Histories, Annals, Myths

Abstract

The article – originally published as part of the author’s book The Ambitions of Curiosity. Understanding the World in Ancient Greece and China – systematically compares the roots of historiography in ancient China and ancient Greece. In both cases early historiography seems to be a hybrid, a mixture of several disciplines and knowledge- bases. The social roles of early historians are different: Chinese historians work and write to celebrate, to serve, to teach and to admonish the emperor and his ministers, Greek historians work and write for their peer groups and local communities. But what they have in common, the article argues, is a desire for historical truth derived on the basis of research and criticism.