Historical Records records a history of more than 3,000 years, from the legendary Huangdi era in ancient China to the first year of Emperor founding ceremony (BC 122). Sima Qian, the author, made Historical Records the first biographical general history in the history of China with his historical knowledge of "studying the relationship between man and nature, linking the changes from ancient times to modern times and forming a family statement".
Historical Records includes twelve biographies (records of emperors' political achievements in past dynasties), thirty biographies (records of the rise and fall of princes and nobles in vassal States and Han Dynasty), seventy biographies (records of important people's words and deeds, mainly narrative officials), ten tables (chronologies of major events) and eight books (various laws, regulations, etiquette, music, rhythm, calendar, etc.
At first, there was no fixed title for historical records, or "Taishi Office" or "Taishi Gong", etc., and it was also called "Taishi Gong" in the province. Historical Records was originally the general name of ancient history books. Since the Three Kingdoms period, Historical Records has gradually become the proper name of "Taishi Gongshu" from the general name of historical books.
Historical Records had a far-reaching influence on the development of later historiography and literature. His original biographical method of compiling history was passed down by the "official history" of later generations. At the same time, Historical Records, as an excellent literary work, has an important position in the history of China literature. It is praised by Lu Xun as "the swan song of historians", which has no rhyme with Li Sao and has high literary value.