Quick Read of the Records of the Grand Historian: The Great Wall of History

Author: Li Yongchi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-10-01
Features: The books selected here are ones you will need to read at least once in your lifetime, whether you are ten, thirty, or seventy years old! A minimalist reading list of Chinese culture. From the vast collection of ancient classics, sixty masterpieces have been chosen for the first time to present the style and appearance of Chinese five thousand years of culture in a relaxed and easy-to-read format. A renowned Taiwanese authority on classical studies reviews the classics with a 21st-century perspective, traversing the past and present, covering vast distances, and guiding you into the "unfenced museum of Chinese culture."
"The Records of the Grand Historian" is a monumental historical work written by Sima Qian over two thousand years ago. The book covers a long period, from the legendary era of the Five Emperors to the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Sima Qian's own time. Sima Qian not only recorded China but also described the ethnic groups surrounding it, such as Korea, the Xiongnu, and the Southwest Yi. At that time, the Chinese believed that these regions, along with China, constituted the entire world, so Sima Qian's work was not just a history of China but also a history of the world.
"The Records of the Grand Historian" not only documents the history of the era and the frontier regions but also depicts various aspects of human life, such as politics, economy, astronomy, geography, music, divination, and rituals. Therefore, it is also a book of cultural and social history. This adaptation of "The Records of the Grand Historian" selects the most compelling parts of the original. To preserve Sima Qian's spirit of blending history and literature, this adaptation follows the theme of historical development, extracting relevant events from various chapters of the original "Records of the Grand Historian" and reorganizing them into complete stories for easier reading. Each story strives to maintain the vividness and interest of the original, hoping to not only reflect the essence of the original work but also showcase the changes and characteristics of the great historical currents of ancient China through these stories.