Zi Zhi Tong Jian

Chapter 1 Introduction
The Chinese nation has a long history and a long history. In the 5000-year history of civilization, there have been so many ups and downs, ups and downs, successes and failures, gains and losses; how many wise monarchs, loyal ministers, heroes, and gentlemen;Dynasties are constantly changing, and the years are passing silently.However, the past is like yesterday, and for today's people, it is still vivid; the old people are still there, and they are still vivid in the mouth and heart of today's people.This is all thanks to the voluminous historical books written by countless historians throughout the ages.

Early history books, such as "Cheng" of Jin State and "梼杌" of Chu State, have been lost.Most people believe that the "Spring and Autumn Annals" compiled by Confucius is the first chronicle in ancient my country. It records the history of 14 years from the year of Lu Yin to the 722th year of Duke Ai of Lu (479-240 BC).But this book only has more than 27 characters, and the records are too brief. Therefore, "Chunqiu Zuoshi Zhuan" appeared in the early Warring States period, also known as "Zuoshi Chunqiu", or "Zuozhuan" for short. Compared with "Spring and Autumn", "Zuo Zhuan" has a slightly longer history, and it is recorded to the 24th year of Duke Ai of Lu; the content is also much more detailed. . "Zuo Zhuan" describes the conflicts among Zheng Zhuanggong's family, the warnings of the officials, and the relationship between Ying Kao Shutiao and Zhuang Gong's mother and son, which is extremely detailed. "Zuo Zhuan" has the same style as "Spring and Autumn", both of which are chronological.In the Han Dynasty, Sima Qian created a new form of biography of historical records with "Historical Records", which was inherited and continued to be used by feudal official history, and became the head of "[-] Histories".It wasn't until the appearance of Sima Guang's "Zi Zhi Tong Jian" in the Northern Song Dynasty that the chronological style regained its glory and achieved a status of keeping pace with the biographical style.Since then, the "two Sima" have become two giants in the field of historiography, and their works have also become two monuments of traditional historiography.

"Zi Zhi Tong Jian" is an unprecedented historical masterpiece in chronicle style, and it is also the first general history in chronicle style in my country.It inherits and develops the feature of "Zuo Zhuan" writing narration. At the end of "Zuo Zhuan", it mentioned that the three families of Jin, Han, Zhao, and Wei destroyed Zhibo. Sima Guang also started with the division of the three families into Jin, and wrote it until the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, that is, from the 23rd year of King Weilie of Zhou Dynasty (403 BC), Down to the sixth year of Emperor Shizong Xiande of the Later Zhou Dynasty (AD 959), more than 360 million characters were used to record the history of 290 years. There are 350 four volumes of books, and there are also [-] volumes of "Kaoyi", and three volumes of "Catalogue". Ten volumes, a total of [-] four volumes.

"Zizhi Tongjian" was compiled by Sima Guang under the edict of Emperor Yingzong of Song Dynasty. Emperor Shenzong of Song Dynasty gave the title to the book and wrote the preface himself.The purpose of his writing is to "learn from the rise and fall of the previous life and examine the gains and losses of the present". Although his guiding ideology is to provide historical reference for the needs of the emperor's politics, Sima Guang referred to the official history, official history, memorials, notes, etc. during the writing process. There are more than [-] kinds of miscellaneous historical and wild books such as anthologies, genealogy records, epitaphs, inscriptions, and records. They record detailed historical facts, vivid characters, concise and concise language, interesting stories, magnificent scenes, and sincere expressions. They are highly praised. It is a brilliant masterpiece "unprecedented in the past", so "reading the seventeen histories must read "Tong Jian" at the same time".

People often say: "Reading history makes people wise", "Looking at the present should learn from the past", "Don't forget the past, and guide the future".For this reason, while respecting the style of the original work and being faithful to the original work, the author also extracted its essence from this huge work of more than three million characters, appropriately deleted the chapters in the original work, and omitted the original work. The less important chapters present the most representative chapters in front of readers to highlight the important historical figures and events that had a profound impact on the society at that time and even later generations, especially those who are in the world, in wisdom and strategy, in Moral cultivation is still of great practical significance, so that readers can learn from the historical facts of the behavior styles of princes, generals, sages and wise philosophers, as well as the whole story of success and failure, and learn from history.

This book strives for concise and concise language, easy-to-understand semantics, and smooth sentences, so that readers can feel comfortable with a lively rhythm while reading, and feel like drinking oasis.It is hoped that such a presentation can open a convenient door for readers to enter the palace of Chinese classics.The content of this book is divided into three parts: original text, translation, and commentary. The title is added by the editor, and the time of the event is attached for readers to read and search.

Interpreter

April 2014

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