Sima Qian's Biography of Five Emperors is mainly based on Shi Ben, Dai Wudi De and Shang Shu, and the ingenious arrangement of materials is the outstanding feature of this paper.
For example, the battle between the Yellow Emperor and Chiyou's Zhuolu, and the battle with Yan Di's Hanquan, can't be re-described, but they are just passing by, focusing on Yao and Shun. This may be due to the lack of materials, but its effect is not only to highlight the imperial cause initiated by the Yellow Emperor, but also to make historical events extremely harmonious with the structure of the whole article.
Extended data
Biography of Five Emperors is the first of 130 volumes of Historical Records.
Historical Records is divided into five parts: biography, table, book, family and biography. Among them, biography and biography are the main body. It takes emperors and other political center figures in history as the main line of compiling history books, and the division of labor among various styles is clear. Among them, "Biography", "Biography" and "Biography" account for most of the book's length, and all of them record history with writing characters as the center. As a result, Sima Qian created a new style of history books-"Biography".
The so-called biographical style means biographical style. Historical Records consists of 12 chapters, centering on emperors in history, from Huangdi to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty at that time, which recorded their written and administrative traces in turn, as well as major events in politics, economy, military affairs, culture and diplomacy of each era.
It can be said that this period is a brief history of emperors, or a systematic chronological memorabilia written in chronological order. Chronology ranks first in the book and has always been considered as the outline of the book. Many historical materials handed down from generation to generation have been preserved, which is of great value for future generations to understand the development order of historical years.
Throughout the twelve chapters of this chapter, in terms of ideological content, Sima Qian's historical materialism and rigorous attitude of seeking truth from facts are reflected everywhere, and historical experience and lessons are often summed up from objective historical facts, rather than evaluating the success or failure of heroes and the rise and fall of dynasties by personal likes and dislikes.
Sima's generation is an official, sorting out and discussing history. Sima Tan is the official of Taishi, whose sacred mission is to revise history. Unfortunately, his ambition was not rewarded. In the first year of Yuanfeng, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty held a amenorrhea ceremony. As an official, Sima Tan missed the opportunity to participate in contemporary events, which led to his lifelong regret and angry death. Before he died, he told his son Sima Qian his will.
"Historical Records" takes the book of Guan Chan as one of its eight books, that is, seeing the meaning of his late father. Sima Qian followed the Spring and Autumn Annals and wrote Historical Records in the first year of Emperor founding ceremony. Sima Qian inherited his father's business and succeeded Taishi Order.
In his early years, he studied under Kong Anguo and Dong Zhongshu, roaming around, learning about customs and collecting rumors. As a first-time doctor, he served in the southwest. In the first year of Taichu (BC 104), Sima Qian began to create Taishi Gongshu, later called Shiji.
However, an accident happened. In the third year of Tianhan (98), Li Ling was defeated and surrendered to the Huns. Sima Qian was arrested and imprisoned for defending Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and was sentenced to imprisonment, which gave him great physical and mental trauma.
After he was released from prison, he was appointed secretary of the Secretariat. He endured humiliation and hardships, and worked hard to complete his historical records. With the historical knowledge of "studying the relationship between man and nature, changing from ancient times to modern times, and getting married", he experienced 14 years before and after, and created China's first biography Historical Records.
Baidu Encyclopedia-Biography of Five Emperors