The
Zizhi Tongjian was a pioneering reference work in
Chinese historiographyChinese historiography refers to the study of methods and assumptions made in studying Chinese history.-History of Chinese Historians:Record of Chinese history dated back to the Shang Dynasty. The Classic of History, one of the Five Classics of Chinese classic texts is one of the earliest...
, published in 1084, under the form of a chronicles. In 1065 CE,
Emperor Yingzong of SongEmperor Yingzong was the fifth emperor of the Song Dynasty of China. His personal name was originally Zhao Zongshi but he later changed it to Zhao Shu. He reigned from 1063 to 1067...
ordered the great historian
Sima GuangSīmǎ Guāng was a Chinese historian, scholar, and high chancellor of the Song Dynasty.-Life, profession, and works:Sima Guang was born in 1019 in present-day Yuncheng, Shanxi to a wealthy family, and obtained early success as a scholar and officer...
(1019-1086) to lead with other scholars such as his chief assistants Liu Shu, Liu Ban and Fan Zuyu, the compilation of a
universal historyUniversal history is basic to the Western tradition of historiography, especially the Abrahamic wellspring of that tradition. Simply stated, universal history is the presentation of the history of mankind as a whole, as a coherent unit.-Ancient authors:...
of China. The task took 19 years to be completed, and, in 1084, it was presented to his successor
Emperor Shenzong of SongEmperor Shenzong was the sixth emperor of the Chinese Song Dynasty. His personal name was Zhao Xu. He reigned from 1067 to 1085.The periods within his reign are Xining 1068-1077 and...
.
The
Zizhi Tongjian was a pioneering reference work in
Chinese historiographyChinese historiography refers to the study of methods and assumptions made in studying Chinese history.-History of Chinese Historians:Record of Chinese history dated back to the Shang Dynasty. The Classic of History, one of the Five Classics of Chinese classic texts is one of the earliest...
, published in 1084, under the form of a chronicles. In 1065 CE,
Emperor Yingzong of SongEmperor Yingzong was the fifth emperor of the Song Dynasty of China. His personal name was originally Zhao Zongshi but he later changed it to Zhao Shu. He reigned from 1063 to 1067...
ordered the great historian
Sima GuangSīmǎ Guāng was a Chinese historian, scholar, and high chancellor of the Song Dynasty.-Life, profession, and works:Sima Guang was born in 1019 in present-day Yuncheng, Shanxi to a wealthy family, and obtained early success as a scholar and officer...
(1019-1086) to lead with other scholars such as his chief assistants Liu Shu, Liu Ban and Fan Zuyu, the compilation of a
universal historyUniversal history is basic to the Western tradition of historiography, especially the Abrahamic wellspring of that tradition. Simply stated, universal history is the presentation of the history of mankind as a whole, as a coherent unit.-Ancient authors:...
of China. The task took 19 years to be completed, and, in 1084, it was presented to his successor
Emperor Shenzong of SongEmperor Shenzong was the sixth emperor of the Chinese Song Dynasty. His personal name was Zhao Xu. He reigned from 1067 to 1085.The periods within his reign are Xining 1068-1077 and...
. The Zizhi Tongjian expose Chinese history from -403 BCE to 959 CE, contains 294 volumes (巻), and about 3 million Chinese characters.
The book
The book chronologically narrates the
history of ChinaChinese civilization originated in various city-states along the Yellow River valley in the Neolithic era. The written history of China begins with the Shang Dynasty . Turtle shells with ancient Chinese writing from the Shang Dynasty have been carbon dated to as early as 1500 BCE...
from the Warring States to the Five Dynasties (403 B.C.-959 C.E). The major contributor was Sima Guang, was active in each step, from collecting events and dates from various previous works, to drafting and publication.
Sima Guang left the traditional usage in Chinese historiography. Since almost 1,000 years and the
Shiji, standard Chinese dynastic histories primarily divided chapters between annals (紀) of rulers, and biographies (傳) of officials. In Chinese terms, the book changed the format of histories from biographical style (紀傳體) to chronological style (編年體), which is better suited for analysis, activism and criticism. According to Wilkinson,
"It had an enormous influence on later Chinese historical writing, either directly of through its many abbreviations, continuations, and adaptations. It remains an extraordinarily useful first reference for a quick and reliable coverage of events at a particular time."
Derivative and commented works
In the 12th century,
Zhu XiZhu Xi or Chu Hsi was a Song Dynasty Confucian scholar who became the leading figure of the School of Principle and the most influential rationalist Neo-Confucian in China...
produced a reworked, condensed version of Zizhi Tongjian, known as Tongjian Gangmu, or
Zizhi Tongjian Gangmu (通鉴纲目). This condensed version was itself later translated into
Manchu languageManchu is a Tungusic language spoken in Northeast China; it used to be the language of the Manchu, though now most Manchus speak Mandarin Chinese and there are fewer than 70 native speakers of Manchu out of a total of nearly 10 million ethnic Manchus...
, upon the request of
Qing DynastyThe Qing Dynasty , also known as the Manchu Dynasty, was the last ruling dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912...
Kangxi EmperorThe Kangxi Emperor was the third Emperor of the Manchu-led Qing Dynasty and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper, from 1661 to 1722...
. This Manchu version was itself translated into French by French Jesuit missionary
Joseph-Anna-Marie de Moyriac de MaillaJoseph-Anne-Marie de Moyriac de Mailla was a French Jesuit missionary to China.-Biography:...
. His twelve-volume translation, "Histoire générale de la Chine, ou Annales de cet Empire; traduit du Tong-kien-kang-mou par de Mailla" was published posthumously in Paris in 1777-1783.
The
Zhonghua ShujuZhonghua Shuju is a publisher in China with a focus on humanities, especially on classical Chinese works. Its headquarters is located in Beijing-Representative Publication Series:* Zizhi Tongjian* Twenty-Four Histories...
edition contains textual criticism made by
Yuan DynastyThe Yuan Dynasty , or Great Yuan Empire was both the continuation of the Mongol Empire and the Mongol founded historical state in Mongolia and China, lasting officially from 1271 to 1368. Although the dynasty was established by Kublai Khan, he had his grandfather Genghis Khan placed on the...
historian Hu Sanxing.
See also
- Culture of the Song Dynasty
The Song Dynasty was a culturally-rich and sophisticated age for China. There was blossoming of and advancements in the visual arts, music, literature, and philosophy...
- History of the Song Dynasty
The Song Dynasty of China was a ruling dynasty that controlled China proper and southern China from the middle of the 10th century into the last quarter of the 13th century...
- Chinese literature
Chinese literature extends back thousands of years, from the earliest recorded dynastic court archives to the mature fictional novel that arose during the Ming Dynasty to entertain the masses of literate Chinese...
External links