Chapter 16 Section 3 "Han Ji" and "Later Han Ji"

The history books of the pre-Qin period are basically chronicles.Since the publication of Sima Qian's "Historical Records" in the Western Han Dynasty and the creation of Ji Chuan style, historians after Ban Gu imitated its style one after another.The biographical style shows great superiority, just as Liu Zhiji, a historian of the Tang Dynasty, said: "The biography is based on comprehensiveness, the biography is based on the details, the list is used to list the years, and the ambition is to summarize the omissions" ("Shi Tong· Two Body Chapter").It is complete in style, comprehensive in narrative, rich in content, and based on Benji, which faithfully reflects the political reality centered on emperors in the feudal era.Therefore, the biographical style replaced the chronicle style and became the mainstream of historical writing in the Han and Tang Dynasties.

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty ordered Xun Yue to delete the "Hanshu" according to the style of "Zuo Zhuan" because the "Hanshu" was too long and inconvenient to read.From the third year of Jian'an (AD 198) to the fifth year of Jian'an (AD 200), it took Xun Yue more than two years to adapt and abbreviate the 800,000-word "Han Shu" into the 180,000-word "Han Ji" ".The text was reduced by 4/5, and the important historical events, figures, systems, etc. of the Western Han Dynasty were recorded in an orderly manner, so it was praised as "detailed details".The book has 30 volumes, which are divided into 12 periods according to the succession of emperors, and the story of Wang Mang is attached to the period of Emperor Ping, with a total of 231 years of narrative.Xun Yue not only arranges historical events by year and month, but also uses the method of analogy to connect and record similar people or events, so that some characters, some historical events whose dates cannot be determined, and some laws and regulations, etc., are properly described in the book. narrative.In order to help rulers understand that "the relationship between heaven and man, things are appropriate", Xun Yue attaches great importance to comments and praises.There are nearly 40 chapters of "Xun Yue's Sayings" in the book, with different lengths and flexible writing styles. They are written according to events and are eclectic. The total number of words is more than 10,000, accounting for 1/18 of the total length of the book, and they are all carefully written by Xun Yue. "Han Ji" is well-organized and concise, and it is the first chronological history of dynasties.Its production has revived the chronological history books that had been neglected for quite a period of time.

After Xun Yue, "Records of the Later Han Dynasty" written by Yuan Hong, a native of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, is another chronological history of dating.The book consists of 30 volumes, with about 210,000 words.The records start from the Lvlin Uprising in the fourth year of Xinmang Yuanfeng (AD 17) to the first year of Han Xiandi Yankang (AD 220) when Cao Wei replaced the Han, a total of 204 years.Divided into different emperors according to the succession of emperors, it briefly and concisely describes the historical events of the Eastern Han Dynasty.Yuan Hong has a rigorous attitude in writing books. He has extensively read "East View of the Han Dynasty" and historical works by Xie Cheng, Sima Biao, Hua Qiao, Xie Shen, Zhang Fan, etc., accumulatively amounting to hundreds of volumes.He is meticulous in the textual research and textual research of historical events. He wrote the 210,000-word work for eight years.This book is an excellent chronicle of the Eastern Han Dynasty, with appropriate details, prominent points, and vivid language.Later, Fan Ye fully absorbed the essence of Yuan Hong's "Hou Han Ji" when he wrote the "Book of the Later Han Dynasty" in the biography style.However, Yuan Hong has a strong feudal thought of famous religion. Although he has many historical theories, they are relatively pedantic and not brilliant.

Since then, the chronicle history books have not produced any influential works, and this situation has continued for more than 500 years.It wasn't until the advent of Sima Guang's compilation in the Song Dynasty that it achieved unprecedented historical achievements with its chronicle masterpiece that runs through ancient and modern times.Since then, the chronicle-style history books have truly occupied a historical position alongside the "official history" of the biographical style.