In 1980s, "New Historicism" rose in American university campuses. "New Historicism" claims that all texts about history are equal to literary fiction (hayden white). Critics say that "a historian is a storyteller first", and the sensitivity of a historian lies in his ability to create a credible story from a series of "facts". The so-called "ability to make up stories" means "by suppressing and belittling some factors, raising and attaching importance to others, by shaping personality, repeating themes, changing voices and opinions, and adopting alternative description strategies, etc.-in short, by all the skills we usually weave in novels or plays-it becomes a story."

Before the emergence of "new historicism" in the west, history and literature should be strictly separated. History emphasizes rationality and authenticity, while literature emphasizes sensibility. In China, some people focus on history, while others focus on literature. In the Tang Dynasty, Han Yu, Zhuangzi, Qu Yuan's Songs of Chu and Sima Xiangru's Fu also called Historical Records a writing model. Since then, people often read Historical Records as literature. This is not to show off that China people's understanding of historical works has been ahead of the West for so many years, but to understand the literary value of Historical Records as a historical text more clearly under the contrast of modern western theories. Technically, the literary value of Historical Records is nothing more than elegant brushwork and magnificent momentum, especially long biographies, such as Biography of Xiang Yu, which was introduced in detail earlier. As for Zhang Wen's gorgeous or exquisite vividness, it can also be seen in the articles of Zhuangzi and others. The literary value of Historical Records, more importantly, lies in the exaltation of the author's subjective spirit, that is, putting him into his own creation as a victim, full of resentment, so as to make readers feel the same:

Reading Biography of Ranger means suicide, reading Biography of Qu Yuan and Jia Yi means weeping, reading Biography of Zhuang Zhou and Lv Zhonglian means leaving the world behind, reading Biography of Li Guang means standing up, reading Biography of Shi Jian means bowing your head, and reading Biography of Xinling Jun means cultivating literati. (Paper by Mao Kun and Cai Baishi)

Sima Qian sympathized with and understood talented people, such as Qu Yuan, Xiang Yu and even the Ranger Assassin. However, Sima Qian is not a narrow-minded frog in the well. His heroic travel as a teenager and his family research and ambition as a historian always made him think of the whole world. Historical Records has a wide range of concerns. Pinghua, Amenorrhea and Biography of Huo Zhi all involve economic and political issues. Pinghua has always been regarded as a criticism of the economic policies of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Under his rule, the originally stable state treasury began to lose money. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty not only pursued the enjoyment of material life, but also indulged in extravagance, repairing palaces and patrolling counties. He is also eager to make great contributions and pursue the exploits of the emperor. It also costs a lot of money to expand the territory, build water conservancy projects and save the famine and disaster relief. In addition, unscrupulous businessmen hoard wealth in society, taking personal profit as the highest goal and ignoring national interests. All these led to the decline of the national economy during the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. However, Sima Qian also saw the positive significance of the policy of "leveling"-adjusting prices-implemented by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, which hit the monopoly of rich families and profiteers on property and made the royal family's property income and the Han family's wealth get at the same time. As a historian, Sima Qian viewed his writing objects from the interests of the country and the people.

Aristotle once said in "Poetics" that "poetry is more philosophical and higher than history" and "because poetry describes universality, history tells something individual". We see that Sima Qian's history always puts them in a huge historical time and space when describing individual things, such as writing the economic policy of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty, which is related to the economic situation and trend of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty since the founding of the People's Republic of China; Writing about emperors and generals, writing about chivalrous assassins and writing about Confucian scholars all run in their respective spiritual contexts. Therefore, Historical Records has the character of "poetry". Lu Xun, a great writer in China in the 20th century, paid tribute to Sima Qian with these two sentences: "Historians sing a swan song, and Li Sao has no rhyme." (Outline of China Literature History, Sima Xiangru and Sima Qian)