"Zizhi Tongjian" is my country's first chronological general history compiled by Sima Guang, a historian in the Northern Song Dynasty, which took nineteen years to compile.
Because the book is vast and written in classical Chinese, although it has high historical, literary, and inheritance value, it is very difficult for ordinary people to read it.
There are currently different vernacular and annotated versions of "Zi Zhi Tong Jian" on the market, but one version is inaccurate and too rigid, far from being honest and elegant; the other version also contains various private information, misleading readers' understanding; the third version does not correct some fallacies in the book, and lacks comparison of historical sources, leading to mistakes upon mistakes.
Mr. Wang Shidong has devoted himself to the study of literature and history for many years and has a certain understanding of "Zi Zhi Tong Jian" and its source historical materials. In order to allow more people to read "Zi Zhi Tong Jian" smoothly and fluently without losing the original flavor, he used the punctuation version of "Zi Zhi Tong Jian" from Zhonghua Book Company as the base.
"Wang Shidong's Vernacular Edition of Zizhi Tongjian" is a complete annotation, full translation, and full retrospective correction of "Zi Zhi Tongjian", which is worth reading carefully.
