Title: The Emergence and Progress of Ancient Chinese Historiography
Abstract: The Chinese people are aware of how history has been recorded since ancient times. During the Spring and Autumn Period, Confucius composed the Spring and Autumn Annals (Chunqiu), which marked the formal beginning of Chinese historiography. He accomplished this by collecting and revising the histories which had been recorded by the Official Historians of his mother country. Ancient Chinese historiography falls into three stages of development: the Initiation Period, which lasted approximately from the Warring States Period to the time of the Eastern and Western Han Dynasties; the Period of Great Prosperity, which spanned from around the time of the Wei and Jin Dynasties to the end of Ming Dynasty; and the Summaries and Transformation Period, which lasted from the end of the Ming Dynasty up until the beginning of the Opium Wars. If the development of ancient Chinese historiography is seen in overview, three features may be discerned: attention was paid to both social history and natural history, as well as to the philosophical relations between the two; a set of methodical systems was formed, which were bound up with ancient Chinese modes of thought; and special emphasis was placed upon the practical function of historiography and the moral character and skills training of historians. Ancient Chinese historiography is a precious treasure possessing great cultural and ethical value.
Publication Year: 2015
Publication Date: 2015-01-01
Language: en
Type: book-chapter
Indexed In: ['crossref']
Access and Citation
AI Researcher Chatbot
Get quick answers to your questions about the article from our AI researcher chatbot