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The Twenty-Four Histories (Chinese: 二十四史) are the Chinese official historical books covering a period from 3000 BC to the Ming dynasty in the 17th century. The Han dynasty official Sima Qian established many of the conventions of the genre. Starting with the Tang dynasty, each dynasty established an official office to write the history of its predecessor using official court records. As fixed and edited in the Qing dynasty, the whole set contains 3213 volumes and about 40 million words. It is considered one of the most important sources on Chinese history and culture. The title "Twenty-Four Histories" dates from 1775 which was the 40th year in the reign of the Qianlong Emperor. This ...
史记 "Historical Records" was written by Sima Qian, the Western Han Dynasty historian. The biographical history book is the first biographical general history in China, documented on to the ancient legend of the Yellow Emperor era, down to the Han Dynasty between the beginning four years, a total of 3,000 years of history. In 104 B.C., Sima Qian began the creation of a history book called " Tai Shi Gong Shu " which was later called “史记”, or "Historical Records". It took 14 years before and after to complete. The "Historical Records" book includes twelve Origins Volumes recording the emperor's political achievements (“十二本纪”), thirty Family Volumes remembering the vassal ...
The Zhan Guo Ce, also known in English as the Strategies of the Warring States, is an ancient Chinese text that contains anecdotes of political manipulation and warfare during the Warring States period (5th to 3rd centuries bc).[1] It is an important text of the Warring States Period as it describes the strategies and political views of the School of Diplomacy and reveals the historical and social characteristics of the period. The Zhan Guo Ce recounts the history of the Warring States from the conquest of the Fan clan by the Zhi clan in 490 BC up to the failed assassination of Qin Shi Huang by Gao Jianli in 221 BC. The chapters take the form of anecdotes meant to illustrate various strategi...
Zi Zhi Tong Jian (Chinese: 资治通鉴;English: "Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance") is a pioneering reference work in Chinese historiography, published in 1084 in the form of a chronicle. In 1065 AD, Emperor Yingzong of Songordered the great historian Sima Guang (1019–1086 AD) to lead with other scholars such as his chief assistants Liu Shu, Liu Ban and Fan Zuyu,[1] the compilation of a universal history of China. The task took 19 years to be completed,and, in 1084 AD, it was presented to his successor Emperor Shenzong of Song. The Zizhi Tongjian records Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD, covering 16 dynasties and spanning across almost 1,400 years,and contains 294 volumes (...
The book is the volume of “The Military History of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period” among a series of books of “Deep into China Histories”. The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1250 BC, from the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC) and the Bamboo Annals (296 BC) describe a Xia dynasty (c. 2070–1600 BC) before the Shang, but no writing is known from the period The Shang ruled in the Yellow River valley, which is commonly held to be the cradle of Chinese civilization. However, Neolithic civilizations originated at various cultural centers along both the Yellow River and Yangtze River. These Yellow River and Yangtze c...
The book is the volume of “The Political History of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period” among a series of books of “Deep into China Histories”. The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1250 BC, from the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC) and the Bamboo Annals (296 BC) describe a Xia dynasty (c. 2070–1600 BC) before the Shang, but no writing is known from the period The Shang ruled in the Yellow River valley, which is commonly held to be the cradle of Chinese civilization. However, Neolithic civilizations originated at various cultural centers along both the Yellow River and Yangtze River. These Yellow River and Yangtze ...
The Lüshi Chunqiu 吕氏春秋, also known in English as Lü's Spring and Autumn Annals, is an encyclopedic Chinese classic text compiled around 239 BC under the patronage of the Qin Dynasty Chancellor Lü Buwei. The Shiji (chap. 85, p. 2510) biography of Lü Buwei has the earliest information about the Lüshi Chunqiu. Lü was a successful merchant from Handan who befriended King Zhuangxiang of Qin. The king's son Zheng (政, who the Shiji suggests was actually Lü's son) eventually became the first emperor Qin Shi Huang in 221 BC. When Zhuangxiang died in 247 BC, Lü Buwei was made regent for the 13-year-old Zheng. In order to establish Qin as the intellectual center of China, Lü "recruit...
The Lüshi Chunqiu, also known in English as Lü's Spring and Autumn Annals, is an encyclopedic Chinese classic text compiled around 239 BC under the patronage of the Qin Dynasty Chancellor Lü Buwei. The Shiji (chap. 85, p. 2510) biography of Lü Buwei has the earliest information about the Lüshi Chunqiu. Lü was a successful merchant from Handan who befriended King Zhuangxiang of Qin. The king's son Zheng (政, who the Shiji suggests was actually Lü's son) eventually became the first emperor Qin Shi Huang in 221 BC. When Zhuangxiang died in 247 BC, Lü Buwei was made regent for the 13-year-old Zheng. In order to establish Qin as the intellectual center of China, Lü "recruited scholars, ...
左传 "Zuo Zhuan" or “Zuo’s Annals” is the first chronological history book said to be written by Zuo Qiuming , with a total of thirty-five volumes. It is one of the Confucian classics and the longest in the Thirteen Classics. The description ranged from 722 BC (Lu Yin Gong's first year) to 468 BC (Lu Yi Gong’s twenty-seventh year). The outstanding achievement of Zuo’s Annals is that it is the first large-scale and detailed history of China, which has an irreplaceable important position in the history of ancient historiography. On the scale of nearly 200,000 words, "Zuo’s Annals" comprehensively and systematically records the events of the Spring and Autumn Period, involving Zho...
The Han Feizi (Chinese: 韩非子) is an ancient Chinese text attributed to foundational political philosopher,"Master" Han Fei. It comprises a selection of essays in the "Legalist" tradition on theories of state power, synthesizing the methodologies of his predecessors. Its 55 chapters, most of which date to the Warring States period mid-3rd century BC, are the only such text to survive intact. Easily one of the most important philosophical classics in ancient China, it touches on administration, diplomacy, war and economics, and is also valuable for its abundance of anecdotes about pre-Qin China. Han Fei's writings were very influential on the future first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang. After the early demise of the Qin dynasty, Han Fei's philosophy was officially vilified by the following Han Dynasty. Despite its outcast status throughout the history of imperial China, his political theory continued to heavily influence every dynasty thereafter, and the Confucian ideal of a rule without laws was never again realized. Shu Han's chancellor Zhuge Liang demanded emperor Liu Shan read the Han Feizi for learning the way of ruling.