The first universal history of China was the Shiji 史記 "Records of the Grand Scribe", written by Sima Tan 司馬談 (d. ca. 110 BC) and his son Sima Qian 司馬遷 (145-86 BC), who both were "court astrologers" (太史 taishi) during the Former Han Dynasty (206 BCE - 8 AD). The pattern of Sima Qian's historiographic work was unique and should serve as model for the official standard histories (zhengshi 正史) of the imperial dynasties for the next two thousand years. The official histories of China are collected in the corpus of the "Twenty-four histories" (Ershisi shi 二十四史). After the end of imperial China in 1911 the Qingshigao 清史稿 "Draft to a history of the Qing dynasty" (1644-1911) was added to this corpus. The Qingshigao is of course not an "offical" dynastic history because there was no emperor any more acknowledging it as a such. This are the "Twenty-five histories" (Ershiwu shi 二十五史). A further history came into this collection with the Xin Yuanshi 新元史 "New history of the Yuan dynasty" (1279-1368), leading to the title of "Twenty-six histories" Ershiliu shi 二十六史. Sima Qian used a biographical type (jizhuanti 紀傳體) of historiography instead of an annalistic year-by-year type (biannianti 編年體). This has to do with the high value of persons and genealogies in Chinese history. The history of a dynasty is in first line the history of a family and not that of a country. Additionally to three different types of biographies Sima Qian added tables and treatises. His book consequently consists of five types of chapters: 本紀 Benji (short: ji 紀) Imperial biographies of rulers/emperors 表 Biao Tables 書 Shu (later called zhi 志, rarely kao 考) Treatises 世家 Shijia Biographies of the houses of the feudal lords and of eminent people 列傳 Liezhuan (short: zhuan 傳) Biographies of ordinary persons and collective biographies like that of empresses, officers, and reports of foreign countries Although the later dynastic histories follow this pattern, not every book makes use of the full range of these five types: Benji are to be found in each of the official dynastic histories. Shijia (also called zaiji 載記) are only to be found in the Shiji, the Jinshu 晉書 "Book of the Jin dynasty" (265-420), and the Xin Wudaishi 新五代史 "New history of the Five Dynasties" (907-960). Tables are not found in all histories from the Houhanshu 後漢書 "Book of the Later Han dynasty" (25-220 AD) to the Jiu Tangshu 舊唐書 "Old book of the Tang Dynasty" (618-907), and not in the Jiu Wudaishi 舊五代史 "Old history of the Five Dynasties". Treatises are not found in the Sanguozhi 三國志 "The Three Kingdoms" (220-280), Liangshu 梁書 "Book of the Liang dynasty" (502-557), Chenshu 陳書 "Book of the Chen dynasty" (557-589), Beiqishu 北齊書 "Book of the Northern Qi dynasty" (550-577), Zhoushu 周書 "Book of the (Northern) Zhou dynasty" (557-581), Nanshi 南史 "History of the Southern Dynasties" (420~589), and Beishi 北史 "History of the Northern Dynasties" (386~581). The themes of the treatises multiply in the course of the centuries; this chapters are the basis for the upcome of encyclopedias (leishu 類書) and the overviews of the political-administrative system of the dynasties (huiyao 會要). The themes of the treatises range from rituals and state offerings to ritual music, imperial robes and carriages, official measures and the calendar, river conservancy, political economy, penal law, central and local administration, the military, description of strange phenological events, bibliographies, as well as the description of the recruitment system and the state examinations. The Qingshigao is the only one of the official dynastic histories providing treatises about communications (149-152 交通志 Jiaotong zhi) and foreign relations (153-160 邦交志 Bangjiao zhi). The types of treatises are: 禮 li Rites 樂 yue Ritual music 儀衛 yiwei Courtly etiquette 律 lü Measures 曆 li Calendar 天文 tianwen Astronomy 封禪 fengshan Offerings to Heaven and Earth 符瑞 furui Omina and portents 五行 wuxing The five processes 河渠 hequ River conservancy 平準 pingzhun Agronomical matters 刑法 xingfa Penal law 食貨 shihuo Food and commerce 祭祀 jisi State offerings 地理 dili Local administration 選舉 xuanju State examinations 百官 baiguan State offices 兵 bing Military 營衛 yingwei Garrisons 輿服 yufu Chariots and robes 藝文 yiwen Literature 釋老 Shi-Lao Buddhism and Daoism 交通 jiaotong Traffic 邦交 bangjiao Diplomatic relations The first four official dynastic histories, the Shiji, Hanshu, Houhanshu and Sanguozhi are subsumed under the title "The four histories" (Sishi 四史). Although each of the northern and southern dynasties during the time of division have their distinct dynastic history (except the Western Wei 西魏 [535-556] and Eastern Wei 東魏 [534-550] whose history is included in the Weishu 魏書 "Book of the [Northern] Wei dynasty" [386-534]) there are two compound histories for the Southern Dynasties (Nanshi) and the Northern Dynasties (Beishi). The so-called Sixteen Barbarian States (Shiliuguo 十六國 [300~430]) were not officially granted the status of dynasties and are dealt with in the hereditary biographies of the Jinshu and the Weishu. The so-called Ten States (Shiguo 十國 [902~979]) face the same fate and their history is dealt with in the hereditary biographies of the Jiu Wudaishi and the Xin Wudaishi. According to politial circumstances the "barbarian" dynasties of the Liao (Khitans, 907-1125) and Jin (Jurchens, 1115-1234) were treated with as equal to the Chinese Song dynasty and were written an official dynastic history (Liaoshi 遼史 "The history of the Liao dynasty" and Jinshi 金史 "The history of the Jin dynasty"). Surprisingly this was not done for the Western Xia dynasty (Xixia 西夏, Tanguts, 1038-1227). The Song period scholar Ouyang Xiu 歐陽修 has rearranged the histories of the Tang and the Five Dynasties, for which therefore an old version and a new version exists, which in some points differ significantly. From the great Song dynasty on the official histories were called shi 史 "history" instead of shu 書 "book", like before, probably in order to distinguish the history of the great Song from that of the small southern Liu-Song. The two Wudaishi were only given this title later on. Overview of the treatises (pdf). Overview of the normal biographies (pdf). The 25 (26) Official Dynastic Histories no book size (juan) author/compiler date of completion meaning of title and remarks 1 史記 Shiji Sima Tan 司馬談 and his son Sima Qian 司馬遷 93 BCE "Records of the Grand Scribe" (a universal history that begins with the mythical "Yellow emperor" Huangdi 黃帝 and ends in 93 BC) 2 漢書 Hanshu Ban Gu 班固 83 AD The book of the (Former) Han dynasty 3 後漢書 Houhanshu Fan Ye 范曄 445 The book of the Later Han dynasty 4 三國志 Sanguozhi Chen Shou 陳壽 289 Records of the Three Kingdoms (consisting of the three books of Weizhi 魏志 "The records of Wei", Wuzhi 吳志 "The records of Wu" and Shuzhi 蜀志 "The records of Shu" which are sometimes treated as separate books) 5 晉書 Jinshu Fang Xuanling 房玄齡 648 The book of the Jin dynasty 6 宋書 Songshu Shen Yue 沈約 488 The book of the (Liu-)Song dynasty (one of the Southern Dynasties) 7 南齊書 Nanqishu Xiao Zixian 蕭子顯 524 The book of the Southern Qi dynasty 8 梁書 Liangshu Yao Silian 姚思廉 635 The book of the Liang dynasty 9 陳書 Chenshu Yao Silian 姚思廉 636 The book of the Chen dynasty 10 魏書 Weishu Wei Shou 魏收 554 The book of the Northern Wei dynasty (and the short-lived successor dynasties of Eastern and Western Wei) 11 北齊書 Beiqishu Li Baiyao 李百藥 636 The book of the Northern Qi dynasty 12 周書 Zhoushu Linghu Defen 令狐德棻 636 The book of Northern Zhou dynasty 13 隋書 Suishu Wei Zheng 魏征 636 The book of the Sui dynasty 14 南史 Nanshi Li Yanshou 李延壽 659 History of the Southern Dynasties (covering the history of Liu-Song, Qi, Liang and Chen dynasties) 15 北史 Beishi Li Yanshou 李延壽 659 History of the Northern Dynasties (covering the history of Northern-Wei, Eastern and Western Wei, Northern Qi and Northern Zhou) 16 舊唐書 Jiu Tangshu Liu Xu 劉昫 945 The old book of the Tang dynasty 17 舊五代史 Jiu Wudaishi Xue Juzheng 薛居正 974 The old history of the Five Dynasties 18 新唐書 Xin Tangshu Ouyang Xiu 歐陽修 1061 The new book of the Tang dynasty 19 新五代史 Xin Wudaishi Ouyang Xiu 歐陽修 1072 The new history of the Five Dynasties 20 宋史 Songshi Tuo Tuo 脫脫 (Toktoghan) 1345 The history of the Song dynasty 21 遼史 Liaoshi Tuo Tuo 脫脫 (Toktoghan) 1344 The history of the Liao dynasty 22 金史 Jinshi Tuo Tuo 脫脫 (Toktoghan) 1344 The history of the Jin dynasty (Jurchen) 23 元史 Yuanshi Song Lian 宋濂 1370 The history of the Yuan dynasty 24 明史 Mingshi Zhang Tingyu 張廷玉 1739 The history of the Ming dynasty 25 清史稿 Qingshigao Zhao Erxun 趙爾巽 1927 Draft to a history of the Qing dynasty (26) 新元史 Xin Yuanshi Ke Shaomin 柯邵忞 1920 The new history of the Yuan dynasty