topical-annalistic style
A style of historical writing that organizes events by topic rather than strictly chronologically; a technical term in Chinese and Japanese historiography.
The 'Tongjian Jishi Benmo' is a representative historical work in the topical-annalistic style.
From Chinese 紀事本末體 (jìshì běnmò tǐ), literally 'record-event root-branch style'. The term describes a historiographical format that presents events in a topical rather than purely chronological order.