Ordinary Biographies

The historiographical style of imperial "arranged" biographies (ji) and ordinary "down-handed" biographies (zhuan) was first used for the Records of the Great Historian (Shiji) and the Book of Han (Hanshu). "To arrange" means, to tie years together (bian nian). "To hand down" means, to collect events in a line. "Tieing years together" means, to put the years and months of an emperor's or a king's rule in calendrical order, like it is done in the Classic Spring and Autumn Annals (Chunqiu jing). "To collect events in a line" means, to report deeds and conducts of ordinary persons and ministers, like it is done in the Spring and Autumn Tradition of Zuo (Zuozhuan; often seen as a commentary to the Spring and Autumn annals). The Spring and Autumn annals have commentaries (zhuan) to explain the Classic (jing), and likewise the Shiji and Hanshu have ordinary biographies (zhuan) to interpret the imperial biographies (ji).

Inquiring the writings according to these rules, one will find that they are not followed very well... For instance, for the hegemonial king Xiang Yu, an ordinary biography would suit better, although his biography was entitled as imperial biography. It was not right to list him, an usurper of the throne, side by side with the Sons of Heaven. He should better be put in the right place and overall made an ordinary biography. Seeking to make him an imperial biography, was not right...

The difference between imperial and ordinary biographies is the same kind of distinction as that of rhapsodies and regular poems. But later, people continued to disrespect this difference, like Fan Ye when he wrote the History of (Later) Han (Hou Han shu). he wrote a collective biography for the imperial consorts, but what actually should be an ordinary biography, he called an imperial biography. Chen Shou, recording the reigns of the emperors Sun (of Wu) and Liu (of Shu) in the Records of the Three Kingdoms, what actually should be imperial biographies, he called ordinary biographies. Examining what numerous scholars have written, we see that they barely employ the real character of imperial and ordinary biographies.