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Blank Spaces and Secret Histories: Questions of Historiographic Epistemology in Medieval China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 November 2010

Jack W. Chen
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Abstract

Historiography has long been concerned with the problem of determining standards for evidence. For traditional Chinese historians, it was Confucius who provided the model for historical writing. As the attributed author of the Springs and Autumns, Confucius demonstrated qualities of narratival restraint, historical factuality, moral profundity, and a refusal to engage in idle speculation. Of course, his model was not an easy one to emulate, and later historical writings have drawn on both the factual records of the imperial court (which were not always factual or free of ideological interests) and nonofficial sources, such as private accounts, anecdotal literature, and hearsay. The present essay focuses on this intersection between anecdotal sources and historiography. This is precisely the point when historiography must reflect on its narrative condition, as narrative has interests other than factuality or moral truth. The author shows how the historiographic anxiety over unreliable sources has often coexisted with a fascination with anecdotal stories and gossip.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Asian Studies , Volume 69 , Issue 4 , November 2010 , pp. 1071 - 1091
Copyright
Copyright © The Association for Asian Studies, Inc. 2010

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References

List of Characters

Ban Gu 班固

biji 筆記

chuanqi 傳奇

Chunqiu 春秋

“Chunqiu huowen” 春秋或問

“Diwang shici tu xu” 帝王世次圖序

Gongyang Gao 公羊高

Gongyang zhuan 公羊傳

Han shu 漢書

“Huo Xiaoyu zhuan” 霍小玉傳

Jiang Fang 蔣防

jingxueshi 經學史

Li Yi 李益

Liu Xie 劉勰

Liu Zhiji 劉知幾

Meng Haoran 孟浩然

ming 名

Ouyang Xiu 歐陽修

Shang shu 尚書

shi 史

shixueshi 史學史

Shi ji 史記

Shi tong 史通

“Shi zhuan” 史傳

Sima Guang 司馬光

Sima Qian 司馬遷

Song Qi 宋祁

Tang liudian 唐六典

wen 聞

Wenxin diaolong 文心雕龍

Wu Zhen 吳縝

xiaoshuo 小說

Xin Tang shu 新唐書

“Zashu” 雜述

Zhao Yi 趙翼

zi 字

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