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A Brief Introduction to Historical Records
Historical Records was written by Sima Qian in the Western Han Dynasty.
Historical Records is the first biographical general history in the history of China, with a book 130, which is divided into five forms: biography, book, table, family and biography. A biography, mainly about princes. The author is Sima Qian of the Western Han Dynasty. Historical Records was written from 104 BC to 9 1 year BC. At first, it had no title. After Sima Qian finished this masterpiece, he showed it to Dong Fangshuo, a great scholar at that time. Dong Fangshuo appreciated it so much that he added the word "Tai Shigong" to his book. "Taishigong" is Sima Qian's official position, "Gong" is a good name, and "Taishigong" just shows whose works. Ban Gu's Records of Han Shu Literature and Art was changed to 130 Taishi Gong, and later generations simplified it into Taishi Gong, Taishi Gong Shu and Taishi Gong Zhuan. At first, Historical Records had no fixed title. Generally known as "Taishi Gongshu" or "Taishi Gongji", it is also called "Taishi Gongji" in the province. Historical Records was originally the general name of ancient history books. Since the Three Kingdoms, Historical Records has gradually become the proper name of Taishi Gongshu. Liang Qichao, a close friend, praised this masterpiece as "a masterpiece through the ages" (On the General Trend of the Changes of China's Academic Thoughts). Lu Xun praised it as "the historian's swan song, Li Sao has no rhyme" ("Outline of China Literature History")
Sima Tan, Sima Qian's father, was appointed Taishiling, and his wish to write a general history of ancient and modern times was not realized. Before he died, he asked Sima Qian to fulfill his long-cherished wish. Later, Sima Qian's stepfather Taishiling began to write historical records, which was finally completed after more than ten years.
Sima Qian wrote Historical Records, and his view of history lies in "understanding the changes of ancient and modern times and becoming a unified statement when studying the relationship between man and nature". Sima Qian paid attention to the evolution of the relationship between heaven and man, instead of acknowledging the mysterious power of heaven, so as to understand the key of "the change of ancient and modern times", explore the level of historical dynamic development and change, and finally complete the "one-family statement". His motivation for writing is mainly in the following three aspects:
1. Sima Qian realized his ambition of compiling Historical Records in order to inherit the legacy of his father Sima Tan. Sima was a historian of past dynasties, and Sima Tan devoted himself to inheriting the legacy of his ancestors-Taishiling, reappearing the spirit of Confucius' writing Spring and Autumn Annals, and sorting out and discussing the history of the previous generation. Sui Shu? Jing Ji Zhi said: "Tan became a family based on Zuo Shi Chun Qiu, Mandarin, Shiben, Warring States Policy and Chu Han Chun Qiu." It can be seen that Sima Tan intends to continue compiling the historical events after Chunqiu. In the first year of Emperor Wudi's Yuan Dynasty, Emperor Wudi closed the Zen ceremony. As an official, Sima Tan missed the opportunity to participate in contemporary events, which was a lifelong regret, leading to his angry death. Before he died, he told his son Sima Qian: "Today, I want to inherit the chitose system and seal Mount Tai, but I can't follow it. This is fate! When I die, you will be too old to forget what I want to write ... "Sima Qian replied:" My boy is not sensitive, please go and learn about the old news of my ancestors. " It can be seen that Sima Qian completed his historical work according to his father's wishes. The Book of Enchanting Zen is one of the eight books in Historical Records, which means to see my late father.
Second, Sima Qian should inherit the spirit of Spring and Autumn Annals. Sima Qian said in Preface to Taishi Gong: "The ancestors said that after the death of Duke Zhou, there was Confucius at the age of 500. After the death of Confucius, as for being 500 years old today, I have the opportunity to show the Ming Dynasty. What was the original meaning of Yi Zhuan, Chun Qiu, Shu, Li and Yue at that time? How dare this boy give way? " This just implies that it has the mission of understanding morality and showing people with lofty ideals. The lower limit of Chunqiu is the year when it was obtained in Lu Aigong. There is no complete historical record since then. Sima Qian followed the Spring and Autumn Annals, and wrote historical records on the basis of "winning the forest" in the first year of Emperor Yuanshou of the Han Dynasty and the lower limit of changing the calendar in the first year of Taichu. However, Sima Qian's inheritance of Chunqiu not only formally inherited the orthodoxy since the Duke of Zhou, but also attached importance to the nature of Chunqiu. In the preface to Taishi Gong, he said: "In the Spring and Autumn Period, Ming History, Wang Zhidao, we should distinguish between personnel and discipline, not be suspicious, distinguish between right and wrong, hesitate, distinguish between good and evil, distinguish between good and evil, and live and die." It can be seen that Sima Qian's interest in the Meaning of the Spring and Autumn Annals and the Writing Style of the Spring and Autumn Annals has a long history. This is because he wants to inherit the true meaning of Confucius and the praise and criticism spirit of Spring and Autumn Annals and write historical records.
Third, Sima Qian should shoulder the responsibility of historian. According to the Records of Officials in the Later Han Dynasty, "Taishiling" is only a small official with a salary of 600 stone. His duty is only to manage the atlas, in charge of astrology and astronomy. He only records past lives and contemporary events at most, and he has no responsibility to write. However, Sima Tan and Sima Qian were obviously not satisfied with "gleaning". Sima Tan had planned to sort out the history of the previous generation, but unfortunately, he died in anger. Before he died, he told Sima Qian that "the historical records have been released since the grant". Today, in the prosperous Han Dynasty, there are many virtuous and loyal people. As an official, they have the task of continuing the history of the previous generation. Sima Qian also pointed out his duty as an Taishi Gong in Preface to Taishi Gong, saying that "it is a great sin to want to dominate his official, abolish the virtue of saints, destroy the words of heroes, famous families and famous doctors, and praise the words of ancestors." Therefore, Sima Qian is determined to write historical records, adhering to the sense of responsibility of "telling the past to think of those who came." In An Shu, the guarantor, he also revealed the purpose of writing Historical Records. He said, "Every 130 articles should also learn from the changes of ancient and modern times and become a family statement." It can be seen that he should do his duty as a historian as well as an official.
Historical Records is a general history that runs through ancient and modern times. This book covers the history of China about 3,000 years ago, from the legendary period of the Yellow Emperor to the first year of Emperor founding ceremony. Book 130, including biographies 12, forms 10, 8 books, 30 families, 70 biographies, 5265 15 words. Ji Ji is the outline of the book, which records the words and deeds of the emperor every year. Table lists lineages, people and historical events in tables. The Book describes the development of the system, involving the system of rites and music, astronomical military law, social economy, river geography and other aspects. The "aristocratic family" describes the historical relics of the vassal's seal of the country. Biographies are biographies of important people. Among them, biography and biography are the main body.
According to Sima Qian, the purpose of editing is to "study the relationship between heaven and man, understand the changes of ancient and modern times, and become a family statement." "Studying the relationship between man and nature" is to explore the relationship between Tao and personnel in autumn. The author criticizes the original theory of "destiny" and puts forward the theory of "emperor-centered". "Connecting the preceding with the following" is to explore the development of history and its laws.
Historical records refer to many ancient books, such as Zuo Zhuan, Guoyu, Shi Ben, Warring States Policy, Chu and Han Chunqiu, A Hundred Schools of Thought contend, archives and folk ancient books. He also interviewed in person, made field trips, and then carefully selected and used materials, with a very strict academic attitude.
Historical works before the Han Dynasty can't be compared with Historical Records in terms of content, historical events, materials and compilation level of authors. It can be said that "Historical Records" is the first general history of ancient China, which is not only large in scale and complete in system, but also has a far-reaching influence on biographical history books, and the official history of all dynasties is basically written in this genre. At the same time, the vividness of words and narration in the book is also the highest achievement, and Mr. Lu Xun's evaluation of Historical Records is also very high.
After Sima Qian's death, Historical Records did not immediately become popular and received attention. By the time of Xuan Di, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Sima Qian's grandson had begun to spread through hard work, but by the time of the Eastern Han Dynasty, it was not complete.
In terms of annotation, The Collection of Historical Records written by Pei in the Song Dynasty is the earliest existing old annotation. There are many new ideas in the study of Historical Records written by Sima Zhen in Tang Dynasty. In Tang Dynasty, Zhang Shoujie wrote Justice in Historical Records all his life and made great achievements.
One of the existing early editions of this book, Huang Jiashu Engraving in Southern Song Dynasty, is recognized as a rare book, which has been copied by the Commercial Press into Twenty-four History, Twenty-one History of Ming Dynasty and Twenty-four History of Engraving in Qing Wuying Temple, all of which have high reference value. During the Tongzhi period of the Qing Dynasty, there was an engraving by Jinling Bookstore. Punctuation Collation, published by Zhonghua Book Company 1959, re-collates Historical Records on the basis of summarizing previous research results. ......
The book is slightly shorter than the pre-Qin period and more detailed than the Qin and Han dynasties. The history from the Reform of Shang Yang in Qin Dynasty to the last years of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty accounts for about three-fifths of the book. According to Sima Qian, biographies 12, tables 10, 8 books, 30 aristocratic families, 70 biographies and * * 130 books.
"Chronicle" is actually the biography of the emperor, because the emperor is the supreme head of state in charge of state affairs, and it is called "Chronicle" for their biography, which shows the position of the whole world and makes the officials and people act under certain discipline. It is also the general outline of this book, recorded in chronological order. In the writing of Historical Records, Sima Qian adopted the method of making the present a little more detailed, and the farther the times go, the more detailed it is. The origin of "Benji" is Huangdi, because he is the ancestor of the Chinese nation and the founder of "rectifying everything". Xiang Yu was included in the "chronology" because of the emergence of politics in Qin and Han Dynasties and respect for his personality. ?
"Book" is a special chapter that records chapters and sentences of past dynasties and national codes to clarify the evolution of ancient and modern systems. It is impossible to write a book unless historians are familiar with anecdotes. Ban Gu's Hanshu was renamed Records and became a general rule. The revision of "Book" provides rich materials for the study of various special history.
Home is the record of the vassal kingdom. This is because the princes founded the country, inherited the family and the descendants inherited it, which gave them a biography called the family. From the Western Zhou Dynasty to the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the vassal states successively dominated the whole country, and it is very appropriate to describe this situation with the genre of "aristocratic families". Sima Qian's inclusion of Confucius and Chen She as "home" is an exception. Although Confucius is not a prince, he is the patriarch of three generations of culture, not to mention the dominance of Confucianism in Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty. Confucius is the founder of Confucianism, and his inclusion in "home" also reflects the reality in the ideological field. As for Chen She, he was not only the first leader who rose up against Qin, but also the first person who opposed the brutal rule of the civilian in three generations. He established many princes who died in Qin. Sima Qian listed him as a "noble family", and compared his achievements with Tang, Wu and Spring and Autumn Annals, writing him as a great historical hero who shocked the rule of the Qin Dynasty and dominated the world, reflecting the author's progressive view of history.
Biography is a record of various historical figures other than emperors and princes. There are single pass, joint pass and category pass. A single biography is a biography written by one person, such as Biography of Shang Jun and Biography of Lisi. The joint biography was written by more than two people, such as Biography of Yan Guan and Biography of Zhuang Zi and Shen Han. Type biography refers to the activities of the same kind of characters in a biography, such as The Scholars, Biography of Officials, Biography of Assassins, etc. Sima Qian recorded the history of ethnic minorities around China at that time in the form of biographies, such as biographies of Xiongnu, Koryo and Dawan, which provided an important historical source for studying the history of ancient ethnic minorities in China.
Sima Qian said that Historical Records has 12 biographies, 10 tables, 8 books, 30 families, 70 biographies, 130 * *. 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 Biography of Emperor Jing, Biography of Emperor Wu, Book of Rites, Le Shu, Law and Discipline, Chronicle of Generals Since the Han Dynasty, Biography of Japanese People, Family of Three Kings, Biography of Tortoise and Biography of Fu Jin. Today's Historical Records is also 130, and several chapters are obviously 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. Among them, four articles, The Ji of Emperor Wu, The Family of Three Kings, Biography of Turtle Policy and Biography of Japanese People, were all supplemented by Dr. Chu in the Han Dynasty. The Records of Literature and Art of Han Dynasty contains seven supplements to Taishi Gong, and notes that the merchants "received ten Yu Ben books from Taishi Gong". Liu Zhiji thought that there were not only Chu and Feng who supplemented Historical Records, but as many as fifteen schools. Historical Records was published at the beginning of the year, followed by Liu Xiang, Xiangzi, and various good people, such as Feng Shang, Wei Heng, Yang Xiong, Shi Cen, Shen Liang, Si Ren, Jin Feng, Duan Suze, Yan Feng, Wei Rong, Xiao Fen and Liu Yao. , written in succession, sequel, with mourning as the end. Most descendants disagree with Zhang Yan's statement, but the incompleteness of Historical Records is beyond doubt. With a few exceptions, the official history of the past dynasties after Historical Records was presided over by the imperial court and compiled according to the will of the monarch, which is a veritable official history. Although Sima Qian was a court historian, Historical Records did not reflect the will of the supreme ruler, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. It is said that after reading Historical Records, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was very angry with several of them and ordered them to be deleted. This is also possible. Sima Qian wrote historical records directly and dared to criticize the court in some aspects, which was not allowed by feudal rulers. The imperial court hated and attached importance to historical records, and was secretive about others. The scope of reading is limited to a very small number of people in the upper echelons of the imperial court. The imperial court once abridged and supplemented historical records. According to Yang Zhongchuan, Yang Zhong was ordered to delete more than 100,000 words from Taishi Gongshu. The Historical Records, with a short span of more than 100,000 words, was lost after the Han Dynasty and has been passed down to this day.
(Note: Many people think that Chu Sunshao is the main supplement of Historical Records, but how much he supplements is different. Zhang Yan believes that Chu has added four more articles. However, Yao Zhenning said in the textual research of Sui Shu Jingnian that 15 articles were omitted from Historical Records, all of which were supplemented by Chu. Some people think that the style of The Legend of Love is similar to Sima Qian, and Sun Shao of Chu may not be able to write such an article. )