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Historiography Of China
Chinese historiography is the study of the techniques and sources used by historians to develop the recorded history of China. Overview of Chinese history The recording of events in Chinese history dates back to the Shang dynasty ( 1600–1046 BC). Many written examples survive of ceremonial inscriptions, divinations and records of family names, which were carved or painted onto tortoise shell or bones. The uniformly religious context of Shang written records makes avoidance of preservation bias important when interpreting Shang history. The first conscious attempt to record history in China may have been the inscription on the Zhou dynasty bronze Shi Qiang ''pan''. This and thousands of other Chinese bronze inscriptions form our primary sources for the period in which they were interred in elite burials. The oldest surviving history texts of China were compiled in the ''Book of Documents (Shujing)''. The '' Spring and Autumn Annals (Chunqiu)'', the official chronicle of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinese History
The history of China spans several millennia across a wide geographical area. Each region now considered part of the Chinese world has experienced periods of unity, fracture, prosperity, and strife. Chinese civilization first emerged in the Yellow River valley, which along with the Yangtze basin constitutes the geographic core of the Chinese cultural sphere. China maintains a rich diversity of ethnic and linguistic people groups. The traditional lens for viewing Chinese history is the dynastic cycle: imperial dynasties rise and fall, and are ascribed certain achievements. This lens also tends to assume Chinese civilization can be traced as an unbroken thread many thousands of years into the past, making it one of the cradles of civilization. At various times, states representative of a dominant Chinese culture have directly controlled areas stretching as far west as the Tian Shan, the Tarim Basin, and the Himalayas, as far north as the Sayan Mountains, and as far south ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sima Qian
Sima Qian () was a Chinese historian during the early Han dynasty. He is considered the father of Chinese historiography for the ''Shiji'' (sometimes translated into English as ''Records of the Grand Historian''), a general history of China covering more than two thousand years from the rise of the legendary Yellow Emperor and formation of the first Chinese polity to the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, during which Sima wrote. As the first universal history of the world as it was known to the ancient Chinese, the ''Shiji'' served as a model for official histories for subsequent dynasties across the Sinosphere until the 20th century. Sima Qian's father, Sima Tan, first conceived of the ambitious project of writing a complete history of China, but had completed only some preparatory sketches at the time of his death. After inheriting his father's position as court historian in the imperial court, he was determined to fulfill his father's dying wish of composing and putting together th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emperor Shenzong Of Song
Emperor Shenzong of Song (25 May 1048 – 1 April 1085), personal name Zhao Xu, was the sixth emperor of the Song dynasty of China. His original personal name was Zhao Zhongzhen but he changed it to "Zhao Xu" after he acceded to the throne. He reigned from 1067 until his death in 1085 and is best known for supporting Wang Anshi's New Policies. He was a particularly active monarch concerned with solving the fiscal, bureaucratic, and military problems of the Song dynasty, but his reign remains controversial. Reign Personality Emperor Shenzong disagreed with the passive stance of his predecessors and wanted to improve the Song Dynasty's prestige via conquest. This irridentist attitude also contributed towards his desire to centralize fiscal matters: he told his war minister Wen Yanbo that "if we are to raise troops for our frontier campaigns, then our treasuries must be full." Furthermore, Shenzong was dissatisfied with the growing powers of ministers such as chief councilor Ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sima Guang
Sima Guang (17 November 1019 – 11 October 1086), courtesy name Junshi, was a Chinese historian, politician, and writer. He was a high-ranking Song dynasty scholar-official who authored the ''Zizhi Tongjian'', a monumental work of history. Born into a family of officials, Sima Guang displayed remarkable intelligence from a young age and quickly rose through the ranks of the Song bureaucracy. His early career was marked by his work in government administration, where he gained a reputation for his meticulous scholarship and principled stance on state affairs. As a prominent official, he strongly opposed Wang Anshi’s New Policies, arguing that they disrupted social stability and traditional governance. His criticisms led to his removal from political office when reformists held power. After retiring from active politics, Sima devoted himself to historical research and writing. He spent years compiling and editing the Zizhi Tongjian, which he presented to Emperor Shenzong in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emperor Yingzong Of Song
Emperor Yingzong of Song (16 February 1032 – 25 January 1067), personal name Zhao Shu, was the fifth emperor of the Song dynasty of China. His original personal name was Zhao Zongshi but it was changed to "Zhao Shu" in 1062 by imperial decree. He reigned from 1063 to his death in 1067. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Emperor Shenzong. Family background Emperor Yingzong was the 13th son of Zhao Yunrang (趙允讓; 969–1059), who was a first cousin of Emperor Renzong and was posthumously known as "Prince Anyi of Pu" (). Emperor Yingzong's grandfather, Zhao Yuanfen (趙元份; 966–1005), was a younger brother of Emperor Renzong's father, Emperor Zhenzong, and was posthumously known as "Prince Gongjing of Shang" (). Emperor Yingzong's mother, whose maiden family name was Ren (), was the concubine of Zhao Yunrang. She held the title "''Xianjun'' of Xianyou" (). Early life In 1055, Emperor Yingzong's predecessor, Emperor Renzong, became critically ill and started t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zizhi Tongjian
The ''Zizhi Tongjian'' (1084) is a chronicle published during the Northern Song dynasty (960–1127) that provides a record of Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD, covering 16 dynasties and spanning almost 1400 years. The main text is arranged into 294 scrolls (), each equivalent to a chapter—totaling around 3 million Chinese characters. In 1065, Emperor Yingzong of Song commissioned his official, Sima Guang (1019–1086), to lead a project to compile a Universal history (genre), universal history of China, and granted him funding and the authority to appoint his own staff. His team took 19 years to complete the work and in 1084 it was presented to Emperor Yingzong's successor Emperor Shenzong of Song. It was well-received and has proved to be immensely influential among both scholars and the general public. Endymion Wilkinson regards it as reference quality: "It had an enormous influence on later Chinese historical writing, either directly or through its many a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Liu Zhiji
Liu Zhiji (; 661–721), courtesy name Zixuan (), was a Chinese historian and politician of the Tang dynasty. Well known as the author of '' Shitong'', he was born in present-day Xuzhou, Jiangsu. Liu's father Liu Zangqi and elder brother Liu Zhirou were officials, famous for their literary compositions. He received his imperial examination degree in 680 and began working on several compilations with others in the court in 699. In 708, he decided to resign himself and started compiling the ''Shitong''. Stephen W. Durrant calls Liu Zhiji "one of ancient China's most critical and brilliant readers" (''The Cloudy Mirror'', 71–72: Liu is quoted criticizing Sima Qian's style for verbosity and deliberately setting apart the chronologically close accounts). References * Li, Wenli. Liu Zhiji Shitong Tixian De Biandao Sixiang He Biandao Yuanze (The Editing Thought and Principle in Liu Zhiji's Shitong)'. Tangdu Journal. 2006–05. pp. 34–36. ISSN 1001-0300. * Qu, Lintong"Shitong ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shitong
The ''Shitong'' () is the first Chinese-language work about historiography compiled by Liu Zhiji between 708 and 710 during the Tang dynasty. The book describes the general pattern of the past official dynastic historiography on structure, method, order of arrangement, sequence, caption and commentary back to the pre- Qin era. It contains about 88,000 words including Liu's commentaries, which are divided into 39 inner chapters and 13 outer chapters. Three of the inner chapters had been lost since the times of Ouyang Xiu, while the rest managed to survive. The inner chapters, the principal part of the book, provided information on the types, forms, rules, layout, the collecting of historical materials, outline, and the principle of historiography. The outer chapters describe the official system of the historiographer, origin and development of histories, and the success and failure of past historians. The copies of the Song dynasty are no longer available, while the reprinted editi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Liu Xin (scholar)
Liu Xin (23 CE), courtesy name Zijun, was a Chinese astronomer, classicist, imperial librarian, mathematician, and politician during the Han dynasty#Western Han, Western Han and Xin dynasty, Xin dynasties. He later changed his name to Liu Xiu () due to the naming taboo of Emperor Ai of Han. He was the son of Imperial librarian Liu Xiang (scholar), Liu Xiang and an associate of other eminent thinkers such as the philosopher Huan Tan. Liu was a prominent supporter of the Old Text classics. Early life Liu Xin was the son of Confucian scholar Liu Xiang (scholar), Liu Xiang (77–6 BCE). Liu was a distant relative of Liu Bang, the founder of the Han dynasty, and was thus a member of the ruling dynastic clan (the Liu (surname), Liu family). Liu Xin's paternal grandfather ranked as a ''hou'' (, roughly 'Ranged Marquis#Han dynasty, marquess'). As a young man, Liu helped his father in cataloguing the contents of the imperial library, and his friendship with the well-connected mi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Liu Xiang (scholar)
Liu Xiang (77–6BCE), born Liu Gengsheng and bearing the courtesy name Zizheng, was a Chinese astronomer, historian, librarian, poet, politician, and writer of the Western Han dynasty. Among his polymathic scholarly specialties were history, literary bibliography, and astronomy. He is particularly well known for his bibliographic work in cataloging and editing the extensive imperial library. Life Liu Gengsheng was born in Xuzhou. Being a distant relative of Liu Bang, the founder of the Han dynasty, he was a member of the ruling dynastic clan (the Liu family). Liu Xiang's father ranked as a marquess. Liu Xiang's son, Liu Xin, would continue the scholarly tradition of his father and his relative Liu An (the Prince of Huainan). By the beginning of Emperor Yuan's reign, Liu Xiang was a member of a group of Confucian officials, including Xiao Wangzhi, who wished to limit the power of the emperor's female family members relatives' clans, the Shi and the Xu. He ended up on the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Twenty-Four Histories
The ''Twenty-Four Histories'', also known as the ''Orthodox Histories'' (), are a collection of official histories detailing the dynasties of China, from the legendary Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors in the 4th millennium BC to the Ming dynasty in the 17th century. The Han dynasty official Sima Qian established many of the conventions of the genre, but the form was not fixed until much later. Starting with the Tang dynasty, each dynasty established an official office to write the history of its predecessor using official court records, partly in order to establish its own link to the earliest times. As fixed and edited in the Qing dynasty, the whole set contains 3,213 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 was when the last volume, the '' History of Ming'', was reworked and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Historiography
Historiography is the study of the methods used by historians in developing history as an academic discipline. By extension, the term ":wikt:historiography, historiography" is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians have studied that topic by using particular sources, techniques of research, and theoretical approaches to the interpretation of documentary sources. Scholars discuss historiography by topic—such as the historiography of the United Kingdom, of historiography of World War II, WWII, of the Pre-Columbian era, pre-Columbian Americas, of early historiography of early Islam, Islam, and of Chinese historiography, China—and different approaches to the work and the genres of history, such as political history and social history. Beginning in the nineteenth century, the development of academic history produced a great corpus of historiographic literature. The extent to which historians are influence ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
