At first, there was no fixed title for historical records, or "Taishi Office" or "Taishi Gong", etc., and it was also called "Taishi Gong" in the province. Historical Records was originally the general name of ancient history books. Since the Three Kingdoms, Historical Records has gradually become the proper name of Taishi Gongshu.

Author Sima Qian, word length, Zuo Fengyi from Xiayang. Born in the fifth year of Emperor Jing of Han Dynasty, he died in the third year of Emperor Zheng of Han Dynasty.

Sima Tan, the father of Sima Qian, made an official order in the central government of Han Dynasty, in charge of imperial books, collecting historical materials and studying astronomical calendars. Sima Tan intended to write a general history, but his wish didn't come true and he died. On his deathbed, he told Sima Qian to finish his unfinished business.

Sima Qian worked hard as a child. At the age of ten, he began to learn the ancient prose at that time. Later, he followed Dong Zhongshu and Kong Anguo to study the Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ram and the History of Ancient Literature. Emperor yuan Shuo of the Han dynasty was three years old, and Sima Qian was twenty years old. With the desire for knowledge, he traveled all over the famous mountains and rivers of the motherland, inspected historical sites and collected legends from all over the country. Sima Qian broadened his horizons and increased his knowledge by on-the-spot investigation of places of interest and historical facts before and after the founding of the Western Han Dynasty, which made a good preparation for the later compilation of Historical Records.

After Sima Tan's death, Sima Qian inherited his father's footsteps, formulated imperial edicts, and was able to see a large number of books, documents and national archives, which was an indispensable condition for Sima Qian to compile historical books.

In the first year of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Sima Qian began to write historical records. In the second year of Tianhan, Li Ling led the troops to attack the Huns with Li Guangli, and they were defeated and surrendered. Emperor Wu asked Sima Qian what he thought of Li Ling, so Sima Qian said that Li Ling surrendered because he was outnumbered and had no reinforcements, and the responsibility was not entirely on Li Ling. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty thought that Sima Qian intended to excuse Li Ling's return, so he denounced Li Guangli, the love brother of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. As a result, Sima Qian was thrown into prison and sentenced to corruption. Three years later, he was pardoned and released from prison, and worked harder to write history books. In about two years, the compilation was basically completed. Many years after Sima Qian's death, his grandson Yang Yun made this immortal masterpiece of more than 520,000 words public.

Historical Records is a general history that runs through ancient and modern times. It describes the history of China for about 3,000 years from the legendary Huangdi to the first year of Emperor Wudi's yuanshou. According to Sima Qian, biographies 12, tables 10, 8 books, 30 aristocratic families, 70 biographies and * * 130 books. Ban Gu mentioned in the Biography of Sima Qian in Hanshu that there are ten missing pieces in Historical Records. Wei pointed out that these ten articles are Biographies of Emperor Jing, Biographies of Emperor Wu, Book of Rites, Le Shu, Law and Discipline, Biographies of Generals since Han Dynasty, Biographies of Japanese People, Biographies of Three Kings, Biographies of Tortoise and Fujin. Most descendants disagree with Zhang Yan's statement, but the incompleteness of Historical Records is beyond doubt. Today's historical records are also 130, and several chapters are obviously not written by Sima Qian. Chu Sun Shao, a doctor of the Han Dynasty, became emperor and wrote Historical Records. In this history book, "Mr. Chu said" is his supplement.

Historical Records has a wide range of materials. At that time, Shi Ben, Mandarin, National Policy, Ji Qin, Spring and Autumn Annals of Chu and Han Dynasties, Hundred Schools of Thought contend, and other national documents and archives, as well as materials obtained from field investigation, were all important sources of materials for Sima Qian to write Historical Records. What is particularly valuable is that Sima Qian carefully analyzed and screened the collected materials and eliminated some nonsense. For some problems that cannot be clarified, we either take a skeptical attitude or record various opinions. Due to its extensive materials and serious attitude in compiling history, Historical Records is informative and rich in content.