Zizhi Tongjian

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Features: A profound warning to posterity, indispensable for the world (Commemorating the 980th birth anniversary of Sima Guang, 1019-1999) The Zizhi Tongjian is the largest and most comprehensive extant annalistic history in China. Compiled by the renowned Northern Song dynasty official and scholar Sima Guang, it took nineteen years to complete, comprising 294 volumes in total. The work covers events from the 23rd year of King Weilie of Zhou (403 BC) to the 6th year of Xiande in the Later Zhou dynasty (959 AD), spanning 1,362 years. The content of The Zizhi Tongjian focuses on politics, military affairs, and ethnic relations, while also encompassing economics, culture, and evaluations of historical figures. Its purpose is to warn the world by describing the policies of ruling classes that have led to the rise and fall of nations and the rise and fall of ethnic groups. Sima Guang lived from 1019 to 1086 AD, styled Junshi, and was a native of Xian County, Shanzhou (now Xia County, Shanxi Province). He was a key author and organizer of The Zizhi Tongjian. In addition to The Tongjian, he wrote over thirty other works, including Tongjian Mulu, Tongjian Kaoyi, Jigu Lü, and Sima Wenzheng Gong Chujia Jicong, among others.