It was at the end of the 2nd century BC that the Historical Memoirs (Shiji) were written, a description of the history of the world as it was known in China, from its beginnings to the time of its authors Sima Tan and Sima Qian. Most of the work is devoted to the 1st century of the Han dynasty. Ban Gu's Hanshu (Book of Han), written around 80 AD, covers the history of the first two centuries of the Han dynasty up to the beginning of the Christian era.
The Shiji and the Hanshu show a series of curious and striking structural similarities that reveal a number of insights into the thinking of ancient Chinese historians. The last ten chapters of the Shiji have a very special significance, which can be revealed by comparing them with certain sequences of chapters in the Hanshu. We have the strong impression that Ban Gu, when writing chapters 58 to 66 of the Hanshu, had in mind the last ten chapters of the Shiji, which he partially reproduced, leaving out only two chapters on divination (soon considered lost by Chinese tradition, and therefore not completely reliable). So the author of Hanshu read the Shiji and used it.
The order of these chapters makes sense. They tell the story in a logical order. Sima Qian, the author of the first of these two historical works, was gifted with an extremely critical mind: through his dynastic history, he addressed violent criticism to the reigning dynasty and especially to Emperor Wu, his contemporary.
Throughout these biographies, Sima Qian paints a picture of the society of the time, including the defenders of Emperor Wu's policies, their consequences for the country, his opposition and their effects on the economy. The author brings the story to an unmistakably critical climax.
