A Complete Reading of the Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance: Annals and Events

When reading the Comprehensive Mirror in the past, its annalistic format arranged historical events by date, scattering them across different years and making them quite difficult to look up. Biographical histories focused on individuals, so accounts of the same event were scattered across multiple entries depending on who was involved. The Comprehensive Mirror in Its Original Form, however, reorganizes and groups together more than 1,300 years of history from the Comprehensive Mirror by event, devoting one complete chapter to each and narrating it from beginning to end. From the Three Clans' Division of Jin, which ushered in the Warring States era, to Emperor Shizong of Zhou's campaign in Huainan, which brought the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period to a close, the work spans 42 volumes and covers more than 130 major historical events, making the rise and fall of dynasties and the causes of victory and defeat clear at a glance.

We read it not to pore over obscure academic questions or nitpick every word, but to trace the course of history with ease and gain a clear understanding of its development. One breathtaking war after another, political upheavals shrouded in intrigue, and the rise and fall of dynasties all come vividly to life in its pages. It helps us transmigrate through time and space to feel the sweep of history, draw wisdom from the experiences and lessons of the ancients, and see how history speaks to the present.