Essence of the Twenty-Five Histories (Boxed Set of Four Volumes - Collector's Edition) [Classical Chinese and Modern Chinese Contrast]

Author: Wang Baohua
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-10-01
Features: The history of China is long and profound. Historical classics appeared as early as the pre-Qin period. Works such as the Shangshu (Book of Documents), Chunqiu (Spring and Autumn Annals), Guoyu (Discourses of the States), and Zuo Zhuan (Zuo’s Commentary) recorded the history of the pre-Qin period from different perspectives. After entering the feudal society, historiography further developed, forming a renowned, comprehensive, and well-structured independent academic discipline. Sima Qian’s Shiji (Records of the Grand Historian) in the Western Han Dynasty pioneered the annalistic-biographical style of comprehensive history, while Ban Gu’s Han Shu (History of the Han Dynasty) in the Eastern Han Dynasty recorded the history of a dynasty in the same style, marking the beginning of dynastic history. From then on, whenever an old dynasty fell, historians would compile its history in the annalistic-biographical style. This type of historical work, organized around the biographies of rulers, is known as zhengshi (official history). By the early Tang Dynasty, the system of officially compiling zhengshi was formally established, continuing until the Qing Dynasty. Over the centuries, a series of zhengshi were produced, each connecting with the previous one, with chronologically consistent entries and largely uniform formats, forming a relatively complete comprehensive history of China.