1. Establish an excellent general history school. Historical Records is the first general history masterpiece in the history of Chinese historiography. 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.
2. Established the independent position of historiography. 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.
3. Established the literary tradition of historical biography. Sima Qian's literary accomplishment is profound, and his artistic means are particularly ingenious. Often, some extremely complicated facts are handled in a very proper and orderly manner, and then they are far-sighted, knowledgeable, vivid in words, tempered in brushwork, full of feelings, handy and vivid in image, which makes people "exclaim and clap their hands, I don't know why."
Sima Qian
When he was a little older, Sima Qian left his hometown Longmen and went to his father in the capital Chang 'an. At this time, Sima Qian had heard about it, and Sima Tan instructed Sima Qian to visit rivers and mountains all over the world to collect old news and let it go. Sima Qian began to travel around the world at the age of twenty. He started from Chang 'an, the capital city, and went southeast, leaving Wu Guan to Wan. Go south to Xiangfan to Jiangling.
Cross the river, return to Xiangxi, and then turn southeast to Jiuyi Mountain. After nine doubts, I went north to Changsha, paid a visit to Qu Yuan in Miluo, crossed Dongting, went out of the Yangtze River and went downstream to the east. Lushan Mountain, Yu Shu Jiujiang, moved to Qiantang Exhibition. Go to a meeting to discuss Yu's point of view. Back to the Shen Jun Palace, which is at stake in the spring. Go to Gusu to see the five lakes.
Later, he crossed the great river in the north and Huaiyin, and went to Linzi and Qufu to inspect Qilu regional culture and observe the legacy left by Confucius. He was trapped in Pu, Xue and Pengcheng, and then went along the Chu-Han battlefield, the hometown where historical figures surged in the Qin and Han Dynasties, passing through Pengcheng, Feng, Ying, Suiyang and Liang (now Kaifeng, Henan).