Historical Records is listed as the first of the "twenty-four histories", and it is also called the "first four histories" with the later Hanshu, Houhanshu and the History of the Three Kingdoms, which has had a far-reaching impact 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.

Historical Records is also an excellent literary work, which occupies an important position in the history of China literature. It is praised by Lu Xun as "a historian's swan song, and Li Sao has no rhyme", which has high literary value. Liu Xiang and others think that this book is "good in order and reason, argumentative but not flashy, qualitative but not vulgar".

Extended data

Name source

At first, there was no fixed title for historical records, which were called "Taishi Gongshu" or "Taishi Gongshu", and also called "Taishi Gongshu" in the province. According to the textual research of known materials, Sima Qian's earliest historical book "Historical Records" is the East China Sea Temple Monument written by Emperor Ling of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Previously, Historical Records was a general term for ancient history books. Since the Three Kingdoms, Historical Records has gradually become the proper name of Taishi Gongshu.

Creation background

During the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the kingship was abolished, and the ancient cultural classics were destroyed by the Qin Dynasty, which led to the loss of precious classics in Mingtang and Shishi. After the establishment of the Han Dynasty, Xiao He revised the law, Han Xin affirmed the military law, Zhang Cang formulated the articles of association, and Shu determined the etiquette. Scholars with good personality and knowledge gradually played a role, and literary lovers from all over the world constantly collected and presented abandoned ancient books such as poems and books.