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The Zīzhì Tōngjiàn (Chinese: 資治通鑒/资治通鉴; Wade-Giles: Tzu-chih t'ung-chien; literally "Comprehensive Mirror for/to Aid in Government") was a pioneering reference work in Chinese historiography. Emperor Yingzong of Song ordered Sima Guang and other scholars to begin compiling this universal history of China in 1065 CE and they presented it to his successor Emperor Shenzong of Song in 1084 CE. It contains 294 volumes (巻) and about 3 million Chinese characters.

The Zizhi tongjian chronologically narrates the history of China from the Warring States period in 403 BCE to the beginning of the Song Dynasty in 959 CE. It changed a tradition dating back almost 1,000 years to the Shiji; standard Chinese dynastic histories (collectively the Twenty-Four Histories) primarily divided chapters between ji 紀 "annals" of rulers and zhuan 傳 "biographies" of famous people. In Chinese terms, the Zizhi tongjian changed the format of histories from jizhuanti 紀傳體 "biographical style" to biannianti 編年體 "chronological/annalistic style", which is better suited for analysis and criticism. According to Wilkinson (2000:499), "It had an enormous influence on later Chinese historical writing, either directly of 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."

[edit] References

• De Crespigny, Rafe. (1973). "Universal Histories," in Essays on the Sources for Chinese History, Donald D. Leslie, Colin Mackerras, Wang Gungwu, eds., Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, pp. 64-70.
• Ji xiao-bin. (2003). "Mirror for Government: Ssu-ma Kuang's Thought on Politics and Government in Tzu-chih t'ung-chien," in The New and the Multiple, Thomas H.C. Lee, ed. Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, pp. 1-32.
• Wilkinson, Endymion. 2000. Chinese History: a manual. Revised and enlarged ed. Cambridge: Harvard University Asia Center. ISBN 0-674-00249-0

[edit] External links

• Zizhi tongjian 資治通鑒, Ulrich Theobald
• Emperor Huan and Emperor Ling, Zizhi Tongjian Chapters 54-59 (157-189 BCE), translated and annotated by Rafe de Crespigny
• 资治通鉴, original text (in Chinese)de:Zizhi Tongjian

ja:資治通鑑 vi:Tư trì thông giám zh:資治通鑒