Editing Chinese historiography (section)

==Overview of Chinese history==
{{Main|History of China}}
The recording of events in Chinese history dates back to the [[Shang dynasty]] ({{circa}} 1600–1046 BC). Many written examples survive of ceremonial inscriptions, divinations and records of family names, which were carved or painted onto [[Oracle bones|tortoise shell or bones]].<ref name="William">{{cite journal |last1=Boltz |first1=William G. |title=Early Chinese writing |journal=World Archaeology |date=February 1986 |volume=17 |issue=3 |pages=420–436 |doi=10.1080/00438243.1986.9979980 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Keightley |first1=David N. |title=Art, Ancestors, and the Origins of Writing in China |journal=Representations |date=1996 |issue=56 |pages=68–95 |doi=10.2307/2928708 |jstor=2928708 }}</ref> The uniformly religious context of Shang written records makes avoidance of [[preservation bias]] important when interpreting Shang history. The first conscious attempt to record history in China may have been the inscription on the [[Zhou dynasty]] bronze [[Shi Qiang pan|Shi Qiang ''pan'']].<ref>
{{cite book|last=Shaughnessy|first=Edward L.|author-link=Edward Shaughnessy|page=[https://archive.org/details/californiassalmo00lufk/page/n30 1]–4|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley|title=Sources of Western Zhou History|year=1991|isbn=0-520-07028-3|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/californiassalmo00lufk}}
</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Durrant|first=Stephen|editor=Victor H. Mair|editor-link=Victor H. Mair|chapter=The literary features of historical writing|title=The Columbia History of Chinese Literature|url=https://archive.org/details/columbiahistoryc00mair|url-access=limited|publisher=Columbia University Press|location=New York|year=2001|pages=[https://archive.org/details/columbiahistoryc00mair/page/n519 493]–510 at '''495'''|isbn=9780231109840 }}</ref><ref>Falkenhausen disputes this characterisation, noting how historical events are subsumed into religious framework, concluding that historiography was not likely the intent of the text, while noting that antecedents may have existed which have not survived. {{ cite journal 
| last= Falkenhausen|first= Lothar von 
| title= Issues in Western Zhou studies: a review article
| year = 1993| volume= 18 |pages=139–226
| jstor= 23351748
| journal= Early China
| publisher=Cambridge University Press 
|doi= 10.1017/S0362502800001516 
|s2cid= 163778957 
}}</ref>{{rp|168–169}} This and thousands of other [[Chinese bronze inscriptions]] form our primary sources for the period in which they were interred in elite burials.

The oldest surviving history texts of China were compiled in the ''[[Book of Documents]] (Shujing)''. The ''[[Spring and Autumn Annals]] (Chunqiu)'', the official chronicle of the [[State of Lu]], cover the period from 722 to 481 BC and are among the earliest surviving Chinese historical texts to be arranged as [[annal]]s. The compilations of both of these works are traditionally ascribed to [[Confucius]]. The ''[[Zuo zhuan]]'', attributed to [[Zuo Qiuming]] in the 5th century BC, is the earliest Chinese work of narrative history and covers the period from 722 to 468 BC. The anonymous ''[[Zhan Guo Ce]]'' was a renowned ancient Chinese historical work composed of sporadic materials on the [[Warring States period]] between the 3rd and 1st centuries BC.

The first systematic Chinese historical text, the ''[[Records of the Grand Historian]]'' (''Shiji''), was written by [[Sima Qian]] ({{circa}}{{nbsp}}145 or 135–86{{nbsp}}BC) based on work by his father, [[Sima Tan]], during the [[Han dynasty]]. It covers the period from the time of the [[Yellow Emperor]] until the author's own lifetime. Two instances of systematic book-burning and a palace fire in the preceding centuries narrowed the sources available for this work.<ref>{{ cite journal
| last = Sanft | first = Charles
| journal= Oriens Extremus
| publisher=Harrassowitz Verlag
| title= The Construction and Deconstruction of Epanggong: Notes from the Crossroads of History and Poetry
| date = 2008
| volume=47 | pages = 160–176
| jstor = 24048050
}}</ref><ref name="Nylan 2000">{{ cite journal
| last= Nylan | first = Michael
| author-link=Michael Nylan 
| title= Textual authority in pre-Han and Han
| journal= Early China| year=2000
| publisher=Cambridge University Press
| jstor=23354278
| volume=25 | pages=205–258
| doi = 10.1017/S0362502800004314
| s2cid = 42299176
}}</ref>{{rp|228}} Because of this highly praised and frequently copied work, Sima Qian is often regarded as the father of Chinese [[historiography]]. The ''[[Twenty-Four Histories]]'', the official histories of the dynasties considered legitimate by imperial Chinese historians, all copied Sima Qian's format. Typically, rulers initiating a new dynasty would employ scholars to compile a final history from the records of the previous one, using a broad variety of sources.

Around the turn of the millennium, father–son imperial librarians [[Liu Xiang (scholar)|Liu Xiang]] and [[Liu Xin (scholar)|Liu Xin]] edited and catalogued a large number of early texts, including each individual text listed by name above. Much transmitted literature surviving today is known to be ultimately the version they edited down from a larger volume of material available at the time.<ref>{{ cite journal
| last = Nylan | first = Michael
| title= "Empire" in the Classical Era in China (304 BC–AD 316)
| journal= Oriens Extremus
| volume= 46 | year = 2007 | pages = 48–83
| publisher= Harrassowitz Verlag
| jstor =24047664
}}</ref>{{rp|51}} In 190, the imperial capital was again destroyed by arson, causing the loss of significant amounts of historical material.<ref name="Nylan 2000" />{{rp|244}}

The ''[[Shitong]]'' was the first Chinese work about historiography. It was compiled by [[Liu Zhiji]] between 708 and 710 AD. The book describes the general pattern of the official dynastic histories with regard to the structure, method, arrangement, sequence, caption, and commentary, dating back to the [[Warring States period]].

The ''[[Zizhi Tongjian]]'' was a pioneering reference work of Chinese historiography. [[Emperor Yingzong of Song]] ordered [[Sima Guang]] and other scholars to begin compiling this universal history of China in 1065, and they presented it to his successor [[Emperor Shenzong of Song|Shenzong]] in 1084. It contains 294 volumes and about three million characters, and it narrates the history of China from 403 BC to the beginning of the [[Song dynasty]] in 959. This style broke the nearly thousand-year tradition of Sima Qian, which employed annals for imperial reigns but biographies or treatises for other topics. The more consistent style of the ''Zizhi Tongjian'' was not followed by later official histories. In the mid 13th century, [[Ouyang Xiu]] was heavily influenced by the work of [[Xue Juzheng]]. This led to the creation of the ''[[New History of the Five Dynasties]]'', which covered five dynasties in over 70 chapters.<ref name="WDL">{{cite web |url=http://www.wdl.org/en/item/11380/ |title=History of the Five Dynasties |website=[[World Digital Library]] |date=1280–1368 |access-date=2013-09-04}}</ref>

Toward the end of the [[Qing dynasty]] in the early 20th century, scholars looked to Japan and the West for models. In the late 1890s, although deeply learned in the traditional forms, [[Liang Qichao]] began to publish extensive and influential studies and [[polemic]]s that converted young readers to a new type of historiography that Liang regarded as more scientific. [[Liu Yizheng]] published several specialized history works including ''History of Chinese Culture''. This next generation became professional historians, training and teaching in universities. They included [[Chang Chi-yun]], [[Gu Jiegang]], [[Fu Sinian]], and [[Tsiang Tingfu]], who were PhDs from [[Columbia University]]; and [[Chen Yinke]], who conducted his investigations into medieval Chinese history in both Europe and the United States. Other historians, such as [[Qian Mu]], who was trained largely through independent study, were more conservative but remained innovative in their response to world trends.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schneider |first1=Laurence A. |title=Ku Chieh-kang and China's New History: Nationalism and the Quest for Alternative Traditions |date=1971 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-01804-4 }}{{pn|date=May 2024}}</ref> In the 1920s, wide-ranging scholars, such as [[Guo Moruo]], adapted Marxism in order to portray China as a nation among nations, rather than having an exotic and isolated history. The ensuing years saw historians such as [[Wu Han (historian)|Wu Han]] master both Western theories, including Marxism, and Chinese learning.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mazur |first1=Mary Gale |title=Wu Han, Historian: Son of China's Times |date=2009 |publisher=Lexington Books |isbn=978-0-7391-2456-7 }}{{pn|date=May 2024}}</ref>