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Wei Shou
Eastern Wei and Northern Qi historian and writer who compiled the History of Wei for Emperor Wenxuan of Northern Qi.
In an archive hall, tall wooden shelves hold scrolls and bound books with small tags, and one person climbs a ladder with their back turned; a long table in front holds an unrolled river map, a bronze lamp and a copper jug, with a city wall seen through the window.
Also known as Zi Boqi · Childhood name Fozhu
Wei Shou, courtesy name Boqi and childhood name Fozhu, came from Xiaquyang in Julu. He served the Northern Wei and Eastern Wei and then the Northern Qi, rising to Director of the Secretariat, and with Wen Zisheng and Xing Shao was counted among the three great literary talents of the north. Commissioned in 551 to write the history of the Wei, he presented the History of Wei in 554 with annals and biographies, later adding treatises for a total of 130 juan. Its partisan judgments drew fierce protest, earning it the nickname 'the foul history', and it was revised several times. He died in 572, posthumously named Wenzhen. His book remains the standard history of the Northern and Eastern Wei.
Life and times
Dates 507–572 CE (birth also given as 506)