Li Tao (historian)
Li Tao | |||||||||
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Born | 1115 Danleng, Mei Prefecture, Song dynasty | ||||||||
Died | 1184 (aged 68–69) Lin'an Prefecture, Song dynasty | ||||||||
Language | Classical Chinese | ||||||||
Spouse | Lady Yang (楊氏) | ||||||||
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Chinese name | |||||||||
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Simplified Chinese | |||||||||
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Li Renfu | |||||||||
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Li Zizhen | |||||||||
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Xunyan (art name) | |||||||||
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Li Tao (1115–1184), courtesy name Renfu or Zizhen, art name Xunyan, was a Song dynasty historian and scholar-official who devoted four decades of his life compiling Xu Zizhi Tongjian Changbian, a monumental reference book chronicling the history of the Northern Song (960–1127).
Early life
[edit]Li Tao was a direct descendant of Li Si (
Li Tao read widely from a young age, not only Confucian classics but also history, medicine, agriculture, cosmology and divination. A believer of I Ching, he made an effort to modify his daily conduct and learning to its teachings. But his greatest passion was in the field of history: he devoted himself to the learning of The Spring and Autumn Annals, looked up to Sima Guang and strongly believed that history should be written as a guide for Confucian ethics. In 1132 he scored first in the local examination in Mei Prefecture, and six years later he passed the imperial examination. In between, he wrote two historical essays "The Mirror of Both Han Dynasties" (
Official career
[edit]Under Emperor Gaozong
[edit]Having passed the imperial examination in 1138, he was appointed Assistant Magistrate (
At the local post, Li Tao spent his time collecting and arranging historical sources. He went home to mourn his late father in 1147 and became the Prefectural Judge (推官) of Ya Prefecture three years later. This was when he started working on Xu Zizhi Tongjian Changbian, an annalistic work intended to follow Sima Guang's monumental Zizhi Tongjian. Like Sima Guang before him, he began gathering the veritable records (
Under Emperor Xiaozong
[edit]In 1163, Li Tao finished the first 17 chapters of Xu Zizhi Tongjian Changbian, which covers the reign of Emperor Taizu of Song.[5] In 1167 he was recommended by the new Sichuan Military Commissioner Wang Yingchen (
When Wang Yingchen suffered a political setback, Li Tao as his protégé was ousted from the central government. He served as Vice Fiscal Commissioner (
Li Tao came back to the central government for the third time in 1176, when he assumed the posts of Director of the Palace Library, Provisional Associate Compiler of the Bureau of Compilation of Reign History (
In 1180, the Bureau of Compilation of Reign History finished the treatise chapters of its Sichao Guozhi (
He was summoned back to the central government the 4th time and rewarded the posts of Auxiliar-Academician (
Bibliography
[edit]- Xu Zizhi Tongjian Changbian, a history book on the Northern Song dynasty
- Liuchao Tongjian Boyi (六朝通鑑博議), a history book on the Six Dynasties period
References
[edit]- ^ Biographies, p. 585.
- ^ a b Biographies, p. 586.
- ^ a b Biographies, p. 587.
- ^ a b c Biographies, p. 588.
- ^ a b c Bibliography, p. 73.
- ^ a b Biographies, p. 589.
- ^ a b Biographies, p. 590.
- ^ Biographies, p. 591.
- Shiba, Yoshinobu (1976). "Li T'ao". In Franke, Herbert (ed.). Sung Biographies. Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag. pp. 585–591. ISBN 3-515-02412-3.
- Shiba, Yoshinobu (1978). "Hsü Tzu-chih-t'ung-chien ch'ang-pien". In Balazs, Etienne; Hervouet, Yves (eds.). A Sung Bibliography. The Chinese University Press. pp. 72–75. ISBN 962-201-158-6.