History Brief Life Brief

Author: Gao Jiasun (Song Dynasty), compiled by Zhang Yanyun and Yang Zhaoxia
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1998-12-01
Features: The collated and organized Shilu (A Brief History of History) in six volumes, authored by Gao Sijun, is structured as follows:
Volume 1 is entirely dedicated to Shiji (Records of the Grand Historian);
Volume 2 covers the dynastic histories from the Han Shu (History of the Han Dynasty) to the Tang Shu (History of the Tang Dynasty) and Five Dynasties Shu (History of the Five Dynasties), with the Han Shu occupying the majority of the content—this is because Shiji and Han Shu have long been the most renowned two historical works in China, attracting the most annotations and critiques.
Volume 3, apart from an introduction to Dongguan Hanji (Records of the Eastern Han from Dongguan), primarily discusses chronological histories such as the Spring and Autumn Annals of various dynasties, official chronicles, veritable records, biographies of court events, and records of political affairs, supplemented by Huayao (Collected Treatises on State Affairs) and Yudie (Genealogical Records of the Imperial Clan).
Volume 4 covers categories such as historical dictionaries, historical tables, brief historical summaries, and excerpts from historical works, concluding with general histories, with a particular emphasis on Zizhi Tongjian (Comprehensive Mirror to Aid in Government).
Volume 5 discusses hegemonic histories, miscellaneous histories, ancient histories listed in Qilue (Seven Treatises), and the historical context of book collections and the names of historians throughout the dynasties, concluding with Zhizhuan (Biographies of Scholars) from Liu Xie’s Wenxin Diaolong (The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons).
Volume 6 covers ancient classics such as Shanhaijing (Classic of Mountains and Seas) and Shiben (World Records).
The writing style involves listing bibliographies and authors, as well as providing some introductions to content and critiques. The entire work cites forty-four ancient texts and introduces over six hundred historical works.
As everyone knows, the renowned work introducing and critiquing Chinese historical writings is Liu Zhi’s Shitong (Treatise on History) from the Tang Dynasty, but Shitong only covers up to the early Tang; the situation from the mid-Tang to the Song Dynasty can be supplemented by this Shilu.
Although Shilu is considered a supplementary work and differs in structure from Shitong, its quality cannot be compared to Shitong, it is still worth reading.