Characteristics of pre-Qin historiography

The earliest rational thinking in ancient China arose in the field of historical understanding marked by "Yinjian", which firstly enlightened the mind by understanding politics and the relationship between heaven and man through thinking about history, and then enriched the ability to think logically and opened up philosophical horizons. This has had an indelible impact on the formation of Chinese cultural identity, resulting in the inextricable link between historical understanding and political culture, and the accumulation of a mode of thought that seeks the basis, experience, and lessons of all things from the past. The thinking of "Yinjian" also led to the preservation and compilation of historical documents, and the ancient canonical documents existing today are all preserved and compiled in the Western Zhou Dynasty and its aftermath. All these were the basis for the development of historiography. Therefore, the historiography of ancient China flourished, the official historiography of successive generations continued without abandonment, and the historiography of ancient times was based on the fundamental purpose of utilizing the world. All these features, which are not found in the West, can be traced back to the origin of rational thinking and the ideological roots implanted in Chinese society and culture by the "Yinjian".

On the basis of the Western Zhou's "Yinjian" idea, the Spring and Autumn Period established a system of historical record in which "the ruler must write a book" and a certain amount of calligraphy was emphasized; the concept of "good history" was proposed, which involved the evaluation of the standards of historians, and the development of the "good history" system. The concept of "good history" was introduced, which involved the evaluation of the standards of historians and the creation of exemplary figures of historians; the concepts of historiography were formed to learn from history, to educate with history, to support politics with history and to learn the policy of governing the country from history, which laid down the basic principles for the development of the operation of historiography in ancient China. These principles were expressed in a rather simple way, like aphorisms and idioms, and the simplicity of these principles made it easier to disseminate them and provided space for later generations to expand, play and enrich them.

The concept of historiography in the pre-Qin period reflects the origin of the vigorous development of ancient Chinese historiography. From the thought of "Yinjian" to the official consolidation of the system of history, and then produce a series of basic principles of the nature of the concept of historiography, and then Confucius "Spring and Autumn Annals" for the private historiography to open up a way, prompting the concept of historiography to further deepen. This step-by-step leap has prepared the unstoppable social conditions for the prosperity of ancient historiography. Chinese traditional historiography has a long history, only its source is deep and rich, only to become the future of the vastness of the smoke, the flow is not abolished.

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