Shitong (Complete Edition with Full Annotation and Translation)

Name: Shitong (Complete Edition with Full Annotation and Translation)
ISBN: 9787101100730

刘知幾 / 白云Zhonghua Book Company2014

4.8

Word count: 600K words
Chapters: 40
Series: Chinese Classics: Complete Text, Full Annotation, Full Translation Series
ISBN: 9787101100730

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Summary

Shitong (Generalities on History) is a monograph on historical theory written by the Tang dynasty historian Liu Zhiji (courtesy name Zixuan). The work comprises twenty juan, of which forty-nine chapters survive, divided into inner and outer sections: the thirty-six inner chapters form the main body, focusing on the genres and conventions of historical writing, the collection of source materials, key points of expression, and principles of historical composition; the thirteen outer chapters discuss the institution of the official historian and the origins of historical records, and offer miscellaneous evaluations of historians of successive dynasties. Shitong was the first systematic and severe review and critique of historiography before the early Tang, proposing that historians must possess the three strengths of talent, learning, and insight, advocating truthful writing and opposing distorted accounts; chapters such as "Doubting the Ancients" and "Perplexity over the Classics" directly question the records of classics such as the Shangshu and the Chunqiu. It is regarded as China's first systematic work of historical theory and, together with Zhang Xuecheng's Wenshi Tongyi of the Qing dynasty, is known as one of the twin jewels of ancient Chinese historical theory. This edition is one volume of the Zhonghua Book Company's Chinese Classics: Complete Text, Full Annotation, Full Translation series, translated and annotated by the historiography scholar Bai Yun. The text is based on the Qiufangxinzai imprint of Pu Qilong's Shitong Tongshi (the seventeenth year of the Qianlong reign, 1752), and the annotation and translation consult modern research such as Cheng Qianfan's Shitong Jianji and Zhang Zhenpei's Shitong Jianzhu. The book is in two volumes and presents the original text, annotations, and vernacular translation in parallel, explaining chapter titles, institutions and historical facts, personal and place names, and difficult terms, making this famous Tang work, known for its mixed parallel and prose style and dense allusions, readable and consultable. It meets the basic needs of specialized study and also serves as an introductory edition for a first systematic reading of Shitong.

Editor's review

读史的人很多，读“论史之书”的人很少，而《史通》正是那本把“史书是怎么写出来的、又该怎样写”讲透的书。刘知几以三十年修史经验为底子，把从《尚书》《春秋》到《史记》《汉书》直至唐初诸史通盘过了一遍，谁是良史、谁在曲笔、哪个体例站不住脚，都指名道姓地说。他提出的“才、学、识”三长，至今仍是评价史家的常用标尺。这个“三全本”的好处在于“不设门槛”。原文依据浦起龙《史通通释》这一公认善本，注文交代典章、人名与疑难语词，译文用现代白话顺畅串讲，遇到术语与篇题也做了解释；装帧为精装两册，字号疏朗，适合长期翻阅与做笔记。加上《史通》本身篇目清晰（内篇论体例，外篇论史官与史籍源流），读者完全可以按兴趣挑篇读，不必从前言第一页硬啃到最后一页。对于想弄明白“中国古人如何思考历史书写”的读者，这是一部性价比很高的入门与常备之书。

Who it's for

A good fit for

历史学、文献学、中文等专业的本科生与研究生
对史学史、史学理论感兴趣的非专业读者
需要为论文或备课查找《史通》原文与注解的高中、高校教师
喜欢“三全本”体例、习惯原文对照译文的古籍读者

Not a good fit for

只想读轻松历史故事、对理论辨析兴趣不大的读者
追求没有注释和译文的纯净白文本或影印本的研究者
需要一个下午就读完一本小册子的碎片化阅读者

Reading tips

先读上册《前言》与《自叙》，把握刘知几的写作动机与全书结构，再进入具体篇目。
首轮可只读“六家”“二体”“叙事”“直书”“曲笔”“疑古”“惑经”等名篇，其余篇目按需查阅。
读外篇《史官建置》《古今正史》时，可配合任一种中国古代史学史教材对照，形成时间线。
遇到注文中的版本异文或旧注引述，不必逐条追究，先记住结论，第二遍再深入。

About the publisher

Zhonghua Book Company China · Founded in 1912

Zhonghua Book Company is a publisher known for collating ancient texts and academic publishing, with its output centered on Eastern philosophy, culture, classic works, art, and historical reading. Its library contains 532 titles, including Chen Shou's Records of the Three Kingdoms, Guo Qingfan's Collected Commentaries on Zhuangzi, the four-volume Chinese Literature: Four Great Classical Novels, and the two-volume Table of Seal and Clerical Script Forms from Qin, Han, Wei, and Jin. These titles span historical classics, commentaries on the philosophers, classical novels, and philological reference works. Representative authors include Chen Shou, Guo Qingfan, Wu Cheng'en, Shi Nai'an, Cao Xueqin, Luo Guanzhong, Xu Wenwu, and the Hanyu Dazidian character-form group, reflecting a focus on primary sources and scholarly editors. Its publishing character lies in combining authoritative editions and annotated texts with both accessible classics and specialized research. Public information on its fuller catalog is limited; this note describes only the directions evident in the library's holdings.

Volume One Preface
Volume One Original Preface
Inner Chapters 1. The Six Schools
Inner Chapters 2. The Two Styles
Inner Chapters 3. On Recorded Words
Inner Chapters 4. Annals
Inner Chapters 5. Hereditary Houses
Inner Chapters 6. Biographies
Inner Chapters 7. Tables and Calendars
Inner Chapters 8. Treatises
Inner Chapters 9. Discussions and Eulogies
Inner Chapters 10. Prefaces and Principles
Inner Chapters 11. Titles
Inner Chapters 12. Limits
Inner Chapters 13. Arrangement
Inner Chapters 14. Appellations
Inner Chapters 15. Source Selection
Inner Chapters 16. Recorded Texts
Inner Chapters 17. Supplementary Annotations
Inner Chapters 18. Following Convention
Inner Chapters 19. Towns and Villages (Also Called Following Convention)
Inner Chapters 20. Speech
Inner Chapters 21. Superfluous Words
Inner Chapters 22. Narrative
Inner Chapters 23. Critical Evaluation
Inner Chapters 24. Straight Writing
Inner Chapters 25. Distorted Writing
Inner Chapters 26. Discernment
Inner Chapters 27. Probing the Profound
Inner Chapters 28. Imitation
Inner Chapters 29. What to Record
Inner Chapters 30. Persons
Inner Chapters 31. Assessing Talent
Inner Chapters 32. Prefaces and Autobiographies
Inner Chapters 33. Redundancy and Conciseness
Inner Chapters 34. Miscellaneous Accounts
Inner Chapters 35. Distinguishing Roles
Inner Chapters 36. Autobiographical Preface
Volume Two Outer Chapters 1. The Establishment of Official Historians
Outer Chapters 2. Official Histories Past and Present

FAQ

《史通》的作者名字常写作“刘知几”还是“刘知幾”？

两种写法都对。作者本名刘知幾，字子玄，“幾”是其名的正字；简化字排印时常写作“刘知几”。中华书局本正文多保留“刘知幾”，部分书名、网页信息写作“刘知几”，指的是同一人。

这个版本是全本吗？篇目有缺吗？

《史通》原为五十二篇，今存四十九篇，内篇中《体统》《纰缪》《弛张》三篇早已亡佚。本书收录现存全部四十九篇，并为每篇提供注释和白话译文，因此“全本”指的是传世全部篇目。

“三全本”和《史通笺注》有什么区别，该选哪一本？

“三全本”是原文＋注释＋白话译文，重在帮助普通读者读通；张振珮《史通笺注》属“中华国学文库”，偏重校勘与笺注考证，学术性更强。首次通读建议选“三全本”，需要深入研究或核对异文时再查笺注本。

没有古文基础能读懂吗？

可以。本书每段原文后都有注释和译文，篇题、术语与典故均有交代。建议先读译文理解大意，再回看原文，遇到不懂的专名查注释即可，不必追求一遍读透。

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About the author

刘知幾 Author

Liu Zhiji is a renowned historian in ancient China, though details of his life remain limited in publicly available sources and are difficult to describe in full. Judging from his extant works, he devoted himself over a long period to the study of historical theory and historiography. His representative work, Shitong (A Comprehensive Study of Historiography), is China's first systematic treatise on historical theory, reflecting his deep thinking on the structure of historical writing, the selection of source materials, and the cultivation of historians. The library holds two of his works, both related to Shitong, commonly classified under Eastern philosophy, which shows that his influence extends beyond historiography in the narrow sense into broader intellectual and cultural fields. The writing of Shitong is concise yet rigorously argued; it summarizes earlier traditions of historical compilation and has had a profound impact on later historical criticism. As information about his birth and death dates and nationality remains unclear, this introduction can only outline his writings and scholarly standing based on available materials and widely accepted knowledge.

白云 Author

Three works by Bai Yun are currently held in the library, spanning three quite different categories: history reading, language and writing, and modern romance. Among them, Shitong (jing): Zhonghua Classic Masterpieces Complete Text, Full Annotation, Complete Translation Series is a work of collation, annotation, and translation of a classical text, intended for general readers who wish to read the Tang-dynasty historical work Shitong in full. A Comparative Study of Chinese Vocabulary and Dictionaries Based on Semantic Categories is academic writing in the field of language and writing, focusing on the semantic classification of Chinese vocabulary and related issues in dictionary compilation. Good Morning, Chengdu turns to modern romance, with urban life as its background. These three works suggest that Bai Yun can handle both the annotation and translation of classical texts and specialized linguistic research, while also writing popular fiction for different readerships. Public information about Bai Yun's nationality, dates of birth and death, education, and professional career is limited, and no reliable details are available; no speculation is offered here, and the above introduction is based solely on the works held in the library.