Shiji

The 130-chapter text classifies all information into several categories:
# 12 chapters of Běnjì (本紀) contain all biographies of the prominent rulers from the mythical Yellow Emperor to Qin Shi Huang and the kings of Xia , Shang , and Zhou dynasties. The biographies of four emperors and one empress dowager of the Han Dynasty before his age are also included.
# 30 chapters of Shìjiā (世家) contain all biographies of notable rulers, nobility and bureaucrats mostly from the Spring And Autumn Period and Period Of The Warring States .
# 70 chapters of Lièzhuàn (列傳) contain all biographies of important figures including Lao Zi , Mozi , Sun Tzu , and Jīng Kē .
# 8 chapters of Shū (書) are the economic and cultural records of the time covered in the book.
# 10 chapters of Biǎo (表) are Timeline s of events.

Unlike subsequent official historical texts that adopted Confucian doctrine, proclaimed the divine rights of the emperors, and degraded any failed claimant of the throne, Sīmǎ Qiān's more liberal and objective prose had been renowned and followed by poets and novelists. Most chapters of ''Lièzhuàn'' are vivid descriptions of events and persons, a reason for which is that the author critically used stories passed on from antiquity as part of the sources, balancing reliability and accuracy of the records. For instance, the material on Jīng Kē's attempt at assassinating Qin Shi Huang was an eye-witness story passed on by the great-grandfather of his father's friend, who served as a low-ranked bureaucrat at Qin court and happened to be attending the diplomatic ceremony for Jīng Kē.

REFERENCES

Sima Qian (1993), ''Records of the Grand Historian of China. Chin Dynasty''. Translated by Burton Watson (New York, Columbia University Press). ISBN 0231081685 (hbk); ISBN 0231081693 (pbk)

Sima Qian (1993), ''Records of the Grand Historian of China. Han Dynasty II''. (Revised Edition). Translated by Burton Watson (New York, Columbia University Press). ISBN 0231081685 (hbk); ISBN 0231081677 (pbk)

Ssu-ma Ch'ien (1961), ''Records of the grand historian of China'', Translated from the Shih chi of Ssu-ma Ch'ien by Burton Watson (New York: Columbia University Press). ISBN 0231081650

Ssu ma Ch’ien (1994), ''The Grand Scribe’s Records I: the basic annals of pre-Han China'' (editor—Nienhauser W.H. Jr.) (Bloomington: Indiana University Press). (An annotated translation.)

Ssu ma Ch’ien (1994), ''The Grand Scribe’s Records VII: the memoirs of pre-Han China'' (editor—Nienhauser W.H. Jr.) (Bloomington: Indiana University Press). (An annotated translation.)

Hulsewé A.F.P. (1993), “Shih chi”, ''Early Chinese Texts: a bibliographical guide'' (editor—Loewe M.) p.405–414 (Berkeley: Society for the Study of Early China).

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Shiji