Among scholars and historians, Ouyang Xiu wrote the Book of the New Tang Dynasty and the History of the New Five Dynasties separately to show the difference from the History of the Five Dynasties supervised by Xue. Chen's Preface to the History of the Five Dynasties says: "The Five Dynasties lasted for more than a hundred years, so the old customs were often abandoned and there was nothing to say. Historians who grasp the pen, or literary talent is not enough to shine forever, and Taoism is not enough to continue to describe it, which has destroyed the traces of survival in the past 50 years. The crime of treacherous court officials and thieves, the festival of loyalty and justice, will not be passed down to future generations. But Ouyang Gong of Luling generously took responsibility for himself, devoted himself to it for many years, and then wrote a book. His deeds are detailed in the old records, praising and derogating, and learning the Spring and Autumn Period. " It is an appropriate evaluation of the achievements of the New History of the Five Dynasties.
Sima Guang is a famous historian in Song Dynasty, who not only has a profound historical background, but also has a strong literary accomplishment. Purple Tongzhi Sword has become an example of the combination of history and literature (including aesthetic factors), and some of its chapters, such as Battle of Red Cliffs, the battle of fertilizer and water, and Li Suixue's night attack on Cai Zhou, have become independent objects of literary aesthetics.
In addition, Li Dao edited the Long Edition of Continuing Education as a Mirror; Li Xin's biography "Jian Yan Nian Zhi" recorded the historical events in Song Gaozong during the thirty-six years; Xu compiled "Three Dynasties North Alliance". When Xu was a child, he experienced the Jingkang Rebellion, which was unforgettable, so he recorded the Song and Jin Dynasties and wars, especially the Jingkang Rebellion. Historical materials contain the author's emotions and feelings of praise and criticism; Yuan Shu's Zi Zhi Tong Jian has made a great breakthrough in the writing of history books. The book takes events as the center, collects information, is a relatively independent adult, integrates biographies and chronicles, and has "the heart of loving the monarch and worrying about the country, and the ambition of being cynical"; Zi Jian written by Zhu and Zhao Shiyuan was sorted out and reformed according to their respective historical views. Zheng Qiao's "Tongzhi" synthesizes historical materials of past dynasties, has the nature of an encyclopedia, covers a wide range, and greatly expands the scope of historical records. The above-mentioned history books of the Song Dynasty show a strong sense of historians, which is concentrated in the realistic spirit of applying what they have learned. Ouyang Xiu's "On the History of Historians" holds that "historians are also the code of the country." This is a great emphasis on the role and position of history. Starting from such a starting point, the Song people had a great purpose in compiling and managing history. As one of the assistants of Sima Guangxiu's Zi Tong Zhi Jian, Fan Zuyu wrote Tang Jian, and he viewed the lessons of the demise of the Tang Dynasty from the dual perspectives of Song people and historians. In his view, the Tang Dynasty was a "Yin Jian" not far from the Song Dynasty, so "it is better to learn from the present than to be near the Tang Dynasty". The chaotic scene of the Five Dynasties seems to be yesterday, so we pay special attention to the historical lessons of the Five Dynasties. Ouyang Xiu studied the history of the Five Dynasties privately, which was his original intention. He showed a particularly angry mood in history books, which is also the reason. Ouyang Fa, the son of Ouyang Xiu, said in the Collection and Deeds of Ouyang Wenzhong: "He paid special attention to the history of the Five Dynasties, praised and criticized good and evil, and his laws were precise. He will definitely say,' Alas, this is the foundation of troubled times.' "The most wonderful preface in the book, such as preface to a line, highly praises and emphasizes the loyalty and integrity as an official, which is the value of Ouyang Xiu's historical thought and the core of his historical thought in the Song Dynasty. There is a reason why the consciousness of loyalty was so strong in the Song Dynasty, especially at the turn of the Song Dynasty and the death of the Song Dynasty. Another example is the preface to the Biography of Lingguan, which triggered an extremely important and profound experience and lesson from the historical facts of the sudden rise and fall of the post-Tang Zhuang Sect in the Five Dynasties. Its prosperity is also fast, and its decline is also sudden. Prosperity is unstoppable, and decline is hard to resist. Prosperity lies in "worry and fatigue" and declines in "ease and relaxation", which is the joint point. This is not only for the Five Dynasties, but also generally applicable to all dynasties, with a strong sense of hardship and rare historical depth. This has become a concentrated expression of the spirit of historiography in the Song Dynasty.
As a complete concept and proposition, "Zi Tong Zhi Jian" embodies the historical consciousness of Song people who attach importance to the influence of history and culture on reality. Therefore, in the aesthetic category of Song Dynasty literature, the stock of epic poems is particularly rich, involving many historical figures and events since the pre-Qin period. There are two poems of Zhao Jun by Wang Anshi, namely, Poems of Zhao Jun by Mei, Ouyang Xiu and Sima Guang. Wang Anshi's Reading History examines the past historical situation and the evaluation made by historians from a historical perspective. He is not satisfied with the "dross" of the past history, and thinks that "it is not the essence of beauty that is conveyed". In his view, the most difficult or rare thing to record and describe history is the understanding and embodiment of the historical spirit, that is, the so-called "Dan Qing's difficulty in writing is the spirit." This is an important historical epistemology of Wang Anshi, which influences and dominates his evaluation and understanding of a series of historical events, phenomena and figures, and forms an organic combination of historiography and aesthetics, that is, singing history-expressing feelings. His poems such as Shang Yang and Zhuge Wuhou are proof. This phenomenon of praising history has also spread to the field of painting aesthetics. Li painted a picture of riding alone to see Uighur. The elegant demeanour of Guo Ziyi, a famous Zhongxing in Tang Dynasty, and the expression of surrender of Uighur Khan are all brilliant. Under the realistic background that Liao and Xixia invaded frequently and the Song Dynasty was weak and incompetent, the painter made this painting with twists and turns to show his intention of carrying forward the spirit of the Tang Dynasty and invigorating the people's style in the Song Dynasty, and so did his Wei Yan Pastoral. This fully embodies the realistic consciousness and emotion overflowed by the historical theme of painting aesthetics in Song Dynasty.