"The beginnings of Chinese historiography are remote and glorious indeed. The earliest Chronicles date as far back as the 9th century BC. The famous Records o f the Grand Historian, written by Sima Qian (145-90 BC) and his father Sima Tan, completed at the beginning of the first century BC, became the first model for dynastie chronicles which not only recorded historical events in a chronological order but also offered a certain synthesis of these events, as stated by Jacques Gemet, the French author of the monumental history of China aptly entitled Le monde chinois'. Twenty six dynastie chronicles were written according to this model; in order to ensure objectivity, each chronicie was written only after the following dynasty came into power."(...)