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Secondary sourceBookc. 90 BC

Records of the Grand Historian

Sima Qian · c. 90 BC

A vast history of ancient China written by Sima Qian, including an account of Gaozu's strategist and the succession crisis over the heir.

This history records how Gaozu's strategist planned and how the succession of the heir was decided.

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Page from a printed Chinese book with vertical columns of black characters on aged paper. The heading at top right reads 史記序, meaning Preface to the Records. Some characters are damaged or faded, and the page is framed by a thin border.
Sima Qian, Records of the Grand Historian, c. 90 BC. Printed page reproduction.

About this source

What it is

The Shiji, or Records of the Grand Historian, is a monumental Chinese history written by Sima Qian in the early Han dynasty, building on work begun by his father Sima Tan. It covers over two thousand years of history up to the author's own time and became the model for all later Chinese dynastic histories.

Why it matters

The Shiji is one of the main sources historians use to understand Emperor Gaozu's reign, including the planning of his chief strategist and the decision over who would succeed him as heir. Sima Qian's choices about what to include shaped how later generations remembered the founding of the Han dynasty.

Look closer

  • Why might a historian writing decades after Gaozu's death still be useful for understanding him?
  • What might be left out or shaped by Sima Qian's own views?
  • How does telling history through individual biographies differ from a single continuous narrative?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Liu Bang (Gaozu of Han) on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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