The Development and Characteristics of Historical Prose in Pre-Qin Period

The first stage, from summer to spring and autumn, is characterized by the division of historians, the confusion of words and things, and the brevity of words; The second stage, from the late Spring and Autumn Period to the early Warring States Period, is characterized by the combination of words and deeds, long length, rich content, tortuous notes, vivid writing and rich literary talent; The third stage is from the Warring States Period to the establishment of Qin Dynasty, which is characterized by distinctive characteristics of the times, rich content, concern for reality, rational thinking, efforts to solve practical problems, independent personality and different styles of works.

The general trend of the development of historical prose in pre-Qin period is from simplicity to complexity, from quality to prose, from fragmentary rhetoric to more detailed and vivid words, notes and figures.

Several existing important historical books in the pre-Qin period, mainly written in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, all have strong literary characteristics. Most of them pay attention to infiltrating myths and legends into history books, making historical events story-oriented, paying attention to description and characterization, visualizing historical figures, evaluating events positively and negatively, and recording stories with rich feelings.