Table of contents : Contents Prologue Chapter 1. The Age of Confucius The Genesis of History Chapter 2. From the Warring States Period to the Han: The Formation and Maturation of Historiography Chapter 3. The Age of Disunity: Proliferations and Variations of Historiography Chapter 4. The Tang: The History Bureau and Its Critics Chapter 5. The Song: Cultural Flourishing and the Blooming of Historiography Chapter 6. The Jin and the Yuan: History and Legitimation in the Dynasties of Conquest Chapter 7. The Ming: The Flowering of Private Historiography and Its Innovations Chapter 8. The Qing: Histories and the Classics Epilogue Glossary Bibliography Index About the Authors