太史公自序（下）

The Yellow Emperor of old took Heaven as his model and Earth as his measure. Four sages followed in order, each establishing their own institutions. Yao yielded his position; Shun would not presume. To praise the merits of the Emperors so that ten thousand generations would record them — this is the First of the Basic Annals: the Five Emperors.

The achievements of Yu brought the Nine Provinces into harmony. His glory illuminated the age of Yao and Shun, and his virtue flowed to his descendants. But Jie of Xia was licentious and arrogant, and was exiled to Mingtiao. This is the Second: the Xia.

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Han rose in its fifth generation; its greatness was established in the Jianyuan era. Abroad it drove back the Yi and Di; at home it reformed the institutions, performed the Feng and Shan sacrifices, changed the calendar, and altered the colors of ceremony. This is the Twelfth: the Present Emperor.

Taibo fled the succession and went to the wilds of the Yangtze. The achievements of Kings Wen and Wu trace to the Ancient Duke’s journey. ... Praising Taibo’s yielding, this is the First of the Hereditary Houses: Wu.

The houses of Shen and Lü had dwindled, yet the Revered Father rose from obscurity. He at last came to the Lord of the West, and became the Teacher of Wen and Wu. ... Praising the father’s stratagems, this is the Second: The Grand Duke of Qi.

... Jie and Zhou lost the Way and Tang and Wu arose; Zhou lost the Way and the Spring and Autumn Annals were composed. Qin lost its governance and Chen She launched his enterprise. The lords rose in rebellion — wind and clouds surging — and in the end destroyed the house of Qin. The turning point of All-Under-Heaven began when Chen She started his uprising. This is the Eighteenth: Chen She.

In an age of decadence when all chase profit, there were those who ran toward righteousness. They yielded kingdoms and starved to death, and All-Under-Heaven honors them. This is the First of the Biographies: Bo Yi.

... When Chu pressed us at Jing and Suo, Han Xin conquered Wei and Zhao, pacified Yan and Qi, and enabled Han to hold two-thirds of All-Under-Heaven, destroying Xiang Ji. This is the Thirty-Second: The Marquis of Huaiyin.

... Commoners who harm neither the government nor the people, who buy and sell in accordance with the seasons and rest upon their accumulated wealth — the wise may draw lessons from them. This is the Sixty-Ninth: The Money-Makers.

Our Han succeeds the last current of the Five Emperors and carries forward the enterprise of the Three Dynasties. The Way of Zhou was abandoned; Qin swept away the ancient texts and burned the Odes and Documents. The records of the Bright Hall, the Stone Chamber, the Golden Cabinet, and the Jade Plates were scattered and lost. When Han arose, Xiao He organized the laws and ordinances, Han Xin codified the military regulations, Zhang Cang established the weights and measures, and Shusun Tong fixed the ceremonial protocols — and literature and learning gradually revived. ... The Grand Historian, father and son, continued one after another in this office. He said: “Ah! Our ancestors held this office since the time of Yao and Shun, and through the Zhou they maintained it. The Sima family has presided over the celestial records from generation to generation. As for me — I must be reverent! I must be reverent!” He cast his net over the lost records and forgotten traditions of All-Under-Heaven, traced the rise of royal endeavors, examined origins and observed conclusions, saw the flourishing and watched the decline, evaluated deeds and events. He sketched the Three Dynasties, recorded the Qin and Han, reaching up to the Yellow Emperor and down to the present. He wrote twelve Basic Annals, laying out the main threads. For parallel events in different periods where chronology was unclear, he wrote ten Tables. For the evolution of ritual and music, changes in the calendar, military affairs, mountains, rivers, and spirits — the juncture of Heaven and humanity — and for tracing transformations through times of decline, he wrote eight Treatises. As the twenty-eight mansions circle the Pole Star, and thirty spokes share one hub, turning without cease, the assisting ministers can be matched to these: loyal and true, walking the path, serving the sovereign above — for them he wrote thirty Hereditary Houses. For those who upheld righteousness with daring, who did not let their moment pass, and who established merit and fame in All-Under-Heaven — for them he wrote seventy Biographies. In all, one hundred thirty chapters, five hundred twenty-six thousand five hundred characters: the book of the Grand Historian. This epilogue gathers up what was left out and fills the gaps, completing a coherent system of thought. It harmonizes the variant traditions of the Six Classics and brings order to the miscellaneous sayings of the Hundred Schools. One copy is stored in a famous mountain; the other is kept in the capital — awaiting the sages and gentlemen of a later age. Chapter Seventy.

The Grand Historian says: I have recounted the events from the Yellow Emperor down to the Taichu era, one hundred thirty chapters in all.