Twenty-Four Histories

"Twenty-Four Histories" is the collective name for the twenty-four historical books of ancient China, including "Historical Records", "Hanshu", "Later Hanshu", "Three Kingdoms", "Jinshu", "Songshu", "Nanqishu", "Liangshu" and "Chenshu" "Book of Wei", "Book of Northern Qi", "Book of Zhou", "Book of Sui", "Southern History", "Northern History", "Old Book of Tang", "New Book of Tang", "Old History of the Five Dynasties", "New History of the Five Dynasties", "Song History", "Liao History", "Jin History", "Yuan History" and "Ming History". The recorded content starts from the legendary Yellow Emperor (about the beginning of the 30th century BC) and ends in the 17th year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty (1644); the compilation work begins in the Western Han Dynasty and ends in the Qing Dynasty, and the compilation time spans more than 1,800 years. These twenty-four historical books were approved by Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty. They are the "orthodox" history books recognized by the rulers, that is, the "official history"-the name "Twenty-Four Histories" comes from this.