What was Sima Guang s original purpose in writing the Zizhi Tongjian?

Zizhi Tongjian" is a chronicle of historiography after the "Spring and Autumn", Sima Guang has been reading "Zuo's Spring and Autumn" since he was a child, and likes old things to compile. In the first year of Song Yingzong's reign (1064), he presented five volumes of the "Calendar Map", and in the third year of Zhiping (1066), he presented eight volumes of the "Tongzhi", covering the Zhou and Qin dynasties, and the emperor Song Yingzong at that time was very satisfied with it, so he ordered to set up a bookstore in the Chongwen Academy, and gave 2,400 volumes of Yingdi's old books to Sima Guang for reference, and provided pen and ink, silk, expenses, meals, fruits and other services, and asked him to continue to write, and allowed him to borrow the books of the Royal Dragon Pavilion, Tianzhang Pavilion, Zhaowen Pavilion, History Museum, Jixian Yuan, and Secret Pavilion.

So Sima Guang edited the "Zizhi Tongjian" in Luoyang, the home was extremely simple, the summer was hot and embarrassing, sweat often dripped on the draft, and asked the craftsman to open another basement, "often read in it", "the day is insufficient, followed by the night", every night with candles to write, and when sick, he did not rest. A friend advised him to "be less tired and tired", he said: "The first king said, death and life."

In this way, 15 years of writing books without asking about political affairs have passed.

The title of the book was determined by Song Shenzong, which means "in view of the past, in order to govern the Tao". The word "governance" means "help" and "governance". "Tong" means the "general history" of Botong ancient and modern, and "Jian" has the meaning of "borrowing the mirror" (taking history as a mirror).

Song Shenzong personally made a preface and gave it to Sima Guang. This preface later protected the Tongjian from the catastrophe of the destruction of the edition.

The compilation of Zizhi Tongjian was arduous, with assistants collecting information and compiling the first draft, then Sima Guang synthesizing the whole book, adding and deleting it, and then Sima Kang reviewing the text. First of all, in terms of data collection, there are 17 kinds of official histories alone, and there are more than 300 kinds of miscellaneous histories such as wild histories, genealogies, special collections, and inscriptions. Qing Yuan Mei said:

Li Yehou's Northern Expedition, the advice of the reserve, the identification of Jianning's injustice, and the protection of Li Sheng and Ma Sui's merits, the new and old "books" are not included in the ......Wei Wengong's "Tongjian" takes Li Fan's "Family Biography" to greatly elaborate, and the great man of the Yehou generation is almost colorless. ”。Hongmai of the Southern Song Dynasty further researched:

Summing up the lessons and lessons of governing the world and the country.

For the rulers to learn from.

1. The author of "Zizhi Tongjian" is Sima Guang.

2, Sima Guang (November 17, 1019, October 11, 1086), the word Junshi, the number of roundabouts, is a native of Shushui Township, Xia County, Shaanzhou (now Xia County, Shanxi), and is known as Mr. Shushui. A politician, historian, and writer of the Northern Song Dynasty, he claimed to be the descendant of Sima Fu, the king of Anping in the Western Jin Dynasty.

3. Song Renzong Baoyuan Tuan refers to the first year of the bird (1038), Jinshi and the first, and the straight bachelor of Longtu Pavilion. During the reign of Emperor Shenzong of the Song Dynasty, he opposed Wang Anshi's reforms, left the imperial court for fifteen years, and presided over the compilation of the first chronicle in Chinese history, Zizhi Tongjian. The four dynasties of Li Shi Renzong, Yingzong, Shenzong, and Zhezong, the official Zhishang Shu's left servant shot and served as a servant.

In the first year of Yuanyou (1086), he died, and was posthumously presented to Taishi and Wen Guogong, and was nicknamed Wenzheng. Listed as "Yuan Yu Party Collapse Early People", worthy of enjoying the temple court of Song Zhezong, and the graphic Zhaoxun Pavilion; From the temple of Confucius, called "the first Confucian Sima"; From the temple of the emperors of the past dynasties.