Twenty-Four Histories

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The Twenty-Four Histories (Chinese: 二十四史; pinyin: Èrshísì shǐ; Wade–Giles: Erh-shih-szu shih) is a collection of Chinese historical books covering a period from 3000 BC to the Ming Dynasty in the 17th century. The whole set contains 3213 volumes and about 40 million words. It is considered one of the most important sources on Chinese history and culture.

Typically, after collecting credible sources, these canonical history records were produced in the next dynasty by officially organized editing, revising, and collating. Every factual error left in the published records is officially considered to be a failure by the responsible officer.

The title "Twenty-Four Histories" dates from 1775 which was the 40th year in the reign of the Qianlong Emperor. This was when the last volume, the "History of Ming" was reworked and a complete set of the histories produced.

Contents

Books of the Twenty-Four Histories [edit]

Inheritance works [edit]

These works were begun by one historian and completed by an heir, usually in the next generation.

Related works [edit]

  • New History of Yuan (新元史, Xīn Yuán Shǐ), compiled by Ke Shaomin 柯劭忞 in 1920
  • Draft History of Qing (清史稿, Qīng Shǐ Gǎo), compiled under Zhao Erxun 趙爾巽 in 1927

Modern editions [edit]

In China, the Zhonghua Shuju have edited a number of these Histories. These sets (or editions) are appreciated because they have been carefully collated and edited (punctuated) by the Chinese specialists. Therefore, these editions are believed to be relatively reliable, and easy to read and understand.[3]

See also [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ Hill, John E. (2009) Through the Jade Gate to Rome: A Study of the Silk Routes during the Later Han Dynasty, 1st to 2nd Centuries CE. BookSurge, Charleston, South Carolina. ISBN 978-1-4392-2134-1.
  2. ^ Xu Elina-Qian, p.23
  3. ^ Xu Elina-Qian, p.19

External links [edit]

Twenty-Four Histories
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