Records of the Grand Historian (Volume V)
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Summary
The Shiji comprises 130 chapters: twelve Basic Annals (recording the achievements of successive rulers), thirty Hereditary Houses (recording the rise and fall of vassal states and Han-era princes and nobles), seventy Biographies (recording the words and deeds of important figures, chiefly officials, with the final chapter being the author's own preface), ten Tables (chronologies of major events), and eight Treatises (on ritual, music, pitch standards, the calendar, astronomy, the Feng and Shan sacrifices, water conservancy, and finance). Encyclopedic yet coherent and clearly organized, it faithfully documents the political, economic, military, and cultural development of high antiquity.
The Shiji is also an outstanding literary work and holds a major place in Chinese literary history. In terms of historical value, it preserves several thousand years of historical sources and possesses exceptional historiographical significance, being ranked first among the Twenty-Four Histories. It pioneered the biographical method of recording events and has been admired by generations of historians and scholars. In terms of literary value, its descriptive language is vivid, its characters sharply drawn, its reasoning lucid, and its narrative flexible. Liu Xiang and others praised the book as "skilled in ordering events and principles, lucid without ostentation, plain without vulgarity."
Editor's review
Who it's for
A good fit for
- Readers with a deep research interest in Western Han history, especially the politics, military affairs, and diplomacy of Emperor Wu's reign
- University teachers, students, and researchers in classical philology and history, who can use it as a reliable edition for study and citation
- Serious readers who wish to go beyond popular works and understand the textual transmission of the Shiji through primary sources and authoritative collation
- Collectors, for whom this book, as part of the punctuated and collated revised edition of the Twenty-Four Histories series, has considerable value as an edition and collectible
Not a good fit for
- Entry-level readers seeking only an overview of Shiji stories or a vernacular translation; this book is a scholarly edition of a collated ancient text
- Readers expecting to skim quickly or engage in fragmented, light reading; this book requires considerable concentration and a foundation in classical Chinese
Reading tips
- Give priority to reading the "Preface to the Revision" and "Editorial Principles" at the front of the book to understand the origins, principles, and methods of this revision, which is essential for understanding the value of the whole work
- When reading the main text, compare it against the "collation notes" after each chapter; this is an excellent way to appreciate the refinements of classical textual editing and deepen understanding
- Read the biographies in this volume alongside the Basic Annals, Hereditary Houses, and other Biographies in the first four volumes of the Shiji to form a three-dimensional understanding of figures and events
About the publisher
China Culture and History Press has long devoted itself to modern and contemporary literature and culture-and-history reading matter, with publishing directions centered on classic works, social novels, prose and miscellaneous writings, and Eastern philosophy, alongside culture-and-history periodicals such as Zongheng. Among the more than 1,500 titles in the collection, representative books include Zhang Henshui's Ti Xiao Yin Yuan, Lu Xun's Complete Classic Works (10 volumes) and Wild Grass, and Lao She's Four Generations Under One Roof series and the boxed set of Lao She's Classic Works (10 volumes), while its author resources are concentrated on figures such as Zhang Henshui, Lu Xun, Lao She and Sima Qian. Its publishing character lies in solid editorial work on culture-and-history source texts and in issuing famous authors' works in sets, balancing the readability of individual texts with the systematic presentation of complete collections for focused reading and collecting. Beyond these directions, public information on the press's contemporary original publishing is limited, so it is not elaborated here.
Contents
- 版权信息
- 第二十九卷 孔子世家第十七
- 第三十卷 陈涉世家第十八
- 第三十一卷 外戚世家第十九
- 第三十二卷 楚元王世家第二十
- 第三十三卷 荆燕世家第二十一
- 第三十四卷 齐悼惠王世家第二十二
- 第三十五卷 萧相国世家第二十三
- 第三十六卷 曹相国世家第二十四
- 第三十七卷 留侯世家第二十五
- 第三十八卷 陈丞相世家第二十六
- 第三十九卷 绛侯周勃世家第二十七
- 第四十卷 梁孝王世家第二十八
- 第四十一卷 五宗世家第二十九
- 第四十二卷 三王世家第三十
- 第四十三卷 伯夷列传第一
FAQ
What are the main differences between this edition and other common Shiji editions (such as the older Zhonghua Book Company punctuated edition)?
Where does the content of Volume Five stand within the whole Shiji?
What level of classical Chinese is needed to read this book?
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About the author
Sima Qian was a historian, man of letters, and thinker of the Western Han dynasty. His courtesy name was Zichang, and he was a native of Xiayang in Zuo Fengyi (present-day Hancheng, Shaanxi). Succeeding his father Sima Tan as Grand Astrologer, he traveled widely to collect historical materials. Later, having suffered punishment in connection with the Li Ling affair, he endured humiliation and devoted himself to his work, ultimately completing the Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji, originally titled Taishigong shu), China's first comprehensive history in the biographical (jizhuanti) style. The work covers events from the Yellow Emperor down to Emperor Wu of Han, organizing three thousand years of history through the five sections of annals, tables, treatises, hereditary houses, and biographies. Its narrative is concise and richly literary, its characters vividly drawn, and it has been praised as "the supreme swan song of historians." Later generations have often classified his writings under historical reading and Eastern philosophy, and his influence on Chinese historiography and literature has been profound.
Shi Lei, born in 1962, graduated from Harbin Normal University and is a freelance writer and scholar. He has long worked in writing, editing, reporting and planning, and has opened columns in several media outlets, publishing more than one million words. His writing focuses on public speaking, communication training and mental health, and he has served as chief editor of several book series on the art of speaking, inspirational life guidance, the thought of world masters, and mental health, bringing practical knowledge of expression, interpersonal communication and psychological adjustment to general readers. Twenty-seven of his works are included in the library, including several volumes related to the Records of the Grand Historian, with Eastern philosophy as a common category. Public information is limited and few details of his life are recorded, but his existing works show an emphasis on practicality and readability, and a tendency to connect traditional culture with topics of everyday self-cultivation.
