The Story of the Five Dynasties - English translation:

Japanese: 五代史平話 - ごだいしへいわ（英語表記）Wǔ dài shǐ píng huà

A full-length Chinese historical novel. In the Song dynasty (960-1279), military tales from the Five Dynasties (first half of the 10th century) were a major theme of storytelling alongside the Histories of the Three Kingdoms, and this book is thought to be a transcript of one of these. It was discovered in 1901 and called the Song version, but it is probably the Yuan version. The original was lost and only a reprint remains. It consists of a total of 10 volumes, with two volumes each for the Liang, Tang, Jin, Han, and Zhou dynasties, but the lower volumes of the History of Liang and the History of Han are missing. The content is based on historical fact, but also includes parts that appear to be folk legends of the time and embellishments by storytellers.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

中国の長編歴史小説。宋代(960‐1279)の講談では三国史と並んで五代(10世紀前半)の軍談が主要な演目となっていたが，この本はその筆録と思われる。1901年に発見され宋版と称されたが，実際は元版であろう。原本は失われ覆刻のみ伝わる。梁･唐･晋･漢･周各上下2巻，計10巻より成るが梁史と漢史の下巻が欠けている。内容は史実を踏まえつつ，部分的に当時の民間伝説や講釈師の粉飾とおぼしき個所を含んでいる。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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