Historian.js

const Historian = Object.assign(
  Component => {
    const histories = new WeakMap
    
    return {
      onbeforeupdate({}, old){
        if(Component.onbeforeupdate && Component.onbeforeupdate.apply(this, arguments) === false)
          return false

        histories.set(old.state, old)
      },

      ...['view', 'oninit', 'oncreate', 'onupdate', 'onbeforeremove', 'onbeforeremove']
        .map(key => Component[key] && ({
          [key] : v => Component[key](v.state, v, histories.get(v.state))
        }))
        .reduce((a,b) => Object.assign(a,b), {}),
    }
  },

  onbeforeupdate : ({}, old) => 
      old.state.old = old,

  view: v =>
    v.children[0].children(v.state.old.instance)
)

Historian.md

Use as a decorator:

const Component = Historian({
  view: (vnode, oldVnode) => ''
})

...or as a functor component:

m(Historian, oldVnode => '')

The decorator enables you to write single-depth, easily invoked reusable components with baked-in behaviour; meanwhile the functor component enables you to reference previous nodes of a different type in place (useful for transitions!).