Charles Hartman is Professor of Chinese Studies in the Department of East Asian Studies at the University at Albany, State University of New York.

Introduction: Toward a dynamic historiography of the Song dynasty; Part I. Sources: 1. The Song State Compendium; 1.1 Introduction; 1.2 The origins and distinctiveness of the Song dynasty huiyao; 1.3 The first and second collections; 1.4 A hundred year hiatus; 1.5 Resumption under Emperor Xiaozong; 1.6 New paradigms; 1.7 The Reconstructed Draft; 1.8 Understanding the Recovered Draft; 1.9 Conclusion; 2. Li Tao and the Long Draft; 2.1 Introduction; 2.2 The historian from Sichuan; 2.3 The origins of the Long Draft; 2.4 The reign of Emperor Xiaozong and the politics of the Long Draft; 2.5 Method and message in the Long Draft; 2.6 The fate of a masterpiece; 2.7 Conclusion; 3. Li Xinchuan and the Chronological Record; 3.1 Introduction; 3.2 The life of Li Xinchuan; 3.3 Corrections of Errors in Old Accounts; 3.4 The Chronological Record; 3.4.1 Facts and sources; 3.4.2 Constructing narratives; 3.4.3 Creating a political discourse; 3.5 The Diverse Notes; 3.6 The Record of the Way and its Fate; 3.7 Conclusion; 4. The daoxue historians; 4.1 Zhu Xi; 4.2 Chen Jun; 4.3 Lü Zhong's Lectures on Song History; 4.4 Daoxue historiography; 5. The Song History; 5.1 Introduction: a flawed history?; 5.2 The project and the committee; 5.3 Structure and meaning; 5.3.1 The imperial eulogies; 5.3.2. The prefaces and evaluations; 5.3.3 Cyclical structure and meaning in the Song History; 5.4 Politics and message; Part II. Narratives: 6. Political precedents and the origins of historical narrative; 6.1 The power of precedent; 6.2 The policies of the ancestors; 6.3 Precedents in Southern Song; 7. Song history as grand allegory: an introduction; 8. An empire of benevolence; 8.1 Yuanyou origins; 8.2 Luo Congyan's Record of Revering Yao; 8.3 New history for a new regime; 8.4 Hu Anguo's 'Plans for the Restoration' and the return of Qin Gui; 8.5 Zhao Ding, Fan Chong, and the Yuanyou legacy; 9. From soldier to sage: deifying the prime ancestor; 9.1 Fighting over Chen Bridge; 9.2 A banquet for the generals; 9.2.1 The Song military problem; 9.2.2 The restoration context; 9.2.3 Sima Guang again; 10. The lineage of evil: benevolence undermined; 11. The rhythms of Song history; Bibliography; Index.