Shang Shu (The Book of History) is a collection of the historical literature of ancient China. Shang means the ancient time, Shu means the history written on the bamboo slips, and Shang Shu means the historical book of ancient China, mainly recording sayings of the governors in the Shang (17^th century-11^th century BC) and the Zhou (11^th century-256BC) dynasties.

This book survived the books burning move and the war between Chu and Han because Fu Sheng, the court academician of the Qin Dynasty (221-206BC), hid it in walls. It was named by the present litterateurs living in the Han Dynasty (206BC-220AD). Fu Sheng compiled 28 books from the remnants. His work developed into Shang Shu of the Western Han Dynasty (206BC-8AD) with some efforts from his students and became the official textbook. As the books hid by Fu Sheng were written in Li Shu (official script), which was popular in the Han Dynasty (206BC-220AD), the book was called Jin Wen Shang Shu (The Book of History Written in Modern Script).

In the mid Western Han Dynasty, several versions of the pre-Qin period were discovered, and they were called Gu Wen Shang Shu (The Book of History Written in Ancient Script). From then on, a dispute on the Jin Wen (Modern Script) and Gu Wen (Ancient Script) lasted nearly 2,000 years in the academic circle of ancient China.