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Xi Zuochi (after 316〔''Shishuo Xinyu'' 4§80 states Xi Zuochi held high rank in Huan Wen's provincial government before the age of thirty. Huan Wen became Inspector of Jing Province following the death of Yu Yi (庾翼) in 345, so Xi Zuochi must have been born after 316. ''Shishuo Xinyu'' is not a reliable historical text, but this is the closest we have to a record of Xi Zuochi's birth. See Mather, p 142.〕–384〔Xi Zuochi's death has traditionally been dated to October or November 384, as recorded in the Tang-era Veritable Records of Jiankang, p 275. However, a single line of text in Xi Zuochi's ''Records of the Elders of Xiangyang'' records the death of Zhu Xu (朱序) in 393. The editors of the modern annotated version of this work treat the line as a later interpolation (see Shu Fen and Zhang Lingchun, p 407 n 4). By contrast, American Xi Zuochi expert Andrew Chittick adds at least nine years to Xi Zuochi's lifespan (see Chittick, p 41 n 39). Chittick's theory has gained some currency in English-language sinology, being adopted for example by J. Michael Farmer (p 55). The traditional dating of 384 remains the standard for Chinese-language studies, and is retained here.〕), courtesy name Yanwei, was a Jin dynasty historian native to Xiangyang, Hubei. He is principally remembered for being the first historian to regard the Wei dynasty as an illegitimate successor to the Han dynasty. ==Life== Born into a powerful family of local magnates, Xi Zuochi was ambitious and studious from a young age. Beginning his career as a clerk, Xi Zuochi came to the attention of Inspector of Jing Province Huan Wen through the repeated recommendations of Yuan Qiao (袁喬), magistrate of Jiangxia commandery.〔''Book of Jin'', 82.2152〕 Huan Wen greatly esteemed Xi Zuochi, promoting him three times during the course of a single year,〔Tan Daoluan (檀道鸞), ''續晉陽秋'' (''Continuation of the Annals of Jin''), 2§2, in Tang Qiu and Qiao Zhizhong, p 243〕 such that Xi Zuochi held the position of Superintendent of Records in the central administration of Jing Province while he was still a young man, possibly not yet thirty years old.〔''Shishuo Xinyu'' 4§80〕 Huan Wen would occasionally employ Xi Zuochi as an administrative aide whilst on campaign, and he excelled in all his duties whether in camp or in the office.〔''Book of Jin'', 82.2153〕 Xi Zuochi's relationship with his employer became strained after a visit to the capital city, where he met Sima Yu, future Emperor Jianwen of Jin and political rival of Huan Wen. Xi Zuochi was apparently so taken with Sima Yu that Huan Wen felt it best to distance himself from Xi Zuochi, and demoted him to Grand Administrator of Hengyang, in the Xiang river basin far to the south, in present-day Hunan.〔〔Mather, pp 142–3〕〔Chittick calls this episode "so patently self-serving a tale that it deserves little credence." (Chittick, p 40 n 36)〕〔Many sources have Xingyang (滎陽) for Hengyang (衡陽) as the locale of Xi Zuochi's quasi-banishment, but this was politically impossible, as Xingyang was not only not under Huan Wen's jurisdiction, but in fact was not even controlled by the Jin dynasty until after Huan Wen's death. See Cheng Yanzhen's (程炎震) commentary to ''Shishuo Xinyu'' 4§80, p 217 n 2, and Wu Shijian's (吳士鑑) commentary to the ''Book of Jin'', included in the same note.〕 Xi Zuochi may have suffered a stroke at this time, contributing to his difficulty walking later in life.〔Mather, 143〕 While in quasi-banishment in the deep south, Xi Zuochi composed his greatest work, ''The Annals of Han and Jin'' (''漢晉春秋''), in 54 fascicles. Intended as a corrective against Huan Wen's increasingly undeserved imperial ambitions, Xi Zuochi took the inventive and iconoclastic step of delegitimating the Wei dynasty, theorising that ritual abdication alone was not enough to establish a legitimate dynasty with a true mandate. He developed a disease of the feet which caused him to limp, quit his post, and went home to Xiangyang, collecting a local history gazette titled ''Records of the Elders of Xiangyang'' (襄陽耆舊記).〔Despite its title, ''Records of the Elders of Xiangyang'' was not merely biographical, additionally containing records of natural topography and human habitation. See either of the modern publications of this work: Shu Fen and Zhang Linchuan (1986), or Huang Huixian (1987).〕 Xiangyang at this time was a flourishing centre of Buddhism, due in no small part to the activity of Shi Dao'an,〔Zürcher, pp 187–97〕 whom Xi Zuochi greatly admired, advocated, and was friendly with. He introduced himself to Shi Dao'an via letter in 365, and the two met shortly thereafter.〔Zürcher, p 190; also 72, 105, 315.〕〔Yan Kejun, 134.1447–8〕 In a separate letter to Xie An, one of the most powerful figures in the Jin court, Xi Zuochi effuses solemnly about Shi Dao'an's monastic mastery, and advocates that the two ought meet.〔Zürcher, 189〕〔Yan Kejun, 134.1446〕 In 378, northern armies under Fu Jian besieged Xiangyang, and in 379 the city fell. Xi Zuochi and Shi Dao'an were taken to Fu Jian's capital at Chang'an.〔Zürcher, 198〕〔''Book of Jin'', 82.2154〕 Fu Jian was extremely pleased with his acquisition of two such eminent intellectuals, and rewarded them richly. However Xi Zuochi, citing illness, refused entry into Fu Jian's service and returned to Xiangyang.〔〔Zürcher, 201〕〔Chittick, 47〕 Jin forces recaptured Xiangyang in 383, and the court offered Xi Zuochi the job of compiling an official national history, but his death interrupted any progress he may have made on the project.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Xi Zuochi」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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