Historical Records: Biographies (Part 2)

Author: Wang Wenxin
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2006-01-01
Features: Shiji (Records of the Grand Historian) was originally titled The Works of Sima Qian, written by Sima Qian of the Western Han Dynasty. It consists of 130 chapters and is China's first chronicle-style general history. It was completed around the years of Taichu 1st Year to Zhenghe 2nd Year of Emperor Wu of Han (104 BC – 91 BC). The author served as the Grand Historian, relying on Zuo Zhuan (Zuo's Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals), Guoyu (Discourses of the States), Shiben (The Genealogies), Zhan Guo Ce (Strategies of the Warring States), Chu-Han Chunqiu (Spring and Autumn Annals of Chu and Han), and other works of the Hundred Schools of Thought, utilizing state-collected documents, supplemented by field investigation materials. It draws from a rich source of materials. The narrative begins with the legendary Yellow Emperor and ends with Emperor Wu of Han, covering approximately 3,000 years in total, with particular emphasis on the Warring States period, the Qin Dynasty, and the Han Dynasty. The style is divided into biographies, chronicles, ancestral houses, and genealogies. Eight treatises record the evolution of institutions, while ten tables outline the chronological threads of history, a model followed by later dynasties in their historical works. Shiji holds a significant position in literary history for its vivid and vivid descriptions of certain historical figures, with strikingly distinct imagery.