Original title 十六國春秋 Publication date early 5th century Country Northern Wei | Language Classical Chinese | |
Subject History of the Sixteen Kingdoms Similar Book of Jin, Taiping Yulan, Rikkokushi, Bamboo Annals, Đại Việt sử lược | ||
The Spring and Autumn Annals of the Sixteen Kingdoms, also known by its Chinese title Shiliuguo Chunqiu (Chinese: 十六国春秋; pinyin: Shíliùguó Chūnqiū; Wade–Giles: Shihliukuo Ch'unch'iu) is a biographical history of the Sixteen Kingdoms work compiled by Cui Hong between 501 to 522. It became one of the chief sources for the compilation of the Book of Wei and Book of Jin in the beginning.
The book started to disappear from the early Tang Dynasty and did not survive intact. It originally contained 100 volumes, a preface and a chronological table. By the time of the early Song Dynasty, many of them were lost and only about 20 volumes remained, which were quoted extensively by Sima Guang. There are two extant versions dating from the late Ming Dynasty, the edition by Tu Qiaosun (屠本) containing 100 volumes, and the one by He Tang (何本) containing 16 volumes, reprinted in the Hanwei Congshu, a compilation of histories. Tu's edition was published for the third time in 1781. Also there is a 100 volumes edition together with a chronological table from the later Qing Dynasty by Tang Qiu, taken from the edition by He Tang and from other materials.