Sima Qian
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Sima Qian (/ˈsiːmɑː ˈtʃɪən/;[1] Chinese: 司馬遷;
Wade–Giles: Ssu-ma Ch'ien /ˈsuːmɑː ˈtʃɪən/),[2] was a
Chinese historian of the early
Han dynasty

Han dynasty (206 BC –
AD 220). He is considered the father of Chinese historiography
for his Records of the Grand Historian, a Jizhuanti-style (history
presented in a series of biographies) general history of China,
covering more than two thousand years from the
Yellow Emperor

Yellow Emperor to his
time, during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, a work that had much
influence for centuries afterwards on history-writing not only in
China, but in Korea, Japan and Vietnam as well.[3] Although he worked
as the Court Astrologer (Tàishǐ Lìng 太史令), later generations
refer to him as the Grand Historian (Tàishǐ Gōng 太史公) for his
monumental work; a work which in later generations would often only be
somewhat tacitly or glancingly acknowledged as an achievement only
made possible by his acceptance and endurance of punitive actions
against him, including imprisonment, castration, and subjection to
servility.
Contents
1 Early life and education
2 As Han court official
2.1 The
Li Ling affair
3 Records of the Grand Historian
4 Literary figure
4.1 Other literary works
5 Astrologer
6 References
7 Sources
8 Further reading
9 External links
Early life and education[edit]
Sima Qian
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Sima Qian was born at Xiayang in Zuopingyi (near modern Hancheng,
Shaanxi Province) around 145 BC, though some sources give his
birth year as around 135 BC.[4] Sima's precise year of birth is
still debated, but it is generally agreed that he lived most of his
life during the reign of the Emperor Wu whose long reign lasted from
141–87 BC.[3] Around 136 BC, his father, Sima Tan, received an
appointment to the relatively low-ranking position of "grand
historian" (tàishǐ 太史, alt. "grand scribe" or "grand
astrologer").[5][6] The grand historian's primary duty was to
formulate the yearly calendar, identifying which days were ritually
auspicious or inauspicious, and present it to the emperor prior to New
Year's Day.[6] Besides these duties, the grand historian was also to
travel with the emperor for important rituals and to record the daily
events both at the court and within the country.[7] By his account, by
the age of ten Sima was able to "read the old writings" and was
considered to be a promising scholar.[7] Sima grew up in a Confucian
environment, and Sima always regarded his historical work as an act of
Confucian filial piety to his father.[7]
In 126 BC, around the age of twenty,
Sima Qian
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Sima Qian began an extensive
tour around
China

China as it existed in the Han dynasty.[6] He started his
journey from the imperial capital, Chang'an (modern Xi'an), then went
south across the
Yangtze River

Yangtze River to Changsha (modern Hunan Province),
where he visited the
Miluo River

Miluo River site where the ancient poet Qu Yuan
was traditionally said to have drowned himself.[6] He then went to
seek the burial place of the legendary
Xia dynasty

Xia dynasty rulers Yu on Mount
Kuaiji and Shun in the Jiuyi Mountains (modern Ningyuan County,
Hunan).[6][8] He then went north to Huaiyin (modern Huai'an, Jiangsu
Province) to see the grave of
Han dynasty

Han dynasty general Han Xin, then
continued north to Qufu, the hometown of Confucius, where he studied
ritual and other traditional subjects.[6]
As Han court official[edit]
After his travels, Sima was chosen to be a Palace Attendant in the
government, whose duties were to inspect different parts of the
country with Emperor Wu in 122 BC.[3] Sima married young and had one
daughter.[3] In 110 BC, at the age of thirty-five,
Sima Qian
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Sima Qian was
sent westward on a military expedition against some "barbarian"
tribes. That year, his father fell ill and could not attend the
Imperial Feng Sacrifice. Suspecting his time was running out, he
summoned his son back home to complete the historical work he had
begun.
Sima Tan wanted to follow the
Annals of Spring and Autumn

Annals of Spring and Autumn - the
first chronicle in the history of Chinese literature. Fueled by his
father's inspiration,
Sima Qian
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Sima Qian started to compile Shiji, which became
known in English as the Records of the Grand Historian, in
109 BC. Three years after the death of his father, Sima Qian
assumed his father's previous position as Court Astrologer. In
105 BC, Sima was among the scholars chosen to reform the
calendar. As a senior imperial official, Sima was also in the position
to offer counsel to the emperor on general affairs of state.
The
Li Ling affair[edit]
Portrait of Sima Qian
In 99 BC,
Sima Qian
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Sima Qian became embroiled in the
Li Ling affair, where
Li Ling and Li Guangli, two military officers who led a campaign
against the
Xiongnu

Xiongnu in the north, were defeated and taken captive.
Emperor Wu attributed the defeat to Li Ling, with all government
officials subsequently condemning him for it. Sima was the only person
to defend Li Ling, who had never been his friend but whom he
respected. Emperor Wu interpreted Sima's defence of Li as an attack on
his brother-in-law, Li Guangli, who had also fought against the
Xiongnu

Xiongnu without much success, and sentenced Sima to death. At that
time, execution could be commuted either by money or castration. Since
Sima did not have enough money to atone his "crime", he chose the
latter and was then thrown into prison, where he endured three years.
He described his pain thus: "When you see the jailer you abjectly
touch the ground with your forehead. At the mere sight of his
underlings you are seized with terror... Such ignominy can never be
wiped away." Sima called his castration "the worst of all
punishments".[7]
In 96 BC, on his release from prison, Sima chose to live on as a
palace eunuch to complete his histories, rather than commit suicide as
was expected of a gentleman-scholar who had been disgraced with
castration.[3] As
Sima Qian
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Sima Qian himself explained in his Letter to Ren An:
If even the lowest slave and scullion maid can bear to commit suicide,
why should not one like myself be able to do what has to be done? But
the reason I have not refused to bear these ills and have continued to
live, dwelling in vileness and disgrace without taking my leave, is
that I grieve that I have things in my heart which I have not been
able to express fully, and I am shamed to think that after I am gone
my writings will not be known to posterity. Too numerous to record are
the men of ancient times who were rich and noble and whose names have
yet vanished away. It is only those who were masterful and sure, the
truly extraordinary men, who are still remembered. ... I too have
ventured not to be modest but have entrusted myself to my useless
writings. I have gathered up and brought together the old traditions
of the world which were scattered and lost. I have examined the deeds
and events of the past and investigated the principles behind their
success and failure, their rise and decay, in one hundred and thirty
chapters. I wished to examine into all that concerns heaven and man,
to penetrate the changes of the past and present, completing all as
the work of one family. But before I had finished my rough manuscript,
I met with this calamity. It is because I regretted that it had not
been completed that I submitted to the extreme penalty without rancor.
When I have truly completed this work, I shall deposit it in the
Famous Mountain. If it may be handed down to men who will appreciate
it, and penetrate to the villages and great cities, then though I
should suffer a thousand mutilations, what regret should I have?
— Sima Qian, translation by Burton Watson[9]
Records of the Grand Historian[edit]
The first page of Shiji.
Although the style and form of Chinese historical writings varied
through the ages, the
Records of the Grand Historian
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Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji) has
defined the quality and style from then onwards. Before Sima,
histories were written as certain events or certain periods of history
of states; his idea of a general history affected later
historiographers like Zheng Qiao (郑樵) in writing Tongzhi and Sima
Guang in writing Zizhi Tongjian. The Chinese historical form of
dynasty history, or jizhuanti history of dynasties, was codified in
the second dynastic history by Ban Gu's Book of Han, but historians
regard Sima's work as their model, which stands as the "official
format" of the history of China. The
Shiji
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Shiji comprises 130 chapters
consisting of half-million characters.[3]
Sima was greatly influenced by Confucius’s Spring and Autumn Annals,
which on the surface is a succinct chronology from the events of the
reigns of the twelve dukes of Lu from 722 to 484 BC.[7] Many Chinese
scholars have and still do view how
Confucius

Confucius ordered his chronology
as the ideal example of how history should be written, especially with
regards to what he chose to include and to exclude; and his choice of
words as indicating moral judgements [7] Seen in this light, the
Spring and Autumn
Annals

Annals are a moral guide to the proper way of
living.[10] Sima took this view himself as he explained:
It [Spring and Autumn Annals] distinguishes what is suspicious and
doubtful, clarifies right and wrong, and settles points which are
uncertain. It calls good good and bad bad, honours the worthy, and
condemns the unworthy. It preserves states which are lost and restores
the perishing family. It brings to light what was neglected and
restores what was abandoned. [10]
Sima saw the
Shiji
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Shiji as being in the same tradition as he explained in
his introduction to chapter 61 of the
Shiji
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Shiji where he wrote:
“Some people say 'It is Heaven’s way, without distinction of
persons, to keep the good perpetually supplied. ' Can we say then that
Po I and Shu Ch'I were good men or not? They clung to righteousness
and were pure in their deeds…yet they starved to death…Robber Chih
day after day killed innocent men, making mincemeat of their
flesh…But in the end he lived to a great old age. For what virtue
did he deserve this? …I find myself in much perplexity. Is this
so-called 'Way of Heaven' right or wrong?”[10]
To resolve this theodical problem, Sima argued that while the wicked
may succeed and the good may suffer in their own life-times, it is the
historian who ensures that in the end good triumphs.[10] For Sima, the
writing of history was no mere antiquarian pursuit, but was rather a
vital moral task as the historian would “preserve memory”, and
thereby ensure the ultimate victory of good over evil.[10] Along these
lines, Sima wrote:
“Su Ch’in and his two brothers all achieved fame among the feudal
lords as itinerant strategists. Their policies laid great stress upon
stratagems and shifts of power. But because Su Ch’in died a
traitor’s death, the world has united in scoffing at him and has
been loath to study his policies…Su Ch’in arouse from the humblest
beginnings to lead the Six States in the Vertical Alliance, and this
is evidence that he possessed an intelligence surpassing the ordinary
person. For this reason I have set forth this account of his deeds,
arranging them in proper chronological order, so that he may not
forever suffer from an evil reputation and be known for nothing
else”.[11]
Such a moralizing approach to history with the historian high-guiding
the good and evil to provide lessons for the present could be
dangerous for the historian as it could bring down the wrath of the
state onto the historian as happened to Sima himself. As such, the
historian had to tread carefully and often expressed his judgements in
a circuitous way designed to fool the censor.[12] Sima himself in the
conclusion to chapter 110 of the
Shiji
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Shiji declared that he was a writing
in this tradition where he stated:
“When
Confucius

Confucius wrote the Spring and Autumn Annals, he was very open
in treating the reigns of Yin and Huan, the early dukes of Lu; but
when he came to the later period of Dukes Ding and Ai, his writing was
much more covert. Because in the latter case he was writing about his
own times, he did not express his judgements frankly, but used subtle
and guarded language.”[12]
Bearing this in mind, not everything that Sima wrote should be
understood as conveying didactical moral lessons.[12] But several
historians have suggested that parts of the Shiji, such as where Sima
placed his section on Confucius’s use of indirect criticism in the
part of the book dealing with the
Xiongnu

Xiongnu “barbarians” might
indicate his disapproval of the foreign policy of the Emperor Wu.[12]
In writing Shiji, Sima initiated a new writing style by presenting
history in a series of biographies. His work extends over 130 chapters
— not in historical sequence, but divided into particular subjects,
including annals, chronicles, and treatises — on music, ceremonies,
calendars, religion, economics, and extended biographies. Sima's work
influenced the writing style of other histories outside of
China

China as
well, such as the
Goryeo
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Goryeo (Korean) history the Samguk Sagi. Sima
adopted a new method in sorting out the historical data and a new
approach to writing historical records. At the beginning of the Shiji,
Sima declared himself a follower of Confucius’s approach in the
Analects to “hear much but leave to one side that which is doubtful,
and speak with due caution concerning the remainder”.[12] Reflecting
these rigorous analytic methods, Sima declared that he would not write
about periods of history where they was insufficient
documentation.[12] As such, Sima wrote “the ages before the Ch’in
dynasty are too far away and the material on them too scanty to permit
a detailed account of them here”.[12] In the same way, Sima
discounted accounts in the traditional records that were
“ridiculous” such as the pretense that Prince Tan could via the
use of magic make the clouds rain grain and horses grow horns.[12]
Sima constantly compared accounts found in the manuscripts with what
he considered reliable sources like Confucian classics like the Book
of Odes, Book of History, Book of Rites, Book of Music, Book of
Changes and Spring and Autumn Annals.[12] When Sima encountered a
story that could not be cross-checked with the Confucian classics, he
systemically compared the information with other documents. Sima
mentioned at least 75 books he used for cross-checking.[13]
Furthermore, Sima often questioned people about historical events they
had experienced.[12] Sima mentioned after one of his trips across
China

China that: “When I had occasion to pass through Feng and Beiyi
questioned the elderly people who were about the place, visited the
old home of Xiao He, Cao Can,
Fan Kuai

Fan Kuai and Xiahou Ying, and learned
much about the early days. How different it was from the stories one
hears!”[13] Reflecting the traditional Chinese reverence for age,
Sima stated that he preferred to interview the elderly as he believed
that they were the most likely to supply him with correct and truthful
information about had happened in the past.[13] During one of this
trips, Sima mentioned that he was overcome with emotion when he saw
the carriage of
Confucius

Confucius together with his clothes and various other
personal items that had belonged to Confucius.[13]
Despite his very large debts to Confucian tradition, Sima was an
innovator in four ways. To begin with, Sima’s work was concerned
with the history of the known world.[13] Previous Chinese historians
had only focused on only one dynasty and/or region. [13] Sima’s
history of 130 chapters began with the legendary
Yellow Emperor

Yellow Emperor to his
own time, and covered not only China, but also neighboring nations
like Korea and Vietnam.[13] In this regard, Sima was significant as
the first Chinese historian to treat the peoples living to the north
of the Great Wall like the
Xiongnu

Xiongnu as human beings who were implicitly
the equals of the Middle Kingdom, instead of the traditional approach
which had portrayed the
Xiongnu

Xiongnu as savages who had the appearance of
humans, but the minds of animals.[14] In his comments about the
Xiongnu, Sima refrained from evoking claims about the innate moral
superiority of the Han over the "northern barbarians" that were the
standard rhetorical tropes of Chinese historians in this period.[15]
Likewise, Sima in his chapter about the
Xiongnu

Xiongnu condemns those
advisors who purse the "expediency of the moment", that is advise the
Emperor to carry policies such as conquests of other nations that
bring a brief moment of glory, but burden the state with the enormous
financial and often human costs of holding on to the conquered
land.[16] Sima was engaging in an indirect criticism of the advisors
of the Emperor Wu who were urging him to pursue a policy of aggression
towards the
Xiongnu

Xiongnu and conquer all their land, a policy that Sima was
apparently opposed to.[16]
Sima also broke new ground by using more sources like interviewing
witnesses, visiting places where historical occurrences had happened,
and examining documents from different regions and/or times.[13]
Before Chinese historians had tended to use only reign histories as
their sources.[13] The
Shiji
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Shiji was further very novel in Chinese
historiography by examining historical events outside of the courts,
providing a broader history than the traditional court-based histories
had done.[13] Lastly, Sima broke with the traditional chronological
structure of Chinese history. Sima instead had divided the
Shiji
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Shiji into
five divisions: the basic annals which comprised the first 12
chapters, the chronological tables which comprised the next 10
chapters, treatises on particular subjects which make up 8 chapters,
accounts of the ruling families which take up 30 chapters, and
biographies of various eminent people which are the last 70
chapters.[13] The annals follow the traditional Chinese pattern of
court-based histories of the lives of various emperors and their
families.[13] The chronological tables are graphs recounting the
political history of China.[13] The treatises are essays on topics
such as astronomy, music, religion, hydraulic engineering and
economics.[13] The last section dealing with biographies cover both
famous people, both Chinese and foreign.[13] Unlike traditional
Chinese historians, Sima went beyond the androcentric, emperor-focused
histories by dealing with the lives of women and men such as poets,
bureaucrats, merchants, assassins, and philosophers.[17] The treatises
section, the biographies sections and the annals section relating to
the Qin dynasty (as a former dynasty, there was more freedom to write
about the Qin than there was about the reigning Han dynasty) that make
up 40% of the
Shiji
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Shiji have aroused the most interest from historians and
are the only parts of the
Shiji
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Shiji that have been translated into
English.[3]
When Sima placed his subjects was often his way of expressing
obliquely moral judgements.[17] Empress Lü and
Xiang Yu

Xiang Yu were the
effective rulers of
China

China during reigns Hui of the Han and Yi of Chu
respectively, so Sima placed both their lives in the basic annals.[17]
Likewise,
Confucius

Confucius is included in the fourth section rather the fifth
where he properly belonged as a way of showing his eminent virtue.[17]
The structure of the
Shiji
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Shiji allowed Sima to tell the same stories in
different ways, which allowed him to pass his moral judgements.[17]
For example, in the basic annals section, the Emperor Gaozu is
portrayed as a good leader whereas in the section dealing with his
rival Xiang Yu, the Emperor is portrayed unflatteringly.[17] Likewise,
the chapter on Xiang presents him in a favorable light whereas the
chapter on Gaozu portrays him in more darker colors.[17] At the end of
most of the chapters, Sima usually wrote a commentary in which he
judged how the individual lived up to traditional Chinese values like
filial piety, humility, self-discipline, hard work and concern for the
less fortunate.[17] Sima analyzed the records and sorted out those
that could serve the purpose of Shiji. He intended to discover the
patterns and principles of the development of human history. Sima also
emphasized, for the first time in Chinese history, the role of
individual men in affecting the historical development of
China

China and
his historical perception that a country cannot escape from the fate
of growth and decay.
Unlike the Book of Han, which was written under the supervision of the
imperial dynasty,
Shiji
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Shiji was a privately written history since he
refused to write
Shiji
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Shiji as an official history covering only those of
high rank. The work also covers people of the lower classes and is
therefore considered a "veritable record" of the darker side of the
dynasty. In Sima's time, literature and history were not seen as
separate disciplines as they are now, and Sima wrote his magnum opus
in a very literary style, making extensive use of irony, sarcasm,
juxtaposition of events, characterization, direct speech and invented
speeches, which led the American historian Jennifer Jay to describe
parts of the
Shiji
.jpg/440px-Sima_Qian_(painted_portrait).jpg)
Shiji as reading more like a historical novel than a work
of history.[3] For an example, Sima tells the story of a Chinese
eunuch named Zhonghang Xue who become an advisor to the Xiongnu
kings.[18] Sima provides a long dialogue between Zhonghang and an
envoy sent by the Emperor Wen of
China

China during which the latter
disparages the
Xiongnu

Xiongnu as "savages" whose customs are barbaric while
Zhonghang defends the
Xiongnu

Xiongnu customs as either justified and/or as
morally equal to Chinese customs, at times even morally superior as
Zhonghang draws a contrast between the bloody succession struggles in
China

China where family members would murder one another to be Emperor vs.
the more orderly succession of the
Xiongnu

Xiongnu kings.[19] The American
historian Tamara Chin wrote that though Zhonghang did exist, the
dialogue is merely a "literacy device" for Sima to make points that he
could not otherwise make.[20] The favorable picture of the traitor
Zhonghang who went over to the
Xiongnu

Xiongnu who bests the Emperor's loyal
envoy in an ethnographic argument about what is the morally superior
nation appears to be Sima's way of attacking the entire Chinese court
system where the Emperor preferred the lies told by his sycophantic
advisors over the truth told by his honest advisors as inherently
corrupt and depraved.[21] The point is reinforced by the fact that
Sima has Zhonghang speak the language of an idealized Confucian
official whereas the Emperor's envoy's language is dismissed as "mere
twittering and chatter".[22] Elsewhere in the
Shiji
.jpg/440px-Sima_Qian_(painted_portrait).jpg)
Shiji Sima portrayed the
Xiongnu

Xiongnu less favorably, so the debate was most almost certainly more
Sima's way of criticizing the Chinese court system and less genuine
praise for the Xiongnu.[23]
Sima has often been criticized for "historizing" myths and legends as
he assigned dates to mythical and legendary figures from ancient
Chinese history together with what appears to be suspiciously precise
genealogies of leading families over the course of several millennia
(including his own where he traces the descent of the Sima family from
legendary emperors in the distant past).[3] However, archaeological
discoveries in recent decades have confirmed aspects of the Shiji, and
suggested that even if the sections of the
Shiji
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Shiji dealing with the
ancient past are not totally true, that at least Sima wrote down what
he believed to be true. In particular, archaeological finds have
confirmed the basic accuracy of the
Shiji
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Shiji including the reigns and
locations of tombs of ancient rulers.[3]
Literary figure[edit]
Sima's
Shiji
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Shiji is respected as a model of biographical literature with
high literary value and still stands as a textbook for the study of
classical Chinese. Sima's works were influential to Chinese writing,
serving as ideal models for various types of prose within the
neo-classical ("renaissance" 复古) movement of the Tang-Song period.
The great use of characterisation and plotting also influenced fiction
writing, including the classical short stories of the middle and late
medieval period (Tang-Ming) as well as the vernacular novel of the
late imperial period. Sima had immense influence on historiography not
only in China, but also in Japan and Korea. [24] For centuries
afterwards, the
Shiji
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Shiji was regarded as the greatest history book
written in Asia. [24] Sima is little known in the English-speaking
world as a full translation of the
Shiji
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Shiji has never been attempted.
[24]
His influence was derived primarily from the following elements of his
writing: his skillful depiction of historical characters using details
of their speech, conversations, and actions; his innovative use of
informal, humorous, and varied language; and the simplicity and
conciseness of his style. Even the 20th century literary critic Lu Xun
regarded
Shiji
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Shiji as "the historians' most perfect song, a "Li Sao"
without the rhyme" (史家之绝唱,无韵之离骚) in his
"Hanwenxueshi Gangyao" (汉文学史纲要).
Other literary works[edit]
Sima's famous letter to his friend Ren An about his sufferings during
the
Li Ling Affair and his perseverance in writing
Shiji
.jpg/440px-Sima_Qian_(painted_portrait).jpg)
Shiji is today
regarded as a highly admired example of literary prose style, studied
widely in
China

China even today.
Sima Qian
.jpg/440px-Sima_Qian_(painted_portrait).jpg)
Sima Qian wrote eight rhapsodies (fu 赋), which are listed in the
bibliographic treatise of the Book of Han. All but one, the "Rhapsody
in Lament for Gentleman who do not Meet their Time" (士不遇赋)
have been lost, and even the surviving example is probably not
complete.
Astrologer[edit]
Sima and his father were both court astrologers (taishi) 太史 in the
Former Han Dynasty. At that time, the astrologer had an important
role, responsible for interpreting and predicting the course of
government according to the influence of the Sun, Moon, and stars, as
well as other phenomena such as solar eclipses and earthquakes.
Before compiling Shiji, in 104 BC,
Sima Qian
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Sima Qian created Taichuli
(太初历) which can be translated as 'The first calendar' on the
basis of the Qin calendar.
Taichuli

Taichuli was one of the most advanced
calendars of the time. The creation of
Taichuli

Taichuli was regarded as a
revolution in the Chinese calendar tradition, as it stated that there
were 365.25 days in a year and 29.53 days in a month.
The minor planet 12620 Simaqian is named in his honour.
References[edit]
^ "Sima Qian". Collins English Dictionary.
^ "Ssu-ma Ch'ien". Collins English Dictionary.
^ a b c d e f g h i j Jay, Jennifer (1999). ""Sima Qian"". In Kelly
Boyd. The Encyclopedia of Historians and Historical Writing Volume 2.
FitzRoy Dearborn. pp. 1093–1094.
^ Knechtges (2014), p. 959.
^ de Crespigny (2007), p. 1222.
^ a b c d e f Knechtges (2014), p. 960.
^ a b c d e f Hughes-Warrington (2000), p. 291.
^ Watson (1958), p. 47.
^ Watson (1958), pp. 57-67.
^ a b c d e Hughes-Warrington (2000), p. 292.
^ Hughes-Warrington (2000), pp. 292-293.
^ a b c d e f g h i j Hughes-Warrington (2000), p. 293.
^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Hughes-Warrington (2000), p. 294.
^ Chin, Tamara "Defamiliarizing the Foreigner: Sima Qian's Ethnography
and Han-
Xiongnu

Xiongnu Marriage Diplomacy" pages 311-354 from Harvard Journal
of Asiatic Studies, Volume 70, Issue # 2, December 2010 pages 318-319.
^ Chin, Tamara "Defamiliarizing the Foreigner: Sima Qian's Ethnography
and Han-
Xiongnu

Xiongnu Marriage Diplomacy" pages 311-354 from Harvard Journal
of Asiatic Studies, Volume 70, Issue # 2, December 2010 page 320.
^ a b Chin, Tamara "Defamiliarizing the Foreigner: Sima Qian's
Ethnography and Han-
Xiongnu

Xiongnu Marriage Diplomacy" pages 311-354 from
Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Volume 70, Issue # 2, December
2010 page 321.
^ a b c d e f g h Hughes-Warrington (2000), p. 295.
^ Chin, Tamara "Defamiliarizing the Foreigner: Sima Qian's Ethnography
and Han-
Xiongnu

Xiongnu Marriage Diplomacy" pages 311-354 from Harvard Journal
of Asiatic Studies, Volume 70, Issue # 2, December 2010 page 325.
^ Chin, Tamara "Defamiliarizing the Foreigner: Sima Qian's Ethnography
and Han-
Xiongnu

Xiongnu Marriage Diplomacy" pages 311-354 from Harvard Journal
of Asiatic Studies, Volume 70, Issue # 2, December 2010 pages 325-326.
^ Chin, Tamara "Defamiliarizing the Foreigner: Sima Qian's Ethnography
and Han-
Xiongnu

Xiongnu Marriage Diplomacy" pages 311-354 from Harvard Journal
of Asiatic Studies, Volume 70, Issue # 2, December 2010 pages 328-329.
^ Chin, Tamara "Defamiliarizing the Foreigner: Sima Qian's Ethnography
and Han-
Xiongnu

Xiongnu Marriage Diplomacy" pages 311-354 from Harvard Journal
of Asiatic Studies, Volume 70, Issue # 2, December 2010 pages 333-334.
^ Chin, Tamara "Defamiliarizing the Foreigner: Sima Qian's Ethnography
and Han-
Xiongnu

Xiongnu Marriage Diplomacy" pages 311-354 from Harvard Journal
of Asiatic Studies, Volume 70, Issue # 2, December 2010 page 334.
^ Chin, Tamara "Defamiliarizing the Foreigner: Sima Qian's Ethnography
and Han-
Xiongnu

Xiongnu Marriage Diplomacy" pages 311-354 from Harvard Journal
of Asiatic Studies, Volume 70, Issue # 2, December 2010 page 340.
^ a b c Hughes-Warrington (2000), p. 296.
Sources[edit]
de Crespigny, Rafe (2007). A Biographical Dictionary of Later Han to
the Three Kingdoms (23–220 AD). Leiden: Brill.
ISBN 978-90-04-15605-0.
Hughes-Warrington, Marnie (2000). Fifty Key Thinkers on History.
London: Routledge.
Knechtges, David R. (2014). "
Sima Qian
.jpg/440px-Sima_Qian_(painted_portrait).jpg)
Sima Qian 司馬遷". In Knechtges, David
R.; Chang, Tai-ping. Ancient and Early Medieval Chinese Literature: A
Reference Guide, Part Two. Leiden: Brill. pp. 959–965.
ISBN 978-90-04-19240-9.
Watson, Burton (1958). Ssu-ma Ch'ien: Grand Historian of China. New
York: Columbia University Press.
Further reading[edit]
Markley, J. Peace and Peril. Sima Qian's portrayal of Han - Xiongnu
relations (Silk Road Studies XIII), Turnhout, 2016,
ISBN 978-2-503-53083-3
Allen, J.R "An Introductory Study of Narrative Structure in the Shi
ji" pages 31–61 from Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews,
Volume 3, Issue 1, 1981.
Allen, J.R. "Records of the Historian" pages 259–271 from
Masterworks of Asian Literature in Comparative Perspective: A Guide
for Teaching, Armonk: Sharpe, 1994.
Beasley, W. G & Pulleyblank, E. G Historians of
China

China and Japan,
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1961.
Dubs, H.H. "History and Historians under the Han" pages 213-218 from
Journal of Asian Studies, Volume 20, Issue # 2, 1961.
Durrant S.W "Self as the Intersection of Tradition: The
Autobiographical Writings of Ssu-Ch'ien" pages 33–40 from Journal of
the American Oriental Society, Volume 106, Issue # 1, 1986.
Cardner, C. S Traditional Historiography, Cambridge: Harvard
University Press, 1970.
Hardy, G.R "Can an Ancient Chinese historian Contribute to Modern
Western Theory?" pages 20–38 from History and Theory, Volume 33,
Issue # 1, 1994.
Kroll, J.L "Ssu-ma Ch'ien Literary Theory and Literary Practice" pages
313-325 from Altorientalische Forshungen, Volume 4, 1976.
Li, W.Y "The Idea of Authority in the Shi chi" pages 345-405 from
Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Volume 54, Issue # 2, 1994.
Moloughney, B. "From Biographical History to Historical Biography: A
Transformation in Chinese Historical Writings" pages 1–30 from East
Asian History, Volume 4, Issue 1, 1992.
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VIAF: 9817411
LCCN: n50027264
ISNI: 0000 0001 2120 0536
GND: 11895895X
SELIBR: 198111
SUDOC: 029727669
BNF: cb12128943q (data)
NDL: 00316341
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