Historical Records is a biographical history book written by Sima Qian, a historian of the Western Han Dynasty. It is the first biographical general history in the history of China, recording the history of four years and more than 3,000 years from the legendary Huangdi era to Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty. In the first year of Taichu (BC 104), Sima Qian began to create Taishi Gongshu, later called Shiji. It took 14 years before and after its completion.
Historical Records includes twelve biographies (recording the political achievements of emperors in past dynasties), thirty biographies (recording the rise and fall of vassal states and governors in Han Dynasty), seventy biographies (recording the words and deeds of important people, mainly describing the characters and ministers, and the last one is the preface), ten tables (chronology of major events) and eight books (recording various laws and regulations, such as etiquette, music, temperament, calendar, astronomy, etc.).
2. The first abstract of Historical Records
Chronicle of the Five Emperors records the story of five tribal leaders who became emperors one after another in ancient legends-Huangdi, Zhuan Xu, Yao and Shun. At the same time, it also recorded the frequent wars between tribes at that time, and the leaders of tribal alliances gave way in succession. In ancient times, people struggled with wild animals to control floods and cultivate fertile fields.
Extended data
Historical Records is divided into five parts: biography, table, book, family and biography. Among them, biography and biography are the main body. It takes emperors and other political center figures in history as the main line of compiling history books, and the division of labor among various styles is clear. Among them, "Biography", "Biography" and "Biography" account for most of the book's length, and all of them record history with writing characters as the center. As a result, Sima Qian created a new style of history books-"Biography".
Historical records, from the legendary Yellow Emperor to the first year of Emperor founding ceremony (BC 122), describe the history of China for about 3,000 years. According to Sima Qian, the book has 12 biographies, tables 10, 8 books, 30 famous families, 70 biographies, * * 130, about 526,500 words. ?
Ban Gu mentioned in the Biography of Sima Qian in Hanshu that there are ten missing pieces in Historical Records. Wei pointed out that these ten articles are Biographies of Emperor Jing, Biographies of Emperor Wu, Book of Rites, Le Shu, Law and Discipline, Biographies of Generals since Han Dynasty, Biographies of Japanese People, Biographies of Three Kings, Biographies of Tortoise and Fujin. Most descendants disagree with Zhang Yan's statement, but there is no doubt that Historical Records is incomplete.
130 There are obviously several chapters in Historical Records that were not written by Sima Qian. Historical Records was written by Chu Sun Shao, a doctor in the Han Dynasty, when he became emperor, and Mr. Chu Yue in Historical Records was his supplement.
Reference source: Baidu Encyclopedia-Introduction to Historical Records