Qin History -- Heaven, Earth, and Humanity Series

Author: Wang Ruchang
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2000-12-01
Features: This book is one of the four dynastic histories written by the modern Chinese historian Master Lü Simian. It was first published in 1941 and has been reprinted multiple times. It is one of the fundamental reference books for studying ancient pre-Qin history and has become a classic work in academic history. Like the other dynastic histories by Lü Simian, this book is divided into two parts: the first half is the political history, arranged in chronological order of historical events; the second half is the social, economic, and cultural history, narrated in a categorized manner. The writing of this history began in 1926, but was interrupted by chaos and turmoil, with the manuscript being destroyed twice. As a result, it was revised three times in total. Each revision aimed to refresh the old historical precedents, though it was never fully achieved. In his later years, further revisions were made, spanning over fifty years. Below are the principles of the book:
1. The History of Qin: There has never been an author for this history. Without overestimating myself, I have attempted to correct the gaps in the official histories, following the (structure) of Ban Gu's dynastic histories. The historical records used have been significantly edited, added to, and revised.
2. This book was written at my father's request. My father specialized in the study of criminal law and had written New Biographies of Shang and Han. Following the example of Ban Gu's Records of the Grand Historian where Ban Biao is credited as the author, I have included the ideas of the Legalists and Confucians in the book and supplemented discussions on them.
3. The principle is that without evidence, there is no belief. All sources used are annotated with their origins. For quoted original texts, the book and chapter names are provided; for revised texts, it is stated as "according to [book] [chapter]."
4. For any revisions to the original texts, corrections are made to errors, modern meanings and terms are used where appropriate, or changes are made for better readability. The corrections to errors are mostly based on the views of previous scholars, such as Doubts on the Records of the Grand Historian and Notes on Reading. For brevity, the book names are omitted.
5. When the previous histories are contradictory or erroneous, I have omitted them but provided explanations below. This was a practice not seen in previous works, though it can be traced back to Ban Gu's Bibliography and The Records of the Masters.
6. Whenever a biography is written, individuals who possess a skill beneficial to the people are also included.
7. Anything involving supernatural or baseless claims is excluded.
8. Events related to the Five Elements in previous histories are generally avoided, except for those involving celestial anomalies or geographical marvels, which are scattered throughout the chronicles and annals.
9. Revolutionaries are not subjects that Qin could claim, so they are placed at the end of the biographies.