The Historical Records (Shiji) of the Han Dynasty is one of the most influential histories ever written. Centuries of Chinese have used the history to help understand and define themselves and the barbarian peoples they saw as all around them. The Records were written close to the times they depicted - the author, Sima Qian, lived in about the years 145-85 BCE and had access to many important people and papers. To these sources, Sima Qian added a quick and lively intelligence that meant he was quite capable of inventing conversations and details to support his narrative flow.
Who was Sima Qian? He was born in a rural environment in Longmen close to what is now known as Hongchen. He benefited from being born during the early part of the Han Dynasty during which energetic leaders were creating and developing government institutions in which young boys who were diligent and talented could achieve important careers in the imperial bureaucracy. Added to this, Sima Qian was greatly advantaged in that his father, Sima Tan, was already the office holder of the position Prefect of the Grand Scribes. By the age of ten, Sima Qian was accomplished in a number of the great authors and, at the age of twenty, embarked on a journey of exploration throughout the empire, including a period studying in the home province of Confucius.
Sima Qian's father became ill and apparently asked his son to take over his position, which he seems to have been very keen to do. However, some years into his task, he found himself in the unfortunate position of trying to defend the actions of a general who had either defected to the Xiongnu nomads or been captured by them. When this was brought to the attention of the emperor, the young historian was given the choice of immediate death or castration. Feeling that his life's work was not yet complete and that he wanted to continue despite everything, Sima Qian accepted the ritual humiliation of the knife and a life of servitude. Nevertheless, this did not mean that his eventual 130 volume set of records tended towards the sycophantic or cautiously defensive. Instead, his work focuses on the characteristics and actions of a very wide range of individuals that consistently mark their significance and their personality. As a result, the record of each person or event becomes of symbolic importance as well as part of the pageant of princes, warriors and romances that we are familiar with as narratives of the past. This enabled Sima Qian to provide many moral lessons on right thinking and right behaviour, not just for people in general but also for leaders and emperors. Here is, for example, his judgment on the first two emperors of the Qin dynasty:
Who was Sima Qian? He was born in a rural environment in Longmen close to what is now known as Hongchen. He benefited from being born during the early part of the Han Dynasty during which energetic leaders were creating and developing government institutions in which young boys who were diligent and talented could achieve important careers in the imperial bureaucracy. Added to this, Sima Qian was greatly advantaged in that his father, Sima Tan, was already the office holder of the position Prefect of the Grand Scribes. By the age of ten, Sima Qian was accomplished in a number of the great authors and, at the age of twenty, embarked on a journey of exploration throughout the empire, including a period studying in the home province of Confucius.
Sima Qian's father became ill and apparently asked his son to take over his position, which he seems to have been very keen to do. However, some years into his task, he found himself in the unfortunate position of trying to defend the actions of a general who had either defected to the Xiongnu nomads or been captured by them. When this was brought to the attention of the emperor, the young historian was given the choice of immediate death or castration. Feeling that his life's work was not yet complete and that he wanted to continue despite everything, Sima Qian accepted the ritual humiliation of the knife and a life of servitude. Nevertheless, this did not mean that his eventual 130 volume set of records tended towards the sycophantic or cautiously defensive. Instead, his work focuses on the characteristics and actions of a very wide range of individuals that consistently mark their significance and their personality. As a result, the record of each person or event becomes of symbolic importance as well as part of the pageant of princes, warriors and romances that we are familiar with as narratives of the past. This enabled Sima Qian to provide many moral lessons on right thinking and right behaviour, not just for people in general but also for leaders and emperors. Here is, for example, his judgment on the first two emperors of the Qin dynasty:
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