The Development of China Historiography in Qin and Han Dynasties

The ancient historiography of China began to sprout from the earliest official documents Shangshu and the epics Ya and Ode in The Book of Songs. It has lasted for more than two thousand years and five development periods, and has made rare achievements in the world. 1. The emergence of ancient historiography in China. Pan Geng and Oath of Pastoral Poetry in Shangshu recorded some important historical events in the Yin and Zhou Dynasties, while Ya and Ode reflected the social situation in various historical stages before moving eastward and related activities such as sealing off the country, conquering and farming, which showed a clear historical consciousness with inscriptions on bronze. From the end of the Western Zhou Dynasty to the Spring and Autumn Period, "national history" developed, which was called "Spring and Autumn Period", "Wandering" and "Cheng", and all of them were recorded. At the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, Confucius compiled The Spring and Autumn Period, which was the first chronological history book in China's history and created a precedent for private history writing. During the Warring States period, the number of private history books gradually increased. Zuo Zhuan and Guoyu recorded historical events in the Spring and Autumn Period, Warring States Policy and Letters from the Warring States Period, Annals of Bamboo Books and Shiben recorded historical events from ancient times to the present, and the historical books reflected the trend of political unification. 2. The establishment of China ancient historiography. The unified political situation produced corresponding historical masterpieces, Historical Records and Hanshu. The former was the first biographical general history, while the latter was the first biographical chronology, which laid the foundation for the development of ancient historiography in China. The historical theories of various schools in the early Western Han Dynasty and the first chronology written by Xun Yue at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty are also important historical achievements in this period.