Lidai jishi nianbiao 歷代紀事年表

(Qinding) Lidai jishi nianbiao (欽定)歷代紀事年表 "(Imperially endorsed) Year tables of historical events" is a universal chronicle arranged in tables compiled on imperial order by a team under the supervision of Zhou Qingyuan 周清源 and Wang Zhishu 王之樞. The 200-juan long text was begun during the southern inspection tour of the Kangxi Emperor 康熙帝 (r. 1661-1722) of the Qing dynasty 清 (1644-1911) in 1707 and finished in 1712. It was based on a book submitted to the throne by the commoner (buyi 布衣) Gong Shijiong 龔士炯, but this version ended in the Sui period 隋 (581-618).

The new arrangement, carried out by the court, began during the reign of the mythological Emperor Yao 堯 an ended in 1368, the end of the Yuan period 元 (1279-1368). The tables are arranged in years, and, wherever needed, the horizontal lines represent regional states of competing dynasties and states. The first line in all cases are occupied by the rightful dynasty. For each age, the method is explained in a preface. The texts in the "cells" lists the most important events, and therefore can be used as a very helpful reference book on Chinese history.