Historical Records (Public Edition)

Later known as "Historical Records", it is a biographical general history of China compiled by Sima Qian, a historian during the Western Han Dynasty. "Historical Records" is one of the most famous classical books in ancient China. Together with the later "Hanshu", "Houhanshu" and "Three Kingdoms", it is collectively known as the "First Four Histories". "Historical Records" records a history of more than 3,000 years from the Yellow Emperor's era in ancient Chinese legends to the first year of Yuanshou, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. The whole book includes twelve chronicles, thirty families, seventy biographies, ten lists, and eight books, totaling 130 chapters and more than 526,500 words. The author Sima Qian used his historical knowledge to "study the relationship between heaven and man, understand the changes of ancient and modern times, and form a family's opinion", making "Historical Records" China's first and most famous biographical general history. "Historical Records" has had a profound impact on the development of historiography and literature in later generations. His pioneering method of chronicling historiography was passed down by the "official histories" of subsequent dynasties. At the same time, "Historical Records" is also considered an excellent literary work and plays an important role in the history of Chinese literature.