Henen-tai prevailed at first because China had "Chunqiu," a masterpiece written in henen-tai, but after Sima Qian wrote "Shiki," kiden-tai took the place of it and all volumes of Nijushishi (24 dynastic histories) were written in kiden-tai.
中国では『春秋』と言う名作があったために最初は編年体が主流だったが、司馬遷の『史記』以降は紀伝体が主流になり、二十四史は全て紀伝体である。