Back Zizhi Tongjian Catalan زیژی تۆنگجیان CKB Zizhi Tongjian German Zizhi Tongjian Spanish Zizhi Tongjian French Zizhi Tongjian Croatian Zizhi Tongjian ID 資治通鑑 Japanese 자치통감 Korean Zizhi Tongjian NB
 Section from one of the original scrolls of the Zizhi Tongjian | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Author | Sima Guang et al. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Language | Classical Chinese | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Subject | History of China | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Publication date | 1084 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Media type | Scrolls | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Original text | Zizhi Tongjian at Chinese Wikisource | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 資治通鑑 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 资治通鉴 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | "Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance"[a] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Zizhi Tongjian (1084) is a chronicle published during the Northern Song dynasty (960–1127) that provides a record of Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD, covering 16 dynasties and spanning almost 1400 years.[1] The main text is arranged into 294 scrolls (卷; juàn), each equivalent to a chapter—totaling around 3 million Chinese characters.
In 1065, Emperor Yingzong of Song commissioned his official, Sima Guang (1019–1086), to lead a project to compile a universal history of China, and granted him funding and the authority to appoint his own staff. His team took 19 years to complete the work[1] and in 1084 it was presented to Emperor Yingzong's successor Emperor Shenzong of Song. It was well-received and has proved to be immensely influential among both scholars and the general public. Endymion Wilkinson regards it as reference quality: "It had an enormous influence on later Chinese historical writing, either directly or through its many abbreviations, continuations, and adaptations. It remains an extraordinarily useful first reference for a quick and reliable coverage of events at a particular time",[2] while Achilles Fang wrote "[Zizhi Tongjian], and its numerous re-arrangements, abridgments, and continuations, were practically the only general histories with which most of the reading public of pre-Republican China were familiar."[3]
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