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Toward the end of the Eastern Han dynasty, Emperor Xian considered the Hanshu too voluminous and ordered Xun Yue to copy and edit it. Xun Yue summarized Hanshu's contents in the annalistic structure. He started his writing in the third year of Jian'an (198) and finished it in the fifth year of Jian'an (200). Since Xun Yue adapted the Hanshu for his Hanji, which is the first book to set up the intact compilation system of dynastic history presented in a chronological form, attempts have been made to probe the relationship between the Hanshu and the Hanji. Hanji initiated the new annalistic form of chronological Chinese historical classics. Nevertheless, very few scholars have devoted the effort to the study of the relationship among the Shiji, the Hanshu and the Hanji. The present paper aims at examining the above relationship with a view to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the Hanji and to analyse the reference sources of the Hanji through the parallel readings of the Shiji and the Hanji. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]