Brief introduction to the characteristics of chronological history books

Chronological style arranges related historical events according to chronological clues. Chronological history books take time as the center and record historical events in the order of year, month and day. Because it takes time as longitude and historical events as latitude, it is easier to reflect the connection of various historical events in the same period. The method of chronicle recording history originated in China. For example, The Spring and Autumn Annals, the earliest chronological history book in China, is said to have been compiled by Confucius according to the Spring and Autumn Annals compiled by Lu historians. Zuo Zhuan is the first complete chronological history book in China, formerly known as Zuo Zhuan, which was written in the Spring and Autumn Period. According to legend, Zuo Qiuming, a Lu historian, wrote the Spring and Autumn Annals for Confucius at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, which is called Zuo Zhuan for short. As a Mirror, Zi Tong Zhi Jian is the first general annals of China and the representative work of China's general annals. Sima Guang (10 19— 1086) was the editor of the Northern Song Dynasty, from the 23rd year of Zhou Weilie (403 BC) to the 6th year of Zhou Shizong's showing virtue in the Five Dynasties (959 AD). Supplement: Types of China historical books recorded in chronological order. Originated in the Spring and Autumn Period. There are a large number of chronicles. The famous ones are Spring and Autumn Annals, Zuo Zhuan and Zi Tongzhi Jian. Its advantage is that it is convenient to investigate the specific time of historical events, understand the relationship between historical events, and avoid duplication of narrative. The disadvantage is that the notes are classified by year and month, so it is difficult to concentrate on the whole process of each historical event, and it is difficult to record events that cannot be arranged by year and month. It is often described in detail in political events, ignoring economy and culture [edit this paragraph]. It is a form of biographical East Asian history books, and it is a compilation style that reflects historical events with biographies as the key link and time as the latitude. The outstanding feature of biographical history books is to focus on a large number of biographies, which is a further combination of memorizing words and taking notes. In terms of genre form, biography is a synthesis of biography, biography, record and table. This chronicle is basically a chronicle, and it also describes the deeds of the emperor himself. Family mainly records the history of princes and nobles. Biography is the biography of representative figures in all aspects. The records of books are about laws and regulations and the history of nature and society. Tables are used to express complex social situations and many people who cannot be written into biographies one by one. Excellent biographical history books combine these genres to form a complementary whole in a history book. It is a mixture of various schools and has its own special specifications. The earliest biographical history book in China is also the best history book in China. It's Historical Records compiled by Sima Qian in the Western Han Dynasty. Historical Records began with the legendary Huangdi and ended in the early years of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, where the author lived. It lasted for 3,000 years and consisted of 130 articles, the titles of which were Biography, Watch, Book, Family and Biography. Centered on emperors of past dynasties, this chronicle is a chronology of major events, including secretarial etiquette, official system and economic system, biographies of aristocratic families and biographies of various important historical figures, ethnic minorities and neighboring countries before Emperor Wu, among which aristocratic families and biographies account for 100. In order to complete this masterpiece, Sima Qian spent more than 20 years traveling all over the country to inspect the folk customs of scenic spots and historical sites, and devoted his life to it. The ancient historical materials of Historical Records are extremely precious, and many records have become precious documents for modern people to study ancient history. The historical analysis and evaluation of Historical Records are also relatively objective, with certain popularity and scientificity. For example, ancient historians rarely affirm the progressive role of Chen Sheng, the leader of the peasant uprising, and use the genre of "aristocratic family" as a biography. Historical Records is not only an immortal historical work, but also an excellent literary work. Sima Qian is good at portraying characters in simple terms, and Lu Xun even called Historical Records "a poem with no rhyme for historians". However, Historical Records only lasted until Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, so many people made up Records of Historical Records in the Han Dynasty. Among them, Han Shu by Ban Gu is the most admired by later generations. This is a biographical chronology, describing the history of the Western Han Dynasty for 229 years. Since Hanshu was written, the style of historical books with discipline, expression, ambition and biography as the main forms and years as the history has become the standard form of compiling official history in later generations. Other historical books of China's official Twenty-four History are written in a biographical way according to the style of Historical Records. The twenty-four histories are also attached with records and tables as appendices. Some history books in Korea and Japan are also written in biographies. However, biographies also have their disadvantages, that is, "reading several articles on the same thing can't distinguish the subject from the object", and the historical events are recorded in biographies of characters separately, resulting in repeated contradictions. It was not until the Southern Song Dynasty that the original and final chronological style appeared, which overcame the defects of chronological style and biographical style and integrated its advantages. [Edit this paragraph] The national system takes the country as the unit and describes historical events respectively. "Guoyu" is the first annals of China's national history, also known as the annals of the country, and it is a historical prose with notes from some countries. It started in western Zhou Muwang and ended in Lu Daogong in the early Warring States period, covering the history of eight countries: Zhou, Lu, Qi, Jin, Zheng, Chu and wuyue. Its original recorder may be historians of various countries, and it was compiled into a book by historians of Jin State during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. The chronicle of Guoyu is much more detailed and vivid than Chunqiu, and it also preserves many precious historical materials. The Warring States Policy is a compilation of historical materials during the Warring States Period. At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, Liu Xiang sorted out 33 books, which were divided into three national policies: Eastern Zhou, Western Zhou, Qin, Qi, Chu, Zhao, Wei, Han, Song, Wei, Zhongshan, etc. 12, and named it Warring States Policy. The History of the Three Kingdoms by Chen Shou in Jin Dynasty recorded the history of Wei, Shu and Wu. [Edit this paragraph] Historical books that describe the historical facts of each era coherently are called general history, which is just the opposite of dynastic history. For example, Sima Qian's , also known as general history. Because he recorded the historical facts from the legendary Yellow Emperor to the era of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, which lasted for more than 3,000 years; There is also Sima Guang's>, which is also a famous general history. "General history" can be understood as comprehensive history, that is, the history of a country or region or the world from the earliest civilization to the present. Since it is called a general history, it is first required to describe a wide range of contents, and all important events and research topics (military, cultural, and artistic) are not deeply involved but must be involved. Secondly, it is required to reflect the historical development context or the clues running through it in the narrative, giving people a holistic understanding. Therefore, the first point can't be done, at least it doesn't deserve to be called a general history, while the second point is more difficult to do, which requires the author's talent, accumulation and theoretical accomplishment. Second, the difference between mediocrity and classics is remarkable. Many general histories of China and the world on the market are mediocre. Although various events and topics are listed, there are not many inspirations for people. [Edit this paragraph] The main feature of dynastic history is that it only records the history of a certain period or a certain dynasty. Such as Hanshu. Hanshu is the first chronological history book in China, which is divided into 12 chapter, 8 tables, 10 chapter, 70 biographies and *** 100 chapter, with 800,000 words. From the first year of Emperor Gaozu to the fourth year of Emperor Wangmang, the history was ***229 years. The twenty-four histories from Shiji to Shi Ming, except Shiji, are all dynastic histories. The above six styles are classified according to different standards. In fact, the same history book can be divided into different styles according to different standards. For example, The History of the Three Kingdoms is not only a biography history book, but also a national history book. At the same time, it belongs to the historical book style of dynastic history [edit this paragraph]. Chronicle is the end of chronicle: events are the main line, and relevant thematic materials are brought together. Yuan Shu, the founder of the Southern Song Dynasty, adopted this style in his History as a Mirror. Chronological style is different from chronological style and biographical style. Instead, it focuses on taking notes, recording major events in history in detail, and focusing on their processes. Chronological style and biographical style have obvious shortcomings in recording. Yuan Shu's History as a Mirror in the Southern Song Dynasty formally established this style. Since then, many historical books have been adapted or created in this style, such as History of Song Dynasty, History of Yuan Dynasty by Chen Bangzhan, History of Xixia by Zhang Jian, History of Ming Dynasty by Qing Gu Yingtai and History of Qing Dynasty by Huang Hongshou. , throughout ancient and modern times, self-contained. This is the end of the chronicle of this dynasty.