He slowly picked up his teeth and put them in his arms. Mao scolded, "Do you want to sue me by biting your teeth in your arms?" The minister replied, "I can't sue your majesty, but naturally a historian wrote it down truthfully." Mao listened to both fear and heartfelt admiration and gave him gold, silver, cotton and silk to comfort him.
Original text:
Song Taizu tried to play sparrow in the back garden. An official said he had something urgent to see, and Taizu was anxious to see it. He plays very ordinary. Angry, he scoffed at this reason and said to him, "I still want to play sparrow." The more angry he became, the more he raised the handle of the axe and hit himself in the mouth, causing two teeth to fall out. Chui fook pick up your teeth and put them in your arms. He scolded, "Are you going to accuse me of evil?" He said, "I can't sue your majesty, so I should have a historian's book." The world is afraid of talking, give it gold and silk to comfort it.
This article comes from Sima Guang's Zi Tong Zhi Jian in the Northern Song Dynasty.
Extended data writing background:
A multi-volume chronological history book edited by Sima Guang in the Northern Song Dynasty, with 294 volumes, took 19 years to complete. Mainly based on time and events, it began in the 23rd year of Zhou Weilie (403 BC) and ended in the 6th year of Xiande, Zhou Shizong after the Five Dynasties (959 AD), covering the history of 16 dynasties and 1362 years.
In this book, the editor summed up many experiences and lessons for the rulers to learn from. Song Shenzong thinks that this book is "in view of the past, it has the resources for governance", that is, to strengthen the rule by taking historical gains and losses as a warning, so it is named "Managing with Capital". Zitongzhijian has 294 volumes, about 3 million words, and Kaoyi and Catalogue have 30 volumes.
Sima Guang once suffered from a large number of historical books, and it was difficult for scholars to browse them all. Because he wanted to summarize the main points, he wrote a biographical history. Tongzhi, published in eight volumes, appeared in North Korea from the Warring States to Qin Ershi, which attracted the attention of Song Yingzong.
In the third year of Zhiping (1066), he ordered the publishing house to be located in Chongwen Academy to continue compiling. Song Shenzong acceded to the throne and was given the title of "Zi Zhi Tong Jian", which was awarded in turn. This book was written in the seventh year of Yuanfeng (1084).
Mirror Mirror was composed by Sima Guang and co-edited by Liu Shu, Liu Ban and Fan Zuyu. Liu Shu learned from others and had a deep memory. He tried his best to compile Tong Jian Yi, from Xiashi in Historical Records to Private Miscellaneous Notes.
Liu Ban in Hanshu and Fan Zuyu in Tang Shi both have deep research. They worked together and made important contributions to each other. Finally, it was revised, polished and finalized by Sima Guang. Among them, right and wrong were taken away, and light was extinguished.
There are abundant historical materials in Tongjian, besides Seventeen History, there are hundreds of miscellaneous history books. The narratives in books are often written in several materials.
In those years, when there are differences in deeds, all of them are added to the textual research, and the reasons as appropriate are indicated, which is regarded as "textual research". Tongjian has high historical value, especially in Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties.