Why didn't Chen Yuanguang's Biography of Tang Shi be restored?

It is an indisputable fact that Chen Yuanguang, the first general of Zhangzhou in Tang Dynasty, known as "King Zhang Kai", was the founder of Zhangzhou. However, neither the Book of the New Tang Dynasty nor the Book of the Old Tang Dynasty was published, which made the later generations feel confused and sorry. In fact, throughout the long history, Chen Yuanguang is not the only historical celebrity without official history, and his position is higher than that of Chen Yuanguang. There are also many records in unofficial history, local chronicles and Jiacheng, but there are also many anonymous people in the official history. The reason why there is no Tang Shi in Chen Yuanguang is mainly because Zhangzhou at that time was just a newly established county in the southeast of the vast territory of the Tang Dynasty. It was called a secluded seaside and had no "popularity", so it was difficult to store its files in Chang 'an, the capital city thousands of miles away. What's more, Chen Yuanguang's ancestors were originally the "former generals" of the Sui Dynasty attached to the Tang Dynasty, and it is inevitable that some people regard them with special respect; Moreover, the post of "Shangshu" in the Tang Dynasty is only ranked in the fourth category, and it is definitely not "the body of dignitaries". In view of the above factors, later generations of historians may not be able to understand the origin of "Zhang Kai", which led to Chen Yuanguang's "biographies of Tang Shi without revision". However, anyone with historical knowledge should not think that Tang Shi is unknown and doubt whether there is Chen Yuanguang and his great achievements. Although Tang Shi recorded the deeds of the famous opening sage and his subordinates, it clearly recorded the story of the juxtaposition of Zhangpu County and the state in December of the following year (see Old Tang Book Geography); Another example is the Geography of the New Tang Dynasty, which also records: "There is water in the south of Zhangzhou (in the clouds), hence the name" (I press: the book of the New Tang Dynasty was published in the Song Dynasty, when Zhangzhou Prefecture had moved northward to xiangcheng district for more than 400 years, so the book was called "South of Zhangzhou"). In the Northern Song Dynasty, Wu Yu, a scholar in the fifth year of Yuanfeng (1082) and Zhang Jiren (official to Feng Yilang and judge of Chaozhou Prefecture), wrote a monograph on geography and administrative regions, which clearly recorded: "On December 9, the second year of Tang Gaozong's hanging arch, Wei Yifu Zuo Yu and Zuo Lang Ping set Chen Yuanguang, suffering from the tide. Cut the southwest of Fuzhou (renamed Sui and Fujian as Fuzhou in the mid-Tang Dynasty) and set it in Zhangzhou. At the beginning of Emperor Zhi, Zhang Shuibei set up a chariot, and the state is famous for its water ... "When Wu Yu wrote" Illustrated Preface ",it was only three hundred years since Chen Yuanguang died, and the time was very close. Of course, the historical events and figures he used are not absurd, so there should be no doubt. At the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, the official documents compiled by historians of the central government were classified and sorted. Among them, Li Lei 20 contains nearly 300 words of Chen Yuanguang Temple, which records in detail that Chen Yuanguang was sealed in June of the eighth year of Zongxi Ning (113). As of September, 4th year of Xiaozong Daoism in Southern Song Dynasty (1 168), Chen Yuanguang was added as the "enlightened king". At the same time, it generally recorded the glorious image and sublimation process of Chen Yuanguang, who was born in a name, was a Huize person, enjoyed the temple fair sacrifice, and was fragrant in Iraq and North Korea. This information is precious. The official book "Song Yaoji Draft" was written during the 450 years when Chen Yuanguang lived, especially the official book archives, which contained authoritative things. Of course, it can be regarded as a reliable history. Since then, during the Yuan Dynasty, Chinese culture was severely damaged, and many documents were lost, especially local documents, most of which were incomplete. As a result, later generations often encounter document faults when studying local chronicles, and have to turn to unofficial history, genealogists and word of mouth. It was not until the middle of the next quarter that the society was basically stable that local officials resumed the "Shi Sheng Restoration" activity. Therefore, in the seventh year of Zheng De (15 12), the Chronicle of Daming Zhangzhou was published, edited by Jinshi, Sichuan Buzheng and Putian Zhou Ying, and edited by Jinshi, Zhangzhou Magistrate and Wuling Chen Hongmo. Unfortunately, it is rarely printed and handed down from generation to generation. Today, when I looked up the general catalogue of the ancient books department of the National Library of Beijing, I only recorded that the Ming Zhengde edition of Daming Zhangzhou Chronicle has become an orphan at home and is now in the National Palace Museum in Taipei. The author has twice tried to go to Taiwan with a group to participate in folk cultural exchange activities, so he personally saw and browsed this "orphan" Zhangzhou local history, and also entrusted people to take photos of many chapters in this local history, such as The Fourteen Rites of Chen Yuanguang, a biography of Daming Zhangzhou local history, and copied it and brought it back to the original place for research. This biography gives a general description and evaluation of Chen Yuanguang and his deeds, and it is the earliest official document recording Chen Yuanguang's life so far. After reading the preface of the local chronicles, we know that many materials in the book are collected from Old Records and Song Records. However, it can be inferred that Zhangzhou government records were edited during the Tang and Song Dynasties. Today, Mo Dao's "Ancient Records" has been lost. Even when state officials compiled local records in the early Ming Dynasty, they could only get some surviving "Old Records" and "Song Records". Therefore, the biography of Chen Yuanguang recorded in Zheng De's Annals of Daming Zhangzhou probably comes directly from the Book of Tang Dynasty and the Book of Song Dynasty, and is by no means invented by later generations. From the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty to the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty and even after, local governments at all levels in Fujian have compiled various versions of local chronicles, such as Shu Min, Bamin Tongzhi, Fujian Tongzhi and Zhangzhou Fuzhi. Although the history of Zhang Kai, especially the behavior of Chen Yuanguang, is different from that recorded in Zheng Dezhi, these local chronicles are all affirmed and affirmed in the same way. When searching for Chen Yuanguang's hometown Gwangju (Liangzhi Gwangju, Dingling City, Guangshan, Xianju, Gushi and Yin Cheng) in Gushi County, only the tombs and ancestral temples of Chen Yuanguang's ancestors were left in Jeffery Ji Township of this county (according to Zheng De's version of Zhangzhou Records of Daming, Chen Yuanguang's ancestors were originally from "Hedong"). The earliest existing record in Henan literature is Chen Yuanguang's Loyalty and Righteousness Biography during the Qianlong period of Qing Dynasty. It was originally recorded that "Chen Yuanguang was born in Yiyang (renamed Yiyang in the Sui Dynasty) and was born on February 16th in the second year of Xian Qing (AD 657)". In addition, there are materials such as Chaozhou Fu Zhi or Chen Jia Pu compiled by Guangdong Province in the Qing Dynasty and modern times, and historical events are also recorded, and the praise of its achievements is basically consistent with that of Fujian Province. Only Chen Yuanguang's hometown is called Guangdong. According to the relevant information, Zheng Chen, another person with the same surname in Panyu County, was mistaken for Chen Yuanguang's father, so he had a Guangdong nationality mistake. In fact, there is no reliable data to support this statement. To sum up, we can be absolutely sure that Chen Yuanguang did exist in history, and he was honored as the "Holy King of Zhang Kai" by later generations for good reason and worthy of the name. (Fang Qunda) (Editor: Feng Chuanye)