13 - The Chiu T'ang shu and its sources: the Basic Annals

Summary

This chapter and the following chapter present a detailed analysis of the process of compilation through which various sections of the Chiu T'ang shu came into being and show how this process affects its use as a historical source and how it circumscribes our understanding of the events of T'ang history. But as a preliminary to this, a number of general points need to be stated.

During all the stages of compilation, editing, and recompilation of the national record, it seems that there was comparatively little actual new writing ab initio. The process was more one of constant and repeated condensation, summarization, and elimination of surplus verbiage and unwanted material than one of active composition. Apart from the sections dealing with the last few reigns, almost the only completely new materials written and added by the Chiu T'ang shu's compilers were the historians' “comments” and “judgments” that conclude most chapters, and there is evidence that, in some cases at least, even these were taken over, either (in the case of the earlier chapters) from the National History or (in some later instances) from the Veritable Records.

Perhaps the most remarkable feature of all the T'ang historical sources is their extraordinary textual integrity.