Clear Mirror (Complete Four Volumes)

Author: Zhang Kaiyuan, Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2000-05-01
Features: "Tongjian" is an important type of annalistic history in traditional Chinese historical compilation. It organizes events chronologically, with years as the vertical axis and human affairs as the horizontal axis, summarizing and refining complex historical matters into a clear and coherent narrative. This not only saves historians a significant amount of repetitive labor but also provides readers with a concise and comprehensive general history. Thus, it remains an excellent form of scholarly writing. Since the publication of Sima Guang's Zizhi Tongjian in the Northern Song Dynasty, numerous historians have followed suit, creating a flourishing tradition of either supplementing earlier records or continuing later ones. In modern times, historical works named with "Gang" or "Jian" have been numerous, varying in simplicity and complexity. Among them, Bi Yuan's Continuation of Zizhi Tongjian and Xia Xie's Ming Tongjian are considered the best works. However, the Qing Dynasty was the last feudal dynasty, spanning both ancient and modern periods and closely linked to the modern era. It is a time of vast historical materials and an abundance of literature. Yet, a concise and comprehensive Tongjian of the Qing Dynasty remains unfinished, which is undoubtedly a great regret! How to use historical materialism as a guide to compile and publish a Tongjian of the Qing Dynasty that is similar in format to Zizhi Tongjian, Continuation of Zizhi Tongjian, and Ming Tongjian, with comparable scale, seamless continuity, and comprehensive coverage, is an urgent task for the historical community and an inescapable responsibility for historians! The times are advancing, and people's ideas are undergoing tremendous changes. Our methods of historical research are also continuously improving. Tongjian of the Qing Dynasty, on one hand, inherits the fine traditions of previous annalistic histories, but it also strives for innovation in content selection, data collection, historical verification, and narrative methods, thus forming its own distinctive features. In summary, the main aspects are as follows. First, standardize the "Tongjian" format and focus on its strengths while addressing its weaknesses. Second, expand the scope of recorded events and enrich the "Zizhi" content. Third, concentrate the narrative relatively, making the beginning and end of events clear. Lastly, it should be noted that the authors of this book have devoted considerable effort to data collection and verification.