Shiji (Volume 1 and 2)

Author: (Han) Sima Qian
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2001-07-01
Features: Shiji is a comprehensive historical record in the style of biographies and chronicles in China, consisting of 130 chapters, written by Sima Qian of the Western Han Dynasty. The narrative begins with the legendary Yellow Emperor and ends with Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, covering approximately three thousand years in total. The structure includes twelve Bingji (Basic Annals), thirty Shijia (Hereditary Houses), and seventy Liezhuan (Biographies of Notables), with eight Shiji (Records of Institutions) detailing the evolution of systems, and ten Biaos (Tables) outlining the historical context. These formats have been adopted by subsequent dynasties in their historical records. Shiji not only pioneered innovative structures but also excelled in the breadth of historical sources, the precision of its judgments, and the vividness of its prose. It is hailed as "the peerless chronicle of historians, an unrhymed Li Sao."