 Historiography in literature remained prominent during the Song , as it had in previous ages and would in successive ages of China . Along with Song Qi , the essayist and historian Ouyang Xiu were responsible for compiling the New Book of Tang by 1060 , covering the history of the Tang dynasty . Chancellor Sima Guang ( 1019 – 1086 ) , the political nemesis of Wang Anshi ( 1021 – 1086 ) , was responsible for heading a team of scholars that compiled the enormous historical work of the Zizhi Tongjian , a universal history completed in 1084 AD with a total of over 3 million written Chinese characters in 294 volumes . It covered the major themes and intricate nuances of Chinese history from 425 BC during the Warring States all the way up to the 10th century and the fall of the Tang . In 1189 it was compiled and condensed into fifty @-@ nine books by Zhu Xi ( 1130 – 1200 ) , while this project was totally complete with the efforts of his disciples around the time of his death in 1200 . 
