Bamboo Annals

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The Bamboo Annals (Chinese character: 竹書紀年; Pinyin: Zhúshū Jìnián) is a chronicle of ancient China. It begins at the earliest legendary times (Huangdi) and extends to 299 BC. The original text was interred with the burial of the king of Wei (died 299 BC) and re-discovered in AD 281. For this reason, the chronicle survived the great burning of the books by Emperor Shi Huangdi. The Bamboo Annals is one of the two most important ancient texts on early China, the other being the Shiji.

[edit] References

  • David S. Nivison (1993), “Chu shu chi nien”, Early Chinese Texts: a bibliographical guide (editor—Loewe M.) p.39–47 (Berkeley: Society for the Study of Early China).
  • James Legge (1865), The Chinese Classics III: The Shoo King Prolegomena (Taipei: Southern Materials Center). (This contains an English translation of the Annals.)