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The Weishu, or “Book of Wei,” was compiled by Wei Shou (魏收), beginning in 551 C.E. under the commission of the Qi (齊) emperor. Wei Shou completed the annals and biographies in 554 C.E., submitting ten monographs shortly thereafter. He compiled the entirety of the work during the Qi dynasty, the successor state to the Eastern Wei dynasty; thus, the work is somewhat biased in favor of the ruling Tabğaç and their Särbi (鮮卑) affiliated successors. It was separated into three segments:

  1. Diji (帝紀) “The Emperor’s Annals”: the descriptions and histories of the dynasties and their emperors.

  2. Liezhuan (列傳) “Biographies”: descriptions and histories of notable individuals and groups.

  3. Zhi (志) “Records”: notes on the histories and developments of Chinese culture and sciences.

Book of Wei

魏書

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