The Twenty-Four Histories () is a collection of Chinese historical books covering a period of protohistory and history from 3000 BC to the Ming Dynasty in the 17th century. The whole set contains 3213 volumes and about 40 million words. It is often considered an authoritative source of traditional Chinese history and culture, and is used for research on literature, art, music, science, military affairs, geography, ethnography and other subjects. Typically, after collecting credible sources, these canonical history records were produced in the next dynasty by officially organized editing, revising, and collating. It is officially considered as an officer's job failure for every factual error left in the published records. Therefore, compared to "personally made history" (稗史), they are considered as "credible history" (信史) by most professional history researchers. Books of the Twenty-Four Histories- Early Four Historiographies 前四史
Inheritance worksThese works were begun by one historian and completed by an heir in the next generation. Related works Modern editions In China, the Zhonghua Shuju have edited a number of these Histories. These sets (or editions) are appreciated because they have been carefully collated and edited (punctuated) by the Chinese specialists. Therefore, these editions are believed to be relatively reliable, and easy to read and understand. [Xu Elina-Qian, p.19]See also
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