Bai Guan Zhi”lay in the contradiction between names and the realities,as well as the confusion of entries.The problems in the content included re-emergence,confusion between official ranks and positions,fabricating,missing and mismatching between institutions and officals.The historiography traditions on which“The Liao History.Bai Guan Zhi”based were the source of many errors in style and content.Chapter two,The study of re-emergence in“The Liao History.Bai Guan Zhi”:by a case study of Shu Mi Yuan-Entry.There were North and South,two Shu Mi Yuan(???)in Liao Dynasty,also known as Khitan Shu Mi Yuan and Hans Shu Mi Yuan,which belonged to north officers and south officers respectively.The Shu Mi Yuan in Bianliang was the predecessor of the South Shu Mi Yuan.The record of three Shu Mi Yuan in“The Liao History.Bai Guan Zhi”was a kind of re-emergence.Each of Shu Mi Yuan could be ruled by two or more Shu Mi Shi(???)in Liao Dynasty.Accroding to the institutions and officals attached to South Shu Mi Yuan,the records in“The Liao History.Bai Guan Zhi Three”should prevail.Zhi Shu Mi Yuan Shi(?????)was the agency of Shu Mi Shi.Take it as a independent official in“The Liao History.Bai Guan Zhi”was also a kind of re-emergence.Chapter three,The study of confusion between official ranks and positions in“The Liao History.Bai Guan Zhi”:by a case study of Zhong Shu Sheng-Entry.The confusion between official ranks and positions in“The Liao History.Bai Guan Zhi”includes two aspects:the confusion of officials and the nature of the organization.There was the most concentrated embodiment in the content of Zhong Shu Sheng(???).The official names recorded in Zhong Shu Sheng-Entry of“The Liao History.Bai Guan Zhi”could be divided into three categories in nature:the titles of prime ministers used by officals out of real prime minister,official ranks andpositions.Instead of one third of the three-Sheng system(???),Zhong Shu Sheng had been prime ministers'office operated by positions.The titles of prime ministers such as Zhong Shu Ling(???)had become kinds of official titlenames signifying the promotion of power and status.Chapter four,The study of fabricating and missing in“The Liao History.Bai Guan Zhi”:by a case study of Ordo-Entry.The Ordo officals were divided into two systems:the North Palace Officals and the South Palace Officals.Each of these had its highest offical:The Khitan Chief Administrator of Travelling Palace and The Hans Chief Administrator of Travelling Palace.With Deputies and Assistants,they were in charge of the Khitan and Han affairs,respectively.Each of Ordo was jointly managed by Khitan Chief Administrator and Hans-Bohai Chief Administrator.The management system of the nomadic population in Ordos is Ordo-Shi Lie(??)-Mo Li(??),three-level management,basically the same as that of the tribe.Ordo managed the agricultural population through the Ti Xia Si(???)at all levels.In Liao dynasty,the Ordo post was a kind of position,and its grade was determined by the official ranks.The complexity of the records in“The Liao History.Bai Guan Zhi”lay in the fact that they embody two kinds of problems in opposite directions of fabricating and missing at the same time.On the one hand,it fabricated institutions and officials such as the Head Palace Offical and the Gong Shi(??).On the other hand,it also missed the officals network managing the agricultural population in Ordos containing several levels of Ti Xia Shi(???).Chapter five,The study of mismatching between institutions and officals in“The Liao History.Bai Guan Zhi”:by a case study of Han Lin Academy-Entry.“The Liao History.Bai Guan Zhi”called the Liao Dynasty's historical institution was National History Academy(???),and listed it in Han Lin Academy(???).This design was undoubtedly influenced by the system of the Yuan Dynasty.The historical officials in the Yuan Dynasty analogized the system of the Liao Dynasty based on the system at that time,causing the mismatch between institutions and officals.In fact,the institution of history in the Liao Dynasty,rather than National History Academy,should be Academia Historica(??)which was a subordinate institution of Zhong Shu Sheng,and had no subordinate relationship with the Han Lin Academy.The officials in the charge of Han Lin Academy included Han Lin Academicians(????)and the Han Lin Academician Accepted the Order(??????),as well as Han Lin Shi Du Academicians(??????),Han Lin Shi Jiang Academicians(??????),Han Lin Ying Feng(????)that unlisted by“The Liao History.Bai Guan Zhi”.The Zhi Zhi Gao(???)could be the plus-title to Han Lin Academicians also could be a kind of independent official under Zhong Shu Sheng,never could be the official under Han Lin Academy though.The skilled officals,such as the Han Lin Medical Officer(????),the Han Lin Painters(?????),and the Han Lin Servant for tea and wine(?????),had the institutes instead of Han Lin Academy to work for respectively.The functions of Han Lin Academicians in Liao Dynasty were drafting the imperial edict and consultations providing,which could only depended on the imperial power but had no independent decision-making or executive power.The conclusion summarizes the historical sources and errors of “ The Liao History.Bai Guan Zhi”and reevaluates its value and significance.“The Liao History.Bai Guan Zhi” retained the original features of historical materials,some of which have not been seen in other historical books.“The Liao History.Bai Guan Zhi”reflects the trend from the separation of official ranks and positions to the unity during the period from the Liao Dynasty to the Yuan Dynasty.It also provides a reference for the study about the opinions on legitimism in the Yuan Dynasty.