Ebook: Selections from Records of the Historian

The Records of the Grand Historian as the first systematic Chinese historical text, the Records profoundly influenced Chinese historiography and prose. In its effect, the work is comparable to Herodotus and his Histories. Together with the Records of Three Kingdoms, Book of Han and Book of Later Han, the book is part of the early four historiographies of the Twenty-Four Histories canon.

The book contains five parts: Benji (annals), 12 volumes. Royal biographies in strict annalistic form that offer an overview of the most important events, especially from the time of the Zhou dynasty to that of the emperor of the Han dynasty. Biao (tables), 10 tables: overview of the reigns of the successive lords of the feudal states from the time of the Zhou dynasty till that of the early Han. At the same time the most important events of their reigns are mentioned. Shu (treatises), 8 juan. Each essay describes an area of state interest. Shijia (genealogies), 30 juan. Descriptions in chronicle form of the events of the states from the time of the Zhou dynasty until the early Han and eminent people. Liezhuan (exemplary lives, often called biographies), 70 juan. Biographies of important people. The biographies are limited to the description of the events that show the exemplary character of the subject, but in the Shiji is often supplemented with legends. One biography can treat two or more people if they are considered to belong to the same type. The last biographies describe the relations between the Chinese and the neighboring peoples.