Zizhi Tongjian

Comprehensive Reflections to Aid in Governance

Section from one of the original scrolls of the Zizhi Tongjian
Author	Sima Guang et al.
Original title	資治通鑑
Language	Classical Chinese
Subject	History of China
Publication date	1084
Media type	Scrolls
Original text	資治通鑑 at Chinese Wikisource

Zizhi Tongjian (Chinese: 資治通鑑; pinyin: Zīzhì Tōngjiàn; Wade–Giles: Tzŭ¹-chih⁴ t'ung¹-chien⁴; lit. 'Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance'^[a]) is a pioneering reference work in Chinese historiography, published in 1084 AD during the Northern Song dynasty in the form of a chronicle recording 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 (juan Chinese: 卷, equivalent to a chapter) totaling about 3 million Chinese characters.

In 1065 AD, Emperor Yingzong of Song commissioned his official, Sima Guang (1019–1086 AD), 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 AD 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 famililar."^[3]

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