The Book of Qi or Book of Southern Qi is a history of the Chinese

History of China

Chinese civilization originated in various regional centers along both the Yellow River and the Yangtze River valleys in the Neolithic era, but the Yellow River is said to be the Cradle of Chinese Civilization. With thousands of years of continuous history, China is one of the world's oldest...

 dynasty Southern Qi

Southern Qi

The Southern Qi Dynasty was the second of the Southern dynasties in China, followed by the Liang Dynasty. During its 23-year history, the dynasty was largely filled with instability, as after the death of the capable Emperor Gao and Emperor Wu, Emperor Wu's grandson Xiao Zhaoye was assassinated...

 covering the period from 479

479

Year 479 was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Zeno without colleague...

 to 502

502

Year 502 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Avienus and Probus...

, and is one of the Twenty-Four Histories

Twenty-Four Histories

The Twenty-Four Histories is a collection of Chinese historical books covering a period from 3000 BC to the Ming Dynasty in the 17th century. The whole set contains 3213 volumes and about 40 million words...

 of Chinese history. It was written by Xiao Zixian

Xiao Zixian

Xiao Zixian , courtesy name Jingyang , formally Viscount Jiao of Ningdu , was a historian and author, especially for producing the Book of Qi.-Works:Xiao Zixian produced the following books:* Book of Qi...

 (蕭子顯) during the succeeding Liang Dynasty

Liang Dynasty

The Liang Dynasty , also known as the Southern Liang Dynasty , was the third of the Southern dynasties in China and was followed by the Chen Dynasty...

, and is unique in that Xiao Zixian was the only author of any of the Twenty-Four Histories to be a direct descendant of the founder of the dynasty being written about — specifically, he was a grandson of Southern Qi's founder Emperor Gao of Southern Qi

Emperor Gao of Southern Qi

Emperor Gao of Southern Qi , personal name Xiao Daocheng , courtesy name Shaobo , nickname Doujiang , was the founding emperor of the Chinese dynasty Southern Qi...

. It was originally only known as the Book of Qi, but after the Book of Northern Qi

Book of Northern Qi

The Book of Northern Qi , was the official history of the Chinese dynasty Northern Qi. It was written by the Tang Dynasty historian Li Baiyao and was completed in 636. It is listed among the official Twenty-Four Histories of China. The original book contains 50 chapters but it was found during...

was written, it became known as the Book of Southern Qi so that the two could be distinguished. The book contained 60 volumes when written, but one preface was later lost.