A Comparative Study of Sun Qifeng and Sun Chengze’s Writing of Biographies

At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty,Sun Qifeng and Sun Chengze wrote almost at the same time their respective biographies on the figures of Jifu area,namely,Jifu Renwu Kao and Jifu Renwu Zhi. The differences and similarities in the content selection and writing technique between the two books reflect not only their origin,but also the language taboo. They got to know each other before the demise of the Ming Dynasty,but almost no interaction in the Qing Dynasty. When they wrote their own book,they exchanged information through another intermediary named Diao-bao rather than direct contact. They refered to the results of each other in process of revising their own book. Their contact didn’t resume until their later years.