The ''Twenty-Four Histories'' (), also known as the ''Orthodox Histories'' (), are the
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
official dynastic histories covering from the earliest dynasty in 3000 BC to the
Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peo ...
in the 17th century.
The
Han dynasty
The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...
official
Sima Qian established many of the conventions of the genre, but the form was not fixed until much later. Starting with the
Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...
, each dynasty established an official office to write the history of its predecessor using official court records, partly in order to establish its own link to the earliest times. As fixed and edited in the
Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-spea ...
, the whole set contains 3,213 volumes and about 40 million words. It is considered one of the most important sources on
Chinese history and culture.
The title "Twenty-Four Histories" dates from 1775, which was the 40th year in the reign of the
Qianlong Emperor. This was when the last volume, the ''
History of Ming
The ''History of Ming'' or the ''Ming History'' (''Míng Shǐ'') is one of the official Chinese historical works known as the ''Twenty-Four Histories''. It consists of 332 volumes and covers the history of the Ming dynasty from 1368 to 1644. It ...
'', was reworked and a complete set of the histories was produced.
Collection
Inheritance works
These works were begun by one historian and completed by an heir, usually of the next generation.
*''
Records of the Grand Historian
''Records of the Grand Historian'', also known by its Chinese name ''Shiji'', is a monumental history of China that is the first of China's 24 dynastic histories. The ''Records'' was written in the early 1st century by the ancient Chinese his ...
'', inherited from
Sima Tan
Sima Tan (; 165–110 BCE) was a Chinese astrologer and historian during the Western Han dynasty. His work ''Records of the Grand Historian'' was completed by his son Sima Qian, who is considered the founder of Chinese historiography.
Ed ...
司馬談 (father) by
Sima Qian 司馬遷 (son)
*''
Book of Han
The ''Book of Han'' or ''History of the Former Han'' (Qián Hàn Shū,《前汉书》) is a history of China finished in 111AD, covering the Western, or Former Han dynasty from the first emperor in 206 BCE to the fall of Wang Mang in 23 CE. ...
'', inherited from
Ban Biao
Ban Biao (, 3–54 CE), courtesy name (), was a Chinese historian and politician born in what is now Xianyang, Shaanxi during the Han Dynasty. He was the nephew of Consort Ban, a famous poet and concubine to Emperor Cheng.
Ban Biao began the ...
班彪 (father), Ban Gu (son) by
Ban Zhao
Ban Zhao (; 45 or 49 – c. 117/120 CE), courtesy name Huiban (), was a Chinese historian, philosopher, and politician. She was the first known female Chinese historian and, along with Pamphile of Epidaurus, one of the first known female h ...
班昭 (daughter/sister)
*''
Book of Liang
The ''Book of Liang'' (''Liáng Shū''), was compiled under Yao Silian and completed in 635. Yao heavily relied on an original manuscript by his father Yao Cha, which has not independently survived, although Yao Cha's comments are quoted in seve ...
'' and ''
Book of Chen
The ''Book of Chen'' or ''Chen Shu'' (''Chén Shū'') was the official history of the Chen dynasty, one of the Southern Dynasties of China. The ''Book of Chen'' is part of the official Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. It was compiled by ...
'', inherited from Yao Cha 姚察 (father) by
Yao Silian Yao Silian (姚思廉; 564 - 637), courtesy name Jianzhi (簡之),The ''Old Book of Tang'' indicates that his courtesy name was Jianzhi, but the ''New Book of Tang'' indicates that his formal name was Jian (簡) but went by the courtesy name of Sili ...
姚思廉 (son)
*''
Book of Northern Qi
The ''Book of Northern Qi'' (Chinese: 北齊書, pinyin Běi Qí Shū), was the official history of the Chinese dynasty Northern Qi. It was written by the Tang Dynasty historian Li Baiyao (李百藥) and was completed in 636. It is listed amon ...
'', inherited from
Li Delin
Li Delin (李德林), courtesy name Gongfu (公輔), formally either Duke Wen of Anping (安平文公) (according to the ''Book of Sui'') or Viscount Wen of Cheng'an (成安文子) (according to the ''Zizhi Tongjian''), was an official of the Chin ...
李德林 (father) by
Li Baiyao
Li Baiyao () (564–647), courtesy name Zhonggui (重規), formally Viscount Kang of Anping (安平康子), was a Chinese historian and an official during the Chinese dynasties Sui Dynasty and Tang Dynasty. He was honored for his literary abilit ...
李百藥 (son)
*''
History of the Southern Dynasties
The ''History of the Southern Dynasties'' () is one of the official Chinese historical works in the ''Twenty-Four Histories'' canon. It contain 80 volumes and covers the period from 420 to 589, the histories of Liu Song, Southern Qi, Liang dy ...
'' and ''
History of the Northern Dynasties
The ''History of the Northern Dynasties'' () is one of the official Chinese historical works in the ''Twenty-Four Histories'' canon. The text contains 100 volumes and covers the period from 386 to 618, the histories of Northern Wei, Western W ...
'', inherited from
Li Dashi
Li Dashi () (570–628), born in Anyang, was a Chinese historian, and an officer during the Sui and Tang dynasties. He began the ''History of the Northern Dynasties'' and ''History of the Southern Dynasties'', which were completed by his son, Li Ya ...
李大師 (father) by Li Yanshou 李延壽 (son)
Related works
There were attempts at producing new historiographies after the Qing dynasty, but they either never gained widespread acceptance as part of the official historical canon or they remain unfinished.
Modern attempts at creating the official Qing history
In 1961, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the declaration of the
Republic of China (ROC), the ROC government in
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
published the ''History of Qing'', adding 21 supplementary chapters to the ''Draft History of Qing'' and revising many existing chapters to denounce the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
(PRC) as an illegitimate, impostor regime. It also removed passages that were derogatory towards the
Xinhai Revolution
The 1911 Revolution, also known as the Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, ended China's last imperial dynasty, the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, and led to the establishment of the Republic of China. The revolution was the culmination of a ...
. This edition has not been widely accepted as the official Qing history because it is recognized that it was a rushed job motivated by political objectives. It does not correct most of the errors known to exist in the ''Draft History of Qing''.
An additional project, attempting to write a ''New History of Qing'' incorporating new materials and improvements in historiography, lasted from 1988 to 2000. Only 33 chapters out of the projected 500 were published.
This project was later abandoned following the rise of the
Pan-Green Coalition
The pan-Green coalition, pan-Green force or pan-Green groups is a nationalist political coalition in Taiwan (Republic of China), consisting of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Taiwan Statebuilding Party (TSP), Taiwan Solidarity Union ...
, which sees Taiwan as a distinct entity from
Mainland China
"Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...
, both culturally and politically. As such, it is argued that it is not the duty of the Taiwanese regime to compile the Qing history.
In 1961, the PRC also attempted to complete the Qing history, but historians were prevented from doing so against the backdrop of the
Cultural Revolution
The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goa ...
.
In 2002, the PRC once again announced that it would complete the ''History of Qing''. The project was approved in 2003, and put under the leadership of historian
Dai Yi
Dai Yi () (born September 1926) is a Chinese historian who primarily focuses on the Qing dynasty's history. He is a professor at Renmin University of China. He is also the honorary director of the university's Qing dynasty's history institute as we ...
. Initially planned to be completed in 10 years, the project suffered multiple delays, pushing completion of the first draft to 2016. ''Chinese Social Sciences Today'' reported in April 2020 that the project's results were being reviewed.
Modern editions
In China, the
Zhonghua Book Company
Zhonghua Book Company (), formerly spelled Chunghwa or Chung-hua Shu-chü, and sometimes translated as Zhonghua Publishing House, are Chinese publishing houses that focuses on the humanities, especially classical Chinese works. Currently it has ...
(''Zhonghua Shuju'') have edited a number of these histories. They have been collated, edited, and punctuated by Chinese specialists.
[Xu Elina-Qian, p. 19.]
From 1991 to 2003, it was translated from
Classical Chinese
Classical Chinese, also known as Literary Chinese (古文 ''gǔwén'' "ancient text", or 文言 ''wényán'' "text speak", meaning
"literary language/speech"; modern vernacular: 文言文 ''wényánwén'' "text speak text", meaning
"literar ...
into modern
written vernacular Chinese
Written vernacular Chinese, also known as Baihua () or Huawen (), is the forms of written Chinese based on the varieties of Chinese spoken throughout China, in contrast to Classical Chinese, the written standard used during imperial China up to ...
, by
Xu Jialu and other scholars.
Translations
One of the ''Twenty-Four Histories'' is in the process of being fully translated into English: ''
Records of the Grand Historian
''Records of the Grand Historian'', also known by its Chinese name ''Shiji'', is a monumental history of China that is the first of China's 24 dynastic histories. The ''Records'' was written in the early 1st century by the ancient Chinese his ...
'' by William Nienhauser, in nine volumes.
[''The Grand Scribe's Records'' (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1994- )]
In Korean and Vietnamese, only the ''Records'' has been translated. Most of the histories have been translated into Japanese.
See also
*
Chinese classic texts
Chinese classic texts or canonical texts () or simply dianji (典籍) refers to the Chinese texts which originated before the imperial unification by the Qin dynasty in 221 BC, particularly the "Four Books and Five Classics" of the Neo-Confucia ...
*''
Draft History of Qing
The ''Draft History of Qing'' () is a draft of the official history of the Qing dynasty compiled and written by a team of over 100 historians led by Zhao Erxun who were hired by the Beiyang government of the Republic of China. The draft was publ ...
'', a continuation of the histories through 1911
*
History of China
The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1250 BC, from the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC), during the reign of king Wu Ding. Ancient historical texts such as the '' Book of Documents'' (early chapt ...
*
Official communications of the Chinese Empire
official communications in imperial China, the era which lasted from the 221 BC until AD 1912, required predictable forms and means. Documents flowed down from the Emperor to officials, from officials to the Emperor, from one part of the bureauc ...
*''
Zizhi Tongjian
''Zizhi Tongjian'' () is a pioneering reference work in Chinese historiography, published in 1084 AD during the Northern Song (960–1127), Northern Song dynasty in the form of a chronicle recording Chinese history from 403 BC to 959&n ...
''
References
Citations
Sources
*
External links
Chinese Literature The Ershiwushi 二十五史 "The Twenty-five Official Dynastic Histories" (zhengshi 正史)Ulrich Theobold
{{Twenty-Four Histories
Series of history books