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Sima Qian
Traditional Chinese	司馬遷
Simplified Chinese	司马迁
Transcriptions Mandarin - Hanyu Pinyin Sīmǎ Qiān - Wade–Giles Ssu-ma Ch'ien Cantonese (Yue) - Jyutping Si1maa5 Tsin1
Zichang
Traditional Chinese	子長
Simplified Chinese	子长
Transcriptions Mandarin - Hanyu Pinyin Zǐcháng - Wade–Giles Tzu-ch'ang Cantonese (Yue) - Jyutping Zi2coeng4

Sima Qian (ca. 145 or 135 BC – 86 BC) (pinyin: Sīmǎ Qiān; Wade–Giles: Ssu-ma Ch'ien) was a Prefect of the Grand Scribes (太史公 taishigong) of the Han Dynasty. He is regarded as the father of Chinese historiography for his highly praised work, Records of the Grand Historian, a "Jizhuanti"-style general history of China, covering more than two thousand years from the Yellow Emperor to Emperor Wu of Han. His definitive work laid the foundation for later Chinese historiography.

Early life and education[link]

Sima Qian was born and grew up in Longmen, near present-day Hancheng to a family of astrologers. His father, Sima Tan, served as the Prefect of the Grand Scribes of Emperor Wu of Han (Emperor "Han Wudi"). His main responsibilities were managing the imperial library and maintaining or reforming the calendar. Due to intensive training by his father, by the age of ten, Sima Qian was already well versed in old writings. He was a student of the famous Confucians Kong Anguo (孔安國) and Dong Zhongshu. At the age of twenty, with the support of his father, Sima Qian started a journey throughout the country, collecting useful first-hand historical records for his main work, Shiji. The purpose of his journey was to verify the ancient rumors and legends and to visit ancient monuments, including the renowned graves of the ancient sage kings Yu and Shun. Places he visited include Shandong, Yunnan, Hebei, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, and Hunan.

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 Han Wudi. In 110 BC, at the age of thirty-five, 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 - the first chronicle in the history of Chinese literature. Fueled by his father's inspiration, Sima Qian started to compile Shiji in 109 BC. 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.

Portrait of Sima Qian

In 99 BC, Sima Qian became embroiled in the Li Ling affair, where Li Ling and Li Guangli (李廣利), two military officers who led a campaign against the Xiongnu in the north, were defeated and taken captive. Emperor Han Wudi 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 Han Wudi interpreted Sima’s defence of Li Ling as an attack on his brother-in-law, who had also fought against the 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."

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. As Sima Qian himself explained in his Letter to Ren'an:

Historian[link]

The first page of Shiji.

Although the style and form of Chinese historical writings varied through the ages, 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 (鄭樵) in writing Tongshi (通史) and Sima Guang (司馬光) in writing Zizhi Tongjian (資治通鑑). The Chinese historical form of dynasty history, or Jizhuanti history of dynasties, was codified in the second dynastic history by Ban Gu’s (班固) History of Han (漢書), but historians regard Sima’s work as their model, which stands as the "official format" of the history of China.

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 influence on the writing style of other histories outside, such as the Goryeo (Korean) history the Samguk sagi (三國史記).

Sima adopted a new method in sorting out the historical data and a new approach to writing historical records. He 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 emphasised, for the first time in Chinese history, the role of individual men in affecting the historical development of China. In addition, he also proposed his historical perception that a country cannot escape from the fate of the boom and bust cycle.

Unlike Hanshu, which was written under the supervision of the Imperial Dynasty, Shiji was a privately written history. Although Sima was the Prefect of the Grand Scribes in the Han government, he refused to write 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.

Literary figure[link]

Sima's 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" 復古) movement of the Tang-Song (唐宋) 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.

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 (even Lu Xun (魯迅) regarded Shiji as "the historians' most perfect song, a "Li Sao" without the rhyme" (史家之絕唱，無韻之離騷) in his Hanwenxueshi Gangyao (《漢文學史綱要》); and the simplicity and conciseness of his style.

Other literary works[link]

Sima's famous letter to his friend Ren An about his sufferings during the Li Ling Affair and his perseverance in writing Shiji is today regarded as a highly admired example of literary prose style, studied widely in China even today.

Sima Qian wrote eight rhapsodies (Fu 賦), which are listed in the bibliographic treatise Hanshu. All but one, the "Rhapsody in Lament for Gentleman who do not Meet their Time" (士不遇賦) have been lost, and even the surviving example is probably not complete.

Astrologer[link]

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 created Taichuli (太初曆, which can be translated as 'The first calendar') on the basis of the Qin calendar. Taichuli was one of the most advanced calendars of the time. The creation of 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.

Books about Sima Qian in English[link]

• Burton Watson (1958) Ssu-ma Ch'ien: Grand Historian of China. New York: Columbia University Press.
• Yang Hsien-yi and Gladys Yang (1974), Records of the Historians. Hong Kong: Commercial Press.
• Sima, Qian and trans. Watson, Burton (1993), Records of the Grand Historian: Han Dynasty. Research Center for Translation, The Chinese University of Hong Kong and Columbia University Press.
• Sima, Qian and trans. Watson, Burton (1993), Records of the Grand Historian: Qin Dynasty. Research Center for Translation,

References[link]

• Martin, Thomas R. (2009). Herodotus and Sima Qian: The First Great Historians of Greece and China. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's.
• Robert Bonnaud (2007) Essays of comparative history. Polybus and Sima Qian (in French). Condeixa : La Ligne d'ombre [1].
• W.G. Beasley and E.G. Pulleyblank (1961) Historians of China and Japan. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Stephen W. Durrant (1995), The Cloudy Mirror: Tension and Conflict in the Writings of Sima Qian. Albany : State University of New York Press.
• Grant Ricardo Hardy (1988) Objectivity and Interpretation in the "Shi Chi". Yale University.
• Burton Watson (1958) Ssu-ma Ch'ien: Grand Historian of China. New York: Columbia University Press.
• Joseph Roe Allen III. Chinese Texts: Narrative Records of the Historian

Footnotes[link]

External links[link]

Chinese Wikisource has original text related to this article: Shiji (in Chinese)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sima Qian

• Works by Sima Qian on Open Library at the Internet Archive
• Significance of Shiji on literature
• Sima Qian and His Shiji
• Family Background and Life of Sima Qian

This article contains Chinese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters.

Li Si (Chinese: 李斯; pinyin: Lǐ Sī; Wade–Giles: Li Ssu) (ca. 280 BC – September or October 208 BC) was the influential Prime Minister (or Chancellor) of the feudal state and later of the dynasty of Qin, between 246 BC and 208 BC. A famous Legalist, he was also a notable calligrapher. Li Si served under two rulers: Qin Shi Huang, king of Qin and later First Emperor of China—and his son, Qin Er Shi.^[1] A powerful minister, he was central to the state's policies, including those on military conquest, draconian centralization of state control, standardization of weights, measures and the written script, and persecution of Confucianism and opponents of Legalism. His methods of administration of China is seen by some as being an early form of totalitarianism.

Early life[link]

Li Si was originally from Shang Cai (上蔡) in the State of Chu.^[2] As a young man he was a minor functionary in the local administration of Chu. According to the Records of the Great Historian, one day Li Si observed that rats in the outhouse were dirty and hungry but the rats in the barnhouse were well fed. He suddenly realized that "there is no set standard for honor since everyone's life is different. The values of people are determined by their social status. And like rats, people's social status often depends purely on the random life events around them. And so instead of always being restricted by moral codes, people should do what they deemed best at the moment." He made up his mind to take up politics as a career, which was a common choice for scholars not from a noble family during the Warring States Period.

Li Si was unable to advance his career in Chu. He believed that achieving nothing in life while being so intelligent and educated would bring shame to not just himself but to all scholars. After having finished his education with the famous Confucian thinker Xun Zi, he moved to the State of Qin, the most powerful state at that time in an attempt to advance his political career.

Career in Qin[link]

During his stay in Qin, Li Si became a guest of Prime Minister Lu Buwei and got the chance to talk to the ruler of Qin, King Zheng who would later become the first emperor of a unified China, Qin Shi Huang. Li Si expressed that the Qin state was extremely powerful, but uniting China was still impossible if all of the other six states united to fight against Qin. Qin Shi Huang was impressed by Li Si's view of how to unify China. Having adopted Li Si's proposal, the ruler of Qin spent generously to lure intellectuals to the state of Qin and sent out assassins to kill important scholars in other states.

In 237 BC a clique at the Qin court urged King Zheng to expel all foreigners from the state to prevent espionage. As a native of Chu, Li Si would be a target of the policy so he memorialized the king explaining the many benefits of foreigners to Qin including "the sultry girls of Zhao".^[1] The king relented and, impressed with Li Si's rhetoric, promoted him.^[2] The same year, Li Si is reported to have urged King Zheng to annex the neighbouring State of Han to order to intimidate the other five remaining states. Han Fei, a member of the aristocracy from the State of Han, was asked by the Han king to go to Qin and resolve the situation through diplomacy. Li Si, who envied Han Fei's intellect, persuaded the Qin king that he could neither send Han Fei back (as his superior ability would be a threat to Qin) nor employ him (as his loyalty would not be to Qin). As a result, Han Fei was imprisoned, and in 233 BC convinced by Li Si to commit suicide by taking poison. The State of Han was later conquered in 230 BC.

After Qin Shi Huang became emperor Li Si persuaded him to suppress intellectual dissent.^[1] Li Si believed that books regarding things such as medicine, agriculture and prophecy could be ignored but political books were dangerous in public hands. It was hard to make progress and change the country with the opposition of so many "old school" scholars. As a result only the state should keep political books, and only the state run schools should be allowed to educate political scholars. Li Si himself penned the edict ordering the destruction of historical records and literature in 213 BC, including key Confucian texts, which he thought detrimental to the welfare of the state. It is commonly thought that 460 Confucian scholars were buried alive, from the well-known historical event "Burning Books and Burying Confucianists" (焚书坑儒), however this was a mistranslation in later historical texts. In reality the 460 people who were buried alive by the emperor Qin Shi Huang were mainly priests and shamans who were scamming the emperor of resources and wealth claiming to be looking for medicine that grants eternal life or apotheosis.^{[citation needed]}

Death[link]

When Qin Shi Huang died whilst away from the capital, Li Si and the chief eunuch Zhao Gao suppressed the late emperor's choice of successor, which was Fusu. At that time Fusu was close friends with Meng Tian. If Fusu became the next emperor there was a high chance Meng Tian would replace Li Si as prime minister. Fearing a loss of power, Li Si decided to betray the dead Qin Shi Huang. Li Si and Zhao Gao tricked Fusu to commit suicide, and installed another prince, Qin Er Shi (229B.C–207B.C) in his place. During the tumultuous aftermath, Zhao Gao convinced the new emperor to install his followers in official positions. When his power base was secure enough, Zhao Gao charged Li Si with treason. Qin Er Shi, who viewed Zhao Gao as his teacher, did not question his decision. Zhao Gao had Li Si tortured until he admitted the crime. In 208 BC Zhao Gao had Li Si executed by way of Waist Slice (腰斩).

Contributions[link]

Believing in a highly bureaucratic system, Li Si is considered to have been central to the efficiency of the state of Qin and the success of its military conquest. He was also instrumental in systemizing standard measures and currency in post-unified China. He further helped systemize the written Chinese language by promulgating as the imperial standard the small seal script which had been in use in the state of Qin all along. In this process, variant graphs within the Qin script were proscribed, as were variant scripts from the different regions which had been conquered. This would have a unification effect on the Chinese culture for thousands of years.^[a][3]
Li Si was also the author of the Cangjie Pian (仓颉篇/倉頡篇), the first Chinese language primer of which fragments still exist.^[4]

Popular culture[link]

Li Si is mentioned in Elias Canetti's novel: Auto-da-fe (1935). Li Si is one of the 32 historical figures who appear as special characters in the video game Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI by Koei.

See also[link]

• Burning of books and burying of scholars

Notes[link]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Levi, Jean (1993). "Han fei tzu (韓非子)". In Loewe, Michael (ed., 1993). Early Chinese Texts: A Bibliographical Guide, pp. 115–116. (Early China Special Monograph Series No. 2), Society for the Study of Early China, and the Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley, ISBN 978-1-55729-043-4.
• Michael, Franz (1986). China through the Ages: History of a Civilization. pp. 53–67. Westview Press; SMC Publishing, Inc. Taipei. ISBN 978-0-86531-725-3; 957-638-190-8 (ppbk).
• Nivison, David S. (1999). "The Classical Philosophical Writings", pp. 745–812. In Loewe, Michael & Shaughnessy, Edward L. The Cambridge History of Ancient China: From the Origins of Civilization to 221 B.C.. Cambridge University Press.
• Yap, Joseph P. (2009). Wars With The Xiongnu, A Translation from Zizhi tongjian. AuthorHouse, Bloomington, Indiana, U.S.A. ISBN 978-1-4490-0604-4. Chapter 1.

Chen Uen (Chinese: 鄭問, December 27, 1958) aka Chen Wen, Cheng Wen, Zheng Wen is a Taiwanese manhua artist. Some of his works include Magical Super Asia, Banzai and The First King. He also work as an illustrator for Koei's Romance of the Three Kingdoms PS2 game series.

In 1991, Chen was the first foreigner to win an award at the Japanese Cartoonists' Association for his work, To Shu eiyuden (lit. Heroes of the East Chou Dynasty).

External links[link]

• Chen Uen profile on Comicart (Chinese)
• Chen Uen in Ultimate Manga Guide

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