Li Tao

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For the China-born Singaporean swimmer whose family name is Tao, see Tao Li.
This is a Chinese name; the family name is Li.

Li Tao (李燾) (1115–1184), courtesy name Renfu (仁甫 or 仁父) or Zizhen (子真), nicknamed Xunyan (巽巌), was a Southern Song Dynasty historian and scholar-official who devoted four decades of his life compiling the Xu Zizhi Tongjian Changbian, a monumental reference book chronicling the history of the Northern Song Dynasty from 960 until 1126.

Early life

Li Tao was a direct descendant of Li Si (李偲), Emperor Taizong of Tang's grandson who narrowly escaped death from the persecution of Empress Wu Zetian and settled in Meizhou (眉州, today's Meishan, Sichuan) in the 8th century. Li Tao's father Li Zhong (李中), a 15th-generation descendant of Li Si, passed the imperial examination in Song Dynasty in 1109 and was well known for his knowledge in history and the classics.[1]

Li Tao read widely from a young age, not only Confucian classics but also history, medicine, agriculture, cosmology and religion. A believer of I Ching, he made a conscientious effort to modify his behavior and learning to its teachings. But his greatest passion was in the field of history: he devoted himself in the learning of The Spring and Autumn Annals, looked up to Sima Guang and strongly believed that history should be written as a guide for Confucian ethics. In 1132 he passed the local examination in Meizhou, and passed the imperial examination 6 years later. In between, he wrote 2 historical essays "The Mirror of Both Han Dynasties" (兩漢鑑) and "The Discussion about the Restoration of Righeousness" (反正議), focusing on the morality lessons of his historical subjects.[2]

Official career

Having passed the imperial examination in 1138, he was appointed a minor post in Chengdu (also in modern Sichuan), but he with permission postponed the appointment to pursue further studies at home.[2] When he finally assumed office in 1142, chancellor Qin Hui who had heard of Li's name wanted him in the imperial government, but Li rejected the offer on the grounds that their views differ. This directly prevented him entering the central bureaucracy for the next 20 years.[3]

At the local post, he spent considerable energy collecting and arranging historical sources. He went home to mourn his father in 1147 and became the prefectural judge of Yazhou (雅州; modern Ya'an, Sichuan) 3 years later. This is when he started working on Xu Zizhi Tongjian Changbian, an annual intended to follow Sima Guang's monumental historiographical work Zizhi Tongjian. In 1159, he published an article entitled "Ten Comments on Li Yue and Others" (李悅等十事) whch denounced Qin Hui and Cai Jing.[3] A year after he was appointed administrator of Rongzhou (榮州; modern Rong County, Sichuan) in 1162, he finished the first 17 chapters of Xu Zizhi Tongjian Changbian.[4]

Sources

  1. ↑ Shiba, p. 585.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Shiba, p. 586.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Shiba, p. 587.
  4. ↑ Shiba, p. 588.
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