Historical Records is a biographical history book written by Sima Qian, a famous historian in the Western Han Dynasty. It is the first biographical general history in the history of China, and it is listed as the first of the twenty-four histories. Formerly known as Taishi Gong Ji. This book is one of the most famous classics in ancient China, which records the history of more than 3,000 years from the legendary Huangdi era to the first year of Emperor Wudi's Yuan Shou. Together with The History of the Later Han Dynasty, The History of the Later Han Dynasty and The History of the Three Kingdoms, they are called "the first four histories". The birth of Historical Records has made great contributions to the concrete development of China's historiography. First, the establishment of an excellent general history genre "Historical Records" is the first general history masterpiece in the history of Chinese historiography. It is no exaggeration to say that it is the most brilliant achievement in the history of ancient historiography in China, or that it is the most brilliant achievement in the history of ancient historiography in China in the world. This, as long as compared with the history of Herodotus, will be very clear. It is precisely because historical records can be written into a book, which sets a precedent and an example, so people who follow this genre to compile and edit history have begun. The style of general historians has always influenced the research and writing of modern historiography. Secondly, the independent position of historiography was established. In ancient China, historiography was included in the category of Confucian classics and had no independent status. Therefore, Liu Xin's Seven Outlooks and Ban Gu's Records of Literature and Art both attached the books of the History Department to the Spring and Autumn Annals. Since Sima Qian compiled Historical Records, there have been more and more specialized historical works.

During the Warring States period, in order to strengthen themselves, various vassal States successively carried out reforms. In the political reform, Shang Yang's political reform of Qin was the most significant, while in the military reform, Zhao Haoqi Wuling's Khufu riding and shooting was the most important. King Wuling of Zhao's literary martial arts is not outstanding, but he learned from the ethnic minorities outside the Great Wall and carried out a substantial reform of the traditional military uniform, thus leaving a far-reaching impact in history. King Wuling of Zhao's riding and shooting of Khufu changed the military combat mode of all countries in the Central Plains. Since then, the combat mode of chariots has withdrawn from the historical stage and been replaced by cavalry. From then on, Zhao's famous soldiers came forth in large numbers, becoming the only big country among the six eastern countries that could compete with Qin until the battle of Changping.

The Record Spirit of Historical Records

First of all, it is manifested in the extensive collection and detailed possession of materials and the textual research and selection of historical materials. In order to write historical records, Sima Qian traveled around, made friends with Yan and Hao Jun, and traveled all over the world. He traveled to the coast in the east, Gansu in the west, Xiaoshuitou in Xiangjiang River in the south, Hetao in Inner Mongolia in the north, the capital of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and wuyue in the southeast, and Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau in the southwest, covering the whole territory of the Han Dynasty and all the surrounding areas that the author could understand, and collected a lot of first-hand materials in many ways. In addition to on-the-spot investigation and evaluation, he also consulted a large number of ancient and modern books, especially pre-Qin ancient books. All the books before the Han Dynasty were adopted without exception, which also constituted another source of materials for Historical Records: "The Six Classics of Invincible Evil and Different Biographies, and all kinds of miscellaneous languages were neat". Hanshu? "Biography of Sima Qian" also said: "Sima Qian adopted the Warring States policy according to the concerns of the left and the country, describing the Spring and Autumn Period of Chu and Han Dynasties, and then ending in Tianhan." However, due to the war, the scattered literature at that time was very serious. "Preface to Taishi Gong" said: "Zhou Dao was abolished, Qin pulled out ancient prose, and burned poetry books, so the stone room was scattered." Historical records? The Chronicle of the Six Kingdoms also records in this respect: "Qin was proud and burned poetry books all over the world, especially the historical records of governors, and was laughed at for this." Therefore, it is a pity to see that there are many Tibetan poets and calligraphers, while the historical records hide the Zhou room alone. What a pity! The unique "Ji Qin" does not contain the sun and the moon, and the words are slightly lacking. "These all give Sima Qian a test of historical materials.