In Chinese historiography, the "Classic of History" is one of the Five Classics of Chinese classic texts and one of the earliest narratives of China. The "Spring and Autumn Annals", the official chronicle of the State of Lu covering the period from 722 to 481 BCE, is among the earliest surviving Chinese historical texts arranged on annalistic principles. Sima Qian (around 100 BCE) was the first in China to lay the groundwork for professional historical writing. His written work was the "Shiji" ("Records of the Grand Historian"), a monumental lifelong achievement in literature. Its scope extends as far back as the 16th century BCE, and it includes many treatises on specific subjects and individual biographies of prominent people and also explores the lives and deeds of commoners, both contemporary and those of previous eras.