Liu Zhiji

Liu Zhiji (* 661 ; † 721 , Chinese  劉 知 幾  /  刘 知 几 , Pinyin Liú Zhījǐ , W.-G. Liu Chih-chi ) was a Chinese historian of the Tang Dynasty . Liu comes from what is now Jiangsu Province .

Liu Zhiji attached great importance to the objectivity of historiography and limited himself mainly to gathering facts in his works. In contrast to earlier portrayals of history, Liu largely dispensed with a narrative style that included fiction and its own subjective interpretation.

In Liu's 710 published work Shǐtōng (史 通, "Studies on Historiography"), "reflections on problems of history and historiography" are discussed for the first time in world literature. Here Liu criticizes the style and the elaboration and compilation of the works of older historians, including the spring and autumn annals .

From 699 until his death in 721, Liu worked as a Confucian scholar in what was then the capital of China, Chang'an .

At least twelve works could be proven, of which Sān Jiào zhūyīng (三 教 珠 英) is the most extensive with 1313 roles.

Footnotes

1. ↑ Jacques Gernet: The Chinese World . Suhrkamp, ISBN 3-518-38005-2 , p. 233
2. ↑ Michael Quirin: Liu Zhiji and the Chun Qiu . Peter Lang, 1987, ISBN 3-8204-9649-1 .
3. ↑ Renditions, A Journal on Chinese Literature and Culture. Liu Zhiji ( Memento of the original from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.