''Zizhi Tongjian'' () is a pioneering

reference work A reference work is a work, such as a paper, book or periodical (or their electronic equivalents), to which one can refer for information. The information is intended to be found quickly when needed. Such works are usually ''referred'' to ...

in Chinese historiography, published in 1084 AD during the

Northern Song dynasty Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ...

in the form of a chronicle recording Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD, covering 16 dynasties and spanning almost 1400 years. The main text is arranged into 294 scrolls (''juan'' , equivalent to a chapter) totaling about 3 million

Chinese characters Chinese characters () are logograms developed for the writing of Chinese. In addition, they have been adapted to write other East Asian languages, and remain a key component of the Japanese writing system where they are known as ''kanji ...

. In 1065 AD,

Emperor Yingzong of Song Emperor Yingzong of Song (16 February 1032 – 25 January 1067), personal name Zhao Shu, was the fifth emperor of the Song dynasty of China. His original personal name was Zhao Zongshi but it was changed to "Zhao Shu" in 1062 by imperial dec ...

commissioned his official

Sima Guang Sima Guang (17 November 1019 – 11 October 1086), courtesy name Junshi, was a Chinese historian, politician, and writer. He was a high-ranking Song dynasty scholar-official who authored the monumental history book ''Zizhi Tongjian''. Sima was ...

(1019–1086 AD) to lead a project to compile a

universal history A universal history is a work aiming at the presentation of a history of all of mankind as a whole, coherent unit. A universal chronicle or world chronicle typically traces history from the beginning of written information about the past up to t ...

of China, and granted him funding and the authority to appoint his own staff. His team took 19 years to complete the work and in 1084 AD it was presented to Emperor Yingzong's successor

Emperor Shenzong of Song Emperor Shenzong of Song (25 May 1048 – 1 April 1085), personal name Zhao Xu, was the sixth emperor of the Song dynasty of China. His original personal name was Zhao Zhongzhen but he changed it to "Zhao Xu" after his coronation. He reigned f ...

. It was well-received and has proved to be immensely influential among both scholars and the general public.

Endymion Wilkinson Endymion Porter Wilkinson (born 15 May 1941) is an English diplomat and scholar who served as the European Union Ambassador to China and Mongolia from 1994 to 2001. He is particularly noted for '' Chinese History: A New Manual'', the first ver ...

regards it as reference quality: "It had an enormous influence on later Chinese historical writing, either directly or 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.", while

Achilles Fang Achilles Chih-t'ung Fang (; August 20, 1910November 22, 1995) was a Chinese scholar, translator, and educator, best known for his contributions to Chinese literature and comparative literature. Fang was born in Japanese-occupied Korea, but atten ...

wrote " izhi Tongjian and its numerous re-arrangements, abridgments, and continuations, were practically the only general histories with which most of the reading public of pre-Republican China were famililar."

The text

The principal text of the ''Zizhi Tongjian'' of 294 scrolls is a year-by-year chronological narrative of the

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 ...

, sweeping through many Chinese historical periods (

Warring States The Warring States period () was an era in ancient Chinese history characterized by warfare, as well as bureaucratic and military reforms and consolidation. It followed the Spring and Autumn period and concluded with the Qin wars of conquest ...

, Qin, Han, Three Kingdoms, Jin and the Sixteen Kingdoms, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Sui, Tang, and

Five Dynasties The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (), from 907 to 979, was an era of political upheaval and division in 10th-century History of China#Imperial China, Imperial China. Five Dynasties in Chinese history, dynastic states quickly succeeded ...

), supplemented with two sections of 30 scrolls each — tables ''mulu'' () and critical analysis ''kaoyi'' (). Sima Guang departed from the format used in traditional Chinese dynastic histories which consisted primarily of annals () of rulers, and biographies () of officials. This represented a shift from a biographical style () to a chronological style (). Guang himself wrote in a memorial to the Emperor: "Since I was a child I have ranged through histories. It has appeared to me that in the annal-biography form the words are so diffuse and numerous that even an erudite scholar who reads them again and again cannot comprehend and sort them out. ... I have constantly wished to write a chronological history roughly in accordance with the form of the Tso-chuan (左傳), starting with the Warring States and going down to the Five Dynasties, drawing on other books besides the Official Histories and taking in all that a ruler ought to know — matters which are related to the rise and fall of dynasties and connected with the joys and sorrows of the people, and of which the good can become a model and the evil a warning." Initially, Sima Guang hired Liu Shu () and Zhao Junxi as his main assistants, but Zhao was soon replaced by Liu Ban (), a Han history expert. In 1070 Emperor Shenzong approved Guang's request to add Fan Zuyu (), a Tang history expert. Because ''Zizhi tongjian'' is a distillation from a large number (322) of disparate historical sources, the selection, drafting, and editing processes used in creating the work as well as potential political biases of Sima Guang, in particular, have been the subject of academic debate.

Derivative and commented works

In the 12th century,

Zhu Xi Zhu Xi (; ; October 18, 1130 – April 23, 1200), formerly romanized Chu Hsi, was a Chinese calligrapher, historian, philosopher, poet, and politician during the Song dynasty. Zhu was influential in the development of Neo-Confucianism. He con ...

produced a reworked, condensed version of Zizhi Tongjian, known as Tongjian Gangmu, or ''

Zizhi Tongjian Gangmu The ''Zizhi Tongjian Gangmu'' (資治通鑑綱目, "Outline and Details of the '' Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Government''"), also known as the ''Tongjian Gangmu'' or ''Gangmu'', is an 1172 Chinese history book based on Sima Guang's 1084 book '' ...

'' (). This version was itself later translated into Manchu as ( Translteration: Tung giyan g'ang mu), upon the request of

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 ...

Kangxi Emperor The Kangxi Emperor (4 May 1654– 20 December 1722), also known by his temple name Emperor Shengzu of Qing, born Xuanye, was the third emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1661 to ...

. This Manchu version was itself translated into French by Jesuit missionary

Joseph-Anne-Marie de Moyriac de Mailla Joseph-Anne-Marie de Moyriac de Mailla (also Anna, and de Moyria) () (16 December 1669 – 28 June 1748) was a French Jesuit missionary to China. Biography Mailla was born at Château Maillac on the Isère. After finishing his studies, he j ...

. 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 condensed Zizhi Tongjian Gangmu was also the main source for "Textes Historiques", a political history of China from antiquity to 906CE published in 1929 by another French Jesuit missionary Léon Wieger. The Zhonghua Shuju edition contains textual criticism made by

Yuan Dynasty The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fift ...

historian

Hu Sanxing Hu Sanxing (; 1230–1302), born Hu Mansun (胡滿孫), courtesy names Shenzhi (身之), Meijian (梅澗), and Jingcan (景參), was a Chinese historian and commentator who lived during the late Song dynasty and early Yuan dynasty. Hu was born in ...

. The philosopher

Wang Fuzhi Wang Fuzhi (; 1619–1692), courtesy name Ernong (), pseudonym Chuanshan (), was a Chinese essayist, historian, and philosopher of the late Ming, early Qing dynasties. Life Born to a scholarly family in Hengyang in Hunan province in 1619, Wang F ...

also wrote a commentary on ''Tongjian'', titled "Comments after reading the ''Tongjian''" (). Historian Rafe de Crespigny has published annotated translations of chapters 54–59 and 59–69 under the titles "Emperor Huan and Emperor Ling" and "To Establish Peace" (Australian National University), respectively, covering 157–220 CE, building upon the publication of

's annotated translation of the next ten chapters (70–79) covering up to 265 CE. There are also self-published translations into English of Chapters 1–8, covering the years 403–207 BCE and some additional sections pertaining to the

Xiongnu The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, the supreme leader after 20 ...

people.

The book consisted of 294 chapters, of which the following number describe each respective dynastic era: # 5 chapters – Zhou (1046–256 BC) # 3 chapters – Qin (221–207 BC) # 60 chapters – Han (206 BC – 220 AD) # 10 chapters – Wei (220–265) # 40 chapters – Jin (266–420) # 16 chapters –

Liu Song Song, known as Liu Song (), Former Song (前宋) or Song of (the) Southern Dynasty (南朝宋) in historiography, was an imperial dynasty of China and the first of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties period. ...

(420–479) # 10 chapters – Qi (479–502) # 22 chapters – Liang (502–557) # 10 chapters – Chen (557–589) # 8 chapters – Sui (589–618) # 81 chapters – Tang (618–907) # 6 chapters – Later Liang (907–923) # 8 chapters –

Later Tang Tang, known in historiography as the Later Tang, was a short-lived imperial dynasty of China and the second of the Five Dynasties during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period in Chinese history. The first three of the Later Tang's four ...

(923–936) # 6 chapters – Later Jin (936–947) # 4 chapters – Later Han (947–951) # 5 chapters –

Later Zhou Zhou, known as the Later Zhou (; ) in historiography, was a short-lived Chinese imperial dynasty and the last of the Five Dynasties that controlled most of northern China during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. Founded by Guo Wei ( ...

(951–960)

Notes

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * The first of a set of 72 volumes. *. * With annotations and translation of Yang Kuan's textual research on the Warring States.

External links

''Zizhi Tongjian'' "Comprehensive Mirror to Aid in Government"
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