Written Language: Chinese Culture of History Writing

Written Language: Chinese Culture of History Writing

History Writing is about how history is written and it can also be called historiography. It accepts that history is written by people, with an interest, a certain understanding and material reference base. It is different from the history recording, which is something that can be objectively written.

The Emergence of History Writing

At first, it is the explanation of the character “史”（Shi）.The lower part of the character is the image of a hand, and the upper part is similar to an arrow, which is used to carve a turtle shell for divination. So this character means an official position. The original function of the “史” was to observe and record natural celestial events, which originated from “巫” (Wu), which served as the medium be gods and humans.

We all know Jusong and Cangjie created Chinese character. Since then, paperwork had been the duty of the “史”， like a scribe. In the late Western Zhou and Spring and Autumn Periods, the objects of records turned to real and political life, and even to the recording of history. The recording of events in Chinese history dates back to the Shang dynasty, which were carved or painted onto tortoise shell or bones. And the first conscious attempt to record history in China may have been the inscription on the Shiqiangpan (史墙盘).

The Development of History Writing

The oldest surviving history text in China is Book of Documents compiled by Confucius. It recorded important historical facts of the ancient times. But the authenticity of it could not be confirmed. The history books can be divided into five styles. The first is that Chinese history books recorded in chronological order including Spring and Autumn Annals, Zuo Qiuming’s Commentary on Spring and Autumn Annals, and Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government. The earliest surviving documents originated in China during the Spring and Autumn Period and are extremely numerous. The second is a narrative of historical events according to different states including Discourses of the States by Zuo Qiuming in the Spring and Autumn Period and Intrigues of the Warring States by Liu Xiang in the Western Han Dynasty. This third style is that history book compilation that reflects historical events with characters as the outline and time as the supplement. Its outstanding feature is that it has a large number of biographies as its central content, which is a further combination of remembering words and events such as Records of the Historian by Sima Qian in the Western Han Dynasty. The forth style is that it records history in only a certain period or dynasty such as Book of Han by Ban Gu in the Eastern Han Dynasty. The last style of history book is that it focuses on events and brings together relevant thematic materials such as The Historical events in Ming Dynasty. The first creator was Yuan Shu of the Southern Song Dynasty. Turnaround and prosperity in the development of historiography Liu zhiji ( 【唐】刘知幾 661-721年) is a distinguished historiographical critic, wrote the book Shitong (《史通》), marking a higher stage of self-consciousness of historians in Chinese historiography. He reshaped the historiographical system. It can be seen that historians tended to be more rational and profound in their understanding of their own duties and social relations. The Zizhi Tongjian(《资治通鉴》) was a pioneering reference work of Chinese historiography. Sima Guang（【北宋】司马光 1019-1086年） was appointed to compile it. It revived the annals and represents the height of prosperity of the historiography in Song Dynasty. It advanced Chinese history writing to a new level.

The Modernization of History Writing

The modern form of historiography differs fundamentally from traditional historiography in that it is aimed at discussing issues and finding logical connections within historical materials, mainly academic essays and books with chapter’s constructions. At the beginning of the 20th century, Liang Qichao set out to revolutionize historiography and published the New Historiography consisting of six essays. It became a symbol of the transformation of modern Chinese historiography. He criticized the system of the old Chinese historiography, considered it as a tool for maintaining the rule of the King and transformed from a regional history study into a narrative of world history. In the course of Chinese modern historiography, there are different schools. The emergence and spread of a new historiography under the guidance of Marxism has gradually become the mainstream. Generally speaking, the development of Chinese Marxist historiography is the science-based historiography. This is also the process by which Chinese historiography became a science in the modern sense.

Adopting the Scientific Approach in Chinese Historiography Shixue Yaolun (《史学要论》) was the first work in China that elaborated the theory of historical materialism and combined it with some specific historical work, a work that opened the way for Marxist historiography in China. And Guo Moruo’s Study on Ancient Chinese Society (1930) was the first work by Chinese historians to apply Marxist theory to the systematic exposition of Chinese history. Chinese historiography continues to be more scientific, overcomes shortcomings as well as absorbs the latest human scientific achievements. It is still moving forward.

Terms and Expressions

Book of Documents 《尚书》

Spring and Autumn Annals 《春秋》

Zuo Qiuming’s Commentary on Spring and Autumn Annals 《左传》

Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government 《资治通鉴》

Discourses of the States by Zuo Qiuming in the Spring and Autumn Period 《国语》

Intrigues of the Warring States 《战国策》

Records of the Historian 《史记》

Book of Han 《汉书》

The Historical events in Ming Dynasty《明史纪事本末》

New Historiography 《新史学》

Study on Ancient Chinese Society 《中国古代社会研究》

Marxist historiography 马克思主义史学

Questions

1、 Who compiled the Book of Documents?

2、 How many styles of Chinese history book there are?

3、 What is the mainstream among different schools in the course of Chinese modern historiography?

4、 What is the significance of learning historiography?

References

David N. Keightley, "Art, Ancestors, and the Origins of Writing in China", Representations, No. 56, Special Issue: The New Erudition. (Autumn, 1996), pp.68–95 (68). Naito Konan, History of Chinese Historiography.Shanghai Ancient Books Press.1997. William G. Boltz, Early Chinese Writing, World Archaeology, Vol. 17, No. 3, Early Writing Systems. (Feb., 1986), pp. 420–436 (436). Shaughnessy, Edward L. (1991). Sources of Western Zhou History. Berkeley: University of California Press. 白寿彝，《中国史学史》.北京：北京师范大学出版社.2004. 陈梦家，《商人的神话与巫术》.《燕京学报》第20期. 杜维运，《中国史学史》第1册. 上海：商务印书馆.2010. 瞿林东，《中国简明史学史》. 上海：上海人民出版社.2005. 谢贵安，《中国史学史》. 武汉：武汉大学出版社.2012.