Proof-reading. "ten States" Notes

The Autumn and Spring of the Ten Kingdoms, compiled into 114 fascicles, records a history of each of the ten kingdoms presented in a series of biographies. It was written by Wu Renchen of Qing dynasty and was completed in the eighth year of Kangxi, an emperor of Qing Dynasty. It adopts the style of The old History of Five Dynasties, in which the history of each dynasty is written into one volume. The history of each of the ten kingdoms is arranged into one separate volume. The whole book includes 14 fascicles for Wu Dynasty,20 fascicles for NanTang Kingdom, 13 fascicles for QianShu Kingdom, 10 fascicles for HouShu Kingdom, 9 fascicles for NanHan Kingdom, 10 fascicles for Chu Kingdom, 13 fascicles for WuYue Kingdom, 10 fascicles for Min Kingdom, 4 fascicles for JingNan Kingdom, 5 fascicles for BeiHan Kingdom. Each part contains both chronicles and biographies. There are five categories of history list which synthesize the content of the ten kingdoms in the end of the book. They include one fascicle for the list of the opening year of the ten kingdoms, one fascicle for the list of pedigree the ten kingdoms, two fascicles for the list of the geography of the ten countries, one fascicle for list of the military governors of the ten kingdoms, and one fascicle for the list of official position of the ten kingdoms. We should recognize that the book has made a comprehensive record of the history of the ten kingdoms in Five Dynasty Period. In Five Dynasty Period, the warfare is frequent in all kingdoms and the dynasty changes randomly in great turbulence. Falling back on himself alone, Wu Renchen completed the history book through collecting materials from all sides and consulting extensively all kinds of ancient works. Mistake, contradiction and superfluity are unavoidable in this book. Besides, because the historical records are extensive and wide-ranging, it was impossible for Wu Renchen to read all the huge collection of ancient works, and it is also impossible for him to read the works unearthed afterwards. Therefore, incompleteness and simplification in writing are unavoidable in this book. In this understanding, it is both necessary and meaningful to rectify and replenish the book. I am willing to try to rectify and replenish the whole book based on all the knowledge I have humbly acquired. I do not intend to, neither am I able to distinguish myself from doing such a job. What I hope to do is contribute my mere efforts to the study of the ten Kingdoms in Five Dynasty.This thesis is based on The Autumn and Spring of the Ten Kingdoms , published by the Zhonghua Book Company in December, 1983, and it is also based on some other historical documents.