The literati’s imaginations of historical learning: a comparative study of the dynastic history textbooks in twelfth- to early-fourteenth-century China

This paper analyzes and compares three kinds of dynastic history textbooks appearing from twelfth to early fourteenth century China. It argues that the structures of historical knowledge found in these textbooks reveal a new level of “historical facts,” one that reflects Southern Song-Yuan literati practices of understanding and reshaping their experiential world. The forms of historical knowledge—such as the selection of sources, the interpretation of their factual meaning, and the articulation of connections among discrete historical phenomena—demonstrate a new pattern of knowledge production. These textbook writers sought to perform a “correct” way of learning history, anticipating that such performative actions would encourage readers to voluntarily accumulate the personal qualities necessary for future social action and interaction.