History Literature / RecordsOfTheGrandHistorian

-->''...Chen She, born in a humble hut with tiny windows and a wattle door, a day labourer in the fields and a garrison conscript, whose abilities could not match even the average, who had neither the worth of Confucius and Mao Zi nor the wealth of Tao Zhu or Yi Dun, stepped from the ranks of the common soldiers, rose up from the paths of the fields, and led a band of several hundred poor, weary soldiers in revolt against Qin. [...] After [Qin] had become master of the six directions and established its palaces within the Pass, a single commoner opposed it and its seven ancestral temples toppled, its ruler died by the hands of men, and it became the laughingstock of the world.''

-->''...Chen She, born in a humble hut with tiny windows and a wattle door, a day labourer in the fields and a garrison conscript, whose abilities could not match even the average, who had neither the worth of Confucius and Mao Zi nor the wealth of Tao Zhu or Yi Dun, stepped from the ranks of the common soldiers, rose up from the paths of the fields, and led a band of several hundred poor, weary soldiers in revolt against Qin. [...] After [Qin] had become master of the six directions and established its palaces within the Passm a single commoner opposed it and its seven ancestral temples toppled, its ruler died by the hands of men, and it became the laughingstock of the world.''

Note that characters are troped as the ''Records'' depict them, not necessarily as they were in RealLife or other historical sources. No history can be 100% accurate, and tropers are encouraged to keep debates about "what really happened" off work pages.

** Guan Gao tried to usurp the Emperor on behalf of his king, Zhang Ao, [[TheCreon who begged him not to]]. When he got caught, Zhang Ao was also assumed to be guilty, so Guan Gao survived horrible tortures long enough to testify that he was innocent. After succeeding in this, Guan Gao killed himself (although the Emperor had pardoned both him and Zhang Ao).

The ''Records of the Grand Historian'' (太史公書/太史公书, ''Tàishǐ Gōngshū''), more commonly known in Chinese as ''Shǐjì'' (史記/史记, "Historical Records") were written around 91 B.C as a summary of all ancient Chinese history up until the life of its author, Sīmǎ Qiān (司馬遷/司马迁)[[note]]working with his dad, Sīmǎ Tán (司馬談/司马谈)[[/note]]. The ''Records'' are notable for being one of the first extant histories of China[[note]]Most previous ones being destroyed in the wars that unified China or the UsefulNotes/QinDynasty's censorship crusade[[/note]], Sīmǎ Qiān's focus on objective facts and diverse sources, and their episodic structure. Rather than writing one continuous narrative, Sīmǎ Qiān wrote standalone accounts of individuals, dynasties, imperial structures, etc., which were meant to be read as a whole. Postscripts reveal his personal opinion on the topics.

* DeliberateUnderPerformance: The minister Xiao He, advised that his popularity was making the Emperor feel threatened, protected himself by committing crimes that made his subjects hate him. When the Emperor chastised him for these crimes, Xiao He reverted to his previous altruistic self- and the Emperor [[ProperlyParanoid immediately had him imprisoned]].

The ''Records of the Grand Historian'' (or ''Shi ji''), written around 91 B.C, were a summary of all Ancient Chinese history up until the life of its author, Sima Qian [[note]]working with his dad, Sima Tan[[/note]]. The ''Records'' are notable for being one of the first extant histories of China [[note]]most previous ones being destroyed in the wars that unified China or the Qin's censorship crusade[[/note]], Sima Qian's focus on objective facts and diverse sources, and their episodic structure. Rather than writing one continuous narrative, Sima Qian wrote standalone accounts of individuals, dynasties, imperial structures, etc., which were meant to be read as a whole. Postscripts reveal his personal opinion on the topics.

* SympatheticPOV: Often negative facts about one "protagonist" were only revealed in the account of another. For example, Emperor Gaozu's attempts to push his children out of a carriage are described in the chapter about his nemesis, Xiang Yu- not the chapter about Gaozu himself.