Preface to Taishigong said: "The old news has been lost in the world, and the traces of kings have flourished. The original inspection has ended, and when you see the prosperity and decline, you will act on the examination, slightly pushing the three generations, recording the Qin and Han Dynasties, recording Xuanyuan, and writing the twelve biographies, which is all about the subject. And different times, the year difference is unknown, making ten tables. The gain and loss of rites and music, the change of laws and calendars, the military power, mountains and rivers, ghosts and gods, and the change of heaven and man have made eight books. Twenty-eight lodgings are surrounded by Beichen, with thirty spokes and a hub, which runs endlessly, assisting the ministers of the thigh and arm, being faithful to the deeds, and serving the Lord as thirty families. Help the righteous and charming, don't make yourself lose time, make meritorious deeds famous in the world, and make seventy biographies. Every hundred and thirty articles, 526,5 words, are Taishi Gongshu. "

From this passage alone, it seems that Historical Records has been completely completed and finalized. Let's look at Sima Qian's "Letter to Ren An" written in the fourth year of Taishi: "A servant is not inferior to stealing. Almost self-reliance on incompetent words, snare the old news in the world, test it, and check its success or failure. Every hundred and thirty articles also want to learn from the changes of ancient and modern times and become a family statement. Before the grass was created, it was appropriate to meet this disaster, but I regretted that it failed. Therefore, I was extremely punished without being angry. I have written this book, and I have hidden the famous mountains, spread it to my people, and passed on the city. Then I will pay for the responsibility of humiliation. Although I was killed, I have no regrets! "

judging from this passage, it seems that the Historical Records has not been completed yet. The "526,5 words" mentioned in Preface to Taishigong probably still refers to the draft.

In addition, Historical Records is still lost. After quoting Preface to Taishigong in the full text, The Biography of Sima Qian in Han Dynasty goes on to say: "The story of moving is self-narrative, but ten articles are recorded without books." When Ban Gu wrote Hanshu, Historical Records was not popular in the society, but was only kept in the National Library. Ban Gu was a historian at that time, so he could read this book. He said that ten articles were recorded without books, which probably can't be false. However, Ban Gu did not specify which ten articles were missing. More than a hundred years later, when Zhang Yan was commenting on Hanshu in the Three Kingdoms period, he suddenly said: "After moving away, Jing Ji, Wu Ji, Li Shu, Le Shu, War Book, Chronology of Generals since Han Xing, Biography of Japanese, Family of Three Kings and Turtle died. Between Yuan Cheng and Yuan Cheng, Mr. Chu made up for the vacancy, and wrote "The Emperor Wu Ji", "The Family of Three Kings", "Turtle Policy" and "Biography of Japanese People". His words were mean and he didn't mean to move. " What is the basis of Zhang Yan's statement? It is unknown. However, we need to pay attention to the fact that by the time Zhang Yan annotated Hanshu, Shiji had been widely popular in the society, and it was already a book with 13 complete articles, which was roughly the same as today, and it was no longer "ten articles recorded without books". Zhang Yan's words are just textual research and inference of Ban Gu's old statement. Zhang Yan also said that Mr. Chu supplemented four articles: Ji of Emperor Wu, Family of Three Kings, Biography of Tortoise and Biography of Japanese. In fact, nine * * places supplemented by Mr. Chu are clearly marked in this Historical Records. Except for the controversy at the end of Chen She Family, at least eight other articles are involved, but this does not include the book of Emperor Wu. Therefore, Zhang Yan's statement can only be used as a reference, not as evidence.