Arrange related historical events in chronological order. Chronological history books take time as the center and record historical events in the order of year, month and day. Because it takes time as longitude and historical events as latitude, it is easier to reflect the connection of various historical events in the same period. The method of chronicle recording history originated in China. For example, the earliest chronological history book "Spring and Autumn Annals" in China is said to have been compiled by Confucius on the basis of Lu historians. China's first complete chronological history book Zuo Zhuan was originally named Zuo Chunqiu. It is said that it was written by Zuo Qiuming at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period to explain Confucius' Chunqiu, which is called Chunqiu Zuoshi Biography, or Chunqiu for short. As a Mirror, Zi Tong Zhi Jian is the first general annals of China and the representative work of China's general annals. Sima Guang (10 19— 1086) was the editor of the Northern Song Dynasty, from the 23rd year of Zhou Weilie (403 BC) to the 6th year of Zhou Shizong's showing virtue in the Five Dynasties (959 AD).
Supplement: The genre recorded in chronological order in China's history books originated in the Spring and Autumn Period. There are a large number of chronological history books, such as Spring and Autumn Annals, Zuo Zhuan, Zi Tongzhi Jian and so on. Its advantage is that it is convenient to investigate the specific time of historical events, understand the relationship between historical events, and avoid duplication of narrative. Its disadvantage is that chronicles are classified by year, and it is difficult to concentrate the whole process of each historical event and record it by year.
The biographical style of history (first the chronicles of the emperor, then the biographies of influential people)
One form of East Asian history books is the compilation style of history books, which takes biographies as the key link and time as the latitude and reflects historical events. The outstanding feature of biographical history books is to focus on a large number of biographies, which is a further combination of words and notes. In terms of genre form, biographical style is a synthesis of biographical style, family, biography, chronicle and table. Biography is basically a chronological style. Biographies of representatives in various fields. Records are about laws and regulations and the history of natural society. Tables are used to express complex social situations and many people who cannot be listed one by one. Excellent biographical history books combine these genres to form a complementary whole in a history book. It is a mixture of various schools and its own special specifications. The earliest biographical history book in China is also the best biographical history book in China. It's Historical Records compiled by Sima Qian in the Western Han Dynasty. Historical Records began with the legendary Huangdi and ended in the early years of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, where the author lived. It lasted for 3,000 years, and there were 130 articles with titles of Ji, Biao, Shu, Shi Jia and Biography. Taking emperors of past dynasties as the center, discipline shows chronology of major events, secretarial etiquette, official system and economic system. Among the historical facts of neighboring countries, families and biographies account for 100. In order to complete this masterpiece, Sima Qian spent more than 20 years traveling all over the country to inspect the folk customs of scenic spots and historical sites, and devoted his life to it. The ancient historical materials of Historical Records are particularly precious, and many records have become precious documents for modern people to study ancient history. The historical analysis and evaluation of Historical Records are also relatively objective, with certain popularity and scientificity. For example, ancient historians rarely affirm the progressive role of Chen Sheng, the leader of the peasant uprising, and spread it with the genre of "aristocratic family". Historical Records is not only an immortal historical work, but also an excellent literary work. Sima Qian was good at depicting characters by line drawing, and Lu Xun even called it "the swan song of historians". "Li Sao" has no rhyme, only written by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, so there were many people who supplemented it in the Han Dynasty. Among them, Ban Gu's Hanshu is the most admired by later generations. This is a chronology of the 229-year history of the Western Han Dynasty. Since the book Han Shu was written, it has mainly appeared in the form of discipline, expression, ambition and biography. According to the style of Historical Records, they were compiled in the form of biographies. The twenty-four histories are also attached with records and tables as appendices. Some history books of Korea and Japan are also written in biographies. However, biographical style also has its disadvantages, that is, "reading several articles on the same thing can't distinguish the subject from the object", and dividing historical events into biographies, which leads to repeated contradictions. It didn't appear until the Southern Song Dynasty.
rustic style
Take the country as a unit and describe historical events separately. Guoyu is the first national history book in China, also known as the national annals. This is a historical essay about some countries. It started in western Zhou Muwang and ended in Lu Daogong in the early Warring States period. It includes the history of Zhou, Lu, Qi, Jin, Zheng, Chu, Wu and Yue. Its original recorder may be historians of various countries, and it was written by Jin in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Many precious historical materials have also been preserved. The Warring States Policy is a compilation of historical materials during the Warring States Period. In the late Western Han Dynasty, Liu Xiang sorted out a batch of books and got 33 articles, which were divided into two national policies: Eastern Zhou, Western Zhou, Qin, Qi, Chu, Zhao, Wei, Han, Song, Wei, Zhongshan, etc. 12, which was named Warring States Policy.
Comprehensive history
A historical book that describes the historical facts of each era coherently is called general history, which is just the opposite of dynastic history. For example, Sima Qian's Historical Records in the Western Han Dynasty can also be called a general history, because he recorded the historical facts from the legendary Huangdi to the era of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, which lasted for more than 3,000 years. There is also Sima Guang's History as a Mirror, which is also a famous general history. "General history" can be understood as a history of crossing, that is, the history of a country or region or the world from the earliest civilization to the present. Since it is called a general history, first of all, it requires a wide range of narrative contents. All important events and research topics (military, cultural and artistic) are not involved in depth, but they must all be involved. Secondly, it requires the historical development context or the clues running through it to be reflected in the narrative. Give people an overall understanding. Therefore, if you can't do the first point, you don't deserve to be called a general history, and it is even more difficult to do the second point, which requires the author's talent, accumulation and theoretical accomplishment. On this second point, the difference between mediocrity and classics is remarkable. Many general histories of China and the world in the market are mediocre works, although various events and topics are listed.
dynastic history
Its main feature is that it only records the history of a certain period or a certain dynasty, such as Hanshu, which is the first chronicle in China, divided into 12 chapters and 8 tables, 10 chronicle, 70 biographies, * * * 100 articles and 800,000 words. As a chronicle, from the Han Dynasty. Except historical records, they are all dynastic history. The above six styles are classified according to different standards. In fact, the same history book can be divided into different styles according to different standards. For example, The History of the Three Kingdoms is not only a biographical history book, but also a national history book, and it is also a book style of dynastic history.