author
887–946
A leading official of the Five Dynasties era, he is best remembered as the chief editor of the Old Book of Tang, one of the major official histories of imperial China. His life moved through war, shifting courts, and high office, giving his writing a close view of a turbulent age.
Born in 887 in Zhuo Prefecture, in what is now Hebei, he came from a family with a military background and became known early for his literary talent. He lived through the collapse of the Tang dynasty and the unstable period that followed, serving under successive northern regimes before rising to senior office in the Later Jin state.
He held important government posts and at one point served as chancellor. Although he was a statesman as much as a writer, readers remember him above all for his connection to the Old Book of Tang (Jiu Tang shu), the official history of the Tang dynasty compiled under imperial sponsorship in the 940s.
That work helped preserve biographies, court records, and political history from one of China's most influential dynasties. Even centuries later, his name remains closely tied to the effort to gather the Tang past into a lasting historical record.