The Principle Of Choosing Characters In Collective Biography & Regional Values Of Sima Qian

The choice of characters in Sima Qian's collective biography reflected his narrative form of history which was known as "differentiate people by region". The narrative form showed there was the so called "regional values" in Sima Qian's knowledge structure. The "regional values" was a value judgement based on region, which was a part of Sima Qian's overall values, so it was affected by history factors and Sima Qian's overall values. And the "regional values" contained the absorption, observation and thinking of localism, which was reflected in the "Records of the Historian". Also the "regional values" affected Sima Qian's literary creation in the"Records of the Historian".