What is China's first narrative history book?

China's first narrative historical work is Historical Records. Historical Records, written by Sima Qian in the Western Han Dynasty, recorded the historical events and figures in China's history from ancient legends to the establishment of the Western Han Dynasty with concise words.

First, the writing background and significance of Historical Records

Historical Records was written by Sima Qian, a historian in the early Western Han Dynasty. In writing this book, he made full use of the existing historical documents and his own research results. Historical Records is regarded as the first narrative history book in China. It has a profound influence on the development of later history with its concise words, rich content and unique narrative style.

Second, the organizational structure and content of historical records

Historical Records consists of twelve chapters, including biography, table, book, family and biographies. Among them, this chapter takes emperors as the center and records the deeds of emperors in chronological order; Table is a chronicle, listing the important events of each dynasty; Books record history with specific themes; Aristocratic families record the rise and fall of vassal States; Biographies describe celebrities and heroes in history in detail.

Third, the influence of Historical Records on the history of later generations.

As China's first narrative historical work, Historical Records had a far-reaching impact on the development of later historiography. First of all, Historical Records adopts a biographical writing style, which organically combines historical figures and historical events to make history more vivid. Secondly, Historical Records pays attention to the inheritance of orthodox ideas and emphasizes the influence of the monarch's morality and governance ability on the country, which has had a far-reaching impact on China's political culture in history.

4. Enlightenment of Historical Records to later historians.

Historical Records not only has an impact on later historians in content and form, but also gives important enlightenment to later historians. First of all, Historical Records put forward the viewpoint of "taking history as a mirror", emphasizing understanding the laws of life and society by learning history. Secondly, Historical Records focuses on revealing the inner thoughts and motives of historical figures and advocates multi-angle analysis and evaluation of historical events.