Nantang jinshi 南唐近事

Nantang jinshi 南唐近事 "A Modern History of the Southern Tang Dynasty" is a history of the Southern Tang dynasty 南唐 (937-975) written during the Song period 宋 (960-1279) by Zheng Baowen 鄭文寶 (953-1013), courtesy name Zhongxian 仲賢, from Ninghua 寧化 in the prefecture of Dingzhou 汀州. He also wrote the book Jiangbiaozhi 江表志.

The Nantang jinshi was, according to the preface, written in 977, when Zheng Baowen did not yet occupy an office under the Song administration. After the downfall of the Southern Tang, he intented to write a history of this dynasty and began collecting material. His history of the Southern Tang is known as the book Jiangbiaozhi, while the more narrative and unofficial sources were used for the Nantang jinshi. It covers the period from 948 to 975 and narrates 60 stories from the reigns of the three rulers of the Southern Tang. The stories have elements of popular tales, but a good part is also based on historical facts. Lu You 陸游 (1125-1210) used the Nantang jinshi for his history Nantangshu 南唐書. Zheng Wenbao's book is interesting because it includes the names of persons not mentioned in other sources and many poems.

The Nantang jinshi is to be found in the series Siku quanshu 四庫全書, Xu baichuan xuehai 續百種學海, Baoyantang miji 寶顏堂秘笈, Tang-Song congshu 唐宋叢書 and Congshu jicheng 叢書集成. The Qing-period 清 (1644-1911) scholar Qang Renjun 王仁俊 (1866-1913) collected fragments of the Nantang jinshi quoted in other books.