The New History of the Five Dynasties新五代史by Ouyang Xiu歐陽修, also known as Historical Records of the Five Dynasties五代史記, represents the last dynastic history written in a purely private capacity. Neo-Confucian luminaries like Qian Mu錢穆 revered the work for its application of Confucian ethics to the historical past, while scholars of the high Qing are less enthusiastic, due to Ouyang Xiu’s highly subjective characterization of events and personalities, especially in commentaries. Regardless of one’s opinion on the value of the work, it remains valuable as an eleventh-century view of the preceding tenth century and the author’s use of history to make important statements on current events or moral matters. The Historical Records doubles as a marvelous piece of classical Chinese, so much of the course is devoted to reading the Chinese original to strengthen one’s skills at storytelling, which is important to evolving as writer of historical narrative. Students are also encouraged to consult my translation of the Historical Records to improve one’s translation skills.