In other words, the famous first three histories, Historical Records, Hanshu and History of the Three Kingdoms, are all biographical. Ji Chuanti, here is a biography of Xiang Yu to publicize how Xiang Yu defeated Liu Bang. The next "Biography of the Great Emperor" is about how Liu Bang won the world. Every biography has its own owner. Sima Qian can praise Lian Po and Tian Lei at the same time; Write Su Qin, while writing yi cheung.
For example, we now have a biography series that gives you a biography of Hitler and Churchill or a biography of Rommel and Montgomery. From the perspective of understanding historical gossip, this is of course better.
But what if it is from the perspective of education? That's not necessarily true.
There is also "Historical Records Funny Biography", which is about actors who are good at allegory; "The Legend of the Ranger" is about a knight who violates the ban by force; Biographies of Assassins, about those people in Jing Ke and Nie Zheng.
Therefore, the biographical style of Historical Records is a bit of a civilian historical view and legendary, and it is all-encompassing. In historical records, the emperor has a lofty position, but it is not the only one.
But this is not what later historians want.
Mr Liang Qichao once lamented that China's history books were handed down by the emperor. A little extreme, but not bad. The twenty-fourth history is more a political and military history, and it is a history of court struggle. Such as history of science and technology, literature, art and music, are mostly absent. Therefore, although there are some controversies in Historical Records, Sima Qian is also very gossip, some of which are obviously processed by himself, while others are heard by one ear (such as Xia Wu's incident of cutting medicine bags), at least he wants to describe a grand ancient world and colorful history itself.
The original spirit of Zitongzhijian is an imitation of Chunqiu and Zuozhuan.
Chronicles and biographies have their own emphasis. The latter is legendary and ups and downs, which makes people sigh the fate of individuals; The former is more the cruel truth of strict time series.
Of course, Sima Guang also recorded some anecdotes. Zi Zhi Tong Jian really covers everything, including music, calendar, astronomy and geography. But generally speaking, the most important thing is to control chaos, which is a part of politics, military affairs and rulers' morality. There is always "the words of the minister" to give some guidance, for fear that the son of heaven will not understand.
Who will say for sure: even the son of heaven, knowing more about science, technology, art and legends and gossip will not hinder you? -This is the concept of a scholar-bureaucrat.
Traditional scholar-officials believed that the emperor's vertical arch rule was the best, and the following performed their duties. Chen Ping once told Wendi that he was a prime minister, but he knew nothing about money, food and income, because the prime minister accused him of being a minister and not knowing these details. In the same way, Sima Guang also hoped that the son of heaven would understand historical facts from the perspective of rulers and help him govern the country, so they helped him omit what the son of heaven didn't need and let him concentrate on what he should pay attention to: war, personnel and politics.
The biggest difference between the style of Zi Tong Zhi Jian and the previous three novels is that I think it weakens the legend and heroism.
For example:
Famous legends in the Warring States Period: Pang Juan abandoned Sun Bin, Sun Bin went to Qi, Tian Ji raced horses, Sun Bin persuaded Tian Ji to win the horse race, Tian Ji later became a general, Sun Bin became a strategist, and Maling Road ambushed Pang Juan, which permanently weakened Wei.
Biographies of Historical Records and Sun Tzu, after winning Pang Juan in Wuqi, ended like this:
Qi defeated his army and captured Wang Wei back. Sun Bin became famous in this name and spread his art of war.
Okay, it's over. Tian Ji+Sun Bin had a happy partnership, lost his temper, went to Pang Juan and retaliated. Perfect! Let's hear it for Tian Bin! Be proud!
-This is the legendary heroic style.
However, "Zijian Twenty-eight Years" coldly said:
Qi defeated Wei and captured Prince Shen. ?
Duke Zou of Cheng Hou hated Tian Ji so much that he made people spend ten gold coins in the market. He said, "I am from Tian Ji, too. I want to win three of the three wars. Want to do great things, but? " The soothsayer came out, because people had it. Tian Ji could not prove himself, and led his men to attack Linzi for success. No, I'm out of my mind
Many people know that Sun Bin and Tian Ji broke Pang Juan's inspiration, but they don't know that when Pang Juan broke, Tian Ji (probably Sun Bin) immediately got into trouble, with mantis catching cicada and yellowbird behind!
Zou Ji, a good friend of Xu Gong in the north of the city, influenced Tian Ji and drove him to Chu.
The legendary hero didn't end well, and suddenly, the story was sad again.
This is a chronological style, or the style of Zi Tong Zhi Jian. It's colder and more realistic, and it's not as romantic and joyful as the biography. The wheel of time goes round and round, and everyone may be a pawn of history. In the vast space and ruthless time series of Purple Tongzhi Sword, right and wrong are clear at a glance.
So this is the book of emperors-emperors should look far, be realistic, understand how history goes hand in hand, and understand that temporary victory or defeat, honor or disgrace, is not the end; To understand that personal struggle is important, but after all, it can't compare with the process of history!