Although China has a long history and its historical records appeared about 5000 years ago, the discipline of ancient Chinese history did not take form until the Han dynasty. Sima Qian’sSima Qian (司马迁，, , 145-90 BC), with the adult name Zichang(字子长) Shiji in the Earlier Han marked the final birth of the discipline of ancient Chinese history, while Ban Gu’sBan Gu (班固，, , 32-92 AD), with the adult name Mengjian(字孟坚) Hanshu in the Later Han marked its maturity. These two books not only were the historical records but also set down the 4 basic genres of historical texts, namely, the benji, the liezhuan, the shu or zhi, and the biao, and thus developed into the historiography. Many different forms of historical records also emerged in the Han dynasty. Shiji initiated a new type of “universal history” of all dynasties in “jizhuan” form (or the annals-biography form). Hanshu initiated a new type of “history of a single dynasty” in “jizhuan” form. In contrast, Xun Yue’sXun Yue (荀悦) Hanji inherited the old historical annals form while giving it new blood by absorbing the biographic method. The Dongguan Hanji was the first officially compiled “history of a single dynasty” in “jizhuan” form in China. In addition to these “zhengshi” (or standard history), the so-called “zashi” (or miscellaneous history) also appeared in the Han dynasty, such as the Yuejue Shu and Fengsu Tongyi (or General Conception on Customs).