Textual Omission Attribution Shift / 史书删节与责任归属转移
Textual omission attribution shift / 史书删节与责任归属转移 is the historiographical pattern Qinji 128-5 identifies when comparing 《史记》 and 《资治通鉴》. The source says Zizhi Tongjian removes a Shiji sentence explaining that 张耳 and 陈馀 resented 陈胜 for not using their plan and for appointing them only as commandants.
The omission changes the moral geometry of the story. With the motive present, Zhang Er and Chen Yu’s advice to 武臣 has a private grievance component in addition to strategic caution. Without it, their move looks more like a justified response to Chen Sheng’s suspicion and poor rule, so responsibility for 反秦阵营诸侯化分裂 shifts toward Chen Sheng.
This concept does not claim that every omission is distortion. It records a specific source-reading rule: when a later chronicle condenses a fuller biographical source, removed motive clauses can change which actor seems selfish, prudent, loyal, or blameworthy.