Scholars › Historian
Wu Jing
Tang historian renowned for honest writing, long active in the History Office and author of the Essentials of Government of the Zhenguan Era.
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 Baron of Changyuan County
- Roles
- Historian
Wu Jing, a native of Junyi in Bianzhou, was appointed to the History Office under Empress Wu to compile the national history, rising to Diarist of Activity and Repose alongside Liu Zhiji and Xu Jian, and was later enfeoffed as Baron of Changyuan. He helped compile the Veritable Records of Empress Wu and wrote national and dynastic histories of his own, praised as concise and reliable. When Zhang Yue asked him to soften a passage concerning himself, Wu reportedly refused, insisting on honest writing. His Essentials of Government of the Zhenguan Era, in ten juan, arranges the political discussions of Emperor Taizong with Wei Zheng and other ministers and was prized by later rulers. He died in 749.
Life and times
Dates c. 670–749 CE