Historiographical category 四库全书 shibu 史部

The historiographic category (shibu 史部) is the second of the four categories (sibu 四部) in the traditional system of the Chinese literary categories established during the Southern Dynasties period 南朝 (420~589). In the collectaneum Siku quanshu 四库全书 the category is divided into 15 sub-categories, including various types of proper histories (official biographic-thematic style zhengshi 正史, annalist style biannian 编年, theme-related histories jishi benmo 纪事本末, alternative histories bieshi别史, miscellaneous histories zashi 杂史, extracts shichao 史钞, regional histories zaiji 载记), collections of edicts and memorials (zhaoling zouyi 诏令奏议, shiling 时令), biographies of eminent persons (zhuanji 传记), administrative and descriptive geography (dili 地理), state offices (zhiguan职官) and regulations on such, regulations for all aspects of statecraft (zhengshu 政书), historical critique (shiping 史评), as well as the category of bibliographies (mulu 目录), often based on palace libraries.