Nie Weimeng 聂溦萌, Zhonggu guanxiushi tizhi de yunzuo yu yanjin 中古官修史体制的运作与演进 (On the Operations and Development of the System of Compiling Official Historiography During the Middle Ages), Shanghai: Shanghai Guji Chubanshe 上海古籍出版社, 2021. ISBN 978–7–5325–9887–8, 388 pages, 108 RMB.
Reviewed by Paul Fahr (Ruhr-Universität Bochum)
The study of medieval Chinese historiography seems to be a lively field of research in present-day Mainland China. In 2012, Xu Chong 徐冲 published his On the Writing of History and the Sources of Imperial Power During the Middle Ages, to name but one title.[1] With the publication under review, we are presented with another study on medieval historiography, which, like the study by Xu, is part of the monograph series from the “Joint Study Group on Medieval China” (中古中国共同研究班) edited by Professor Yu Xin 余欣 at Fudan University 复旦大学.
Nie Weimeng 聂溦萌, presently employed at the Capital Normal University 首都师范大学 in Beijing, has a strong interest in the textual history of early medieval Chinese historiography, in the editorial revision of which she actively participates. Nie is one of the scholars, in other words, who decide on the standard text in the editions with which other historians work. This alone makes her views on historiography noteworthy.