Western Han court historian who, castrated for defending the general Li Ling, went on to finish the Records of the Grand Historian in 130 chapters
Mural guide
Mural of Letter in Reply to Ren An, a work by this person.
By lamplight, Sima Qian writes among bamboo slips long after the court has fallen silent. The steady work gathers history from personal hardship and resolve.
Sima Qian, courtesy name Zichang, came from Xiayang (modern Hancheng, Shaanxi) and was the son of the court historian Sima Tan. At twenty he travelled through the Yangzi and Huai regions, and in 108 BC he succeeded his father as Grand Historian, joining the team that drew up the Taichu calendar in 104 BC. When the general Li Ling surrendered to the Xiongnu in 99 BC, Sima Qian spoke up for him before Emperor Wu and was jailed and castrated; after his release he served as Palace Secretary. Carrying out his father's plan, he completed the Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji), 130 chapters reaching from the Yellow Emperor to his own reign. The year of his death is not recorded. Ban Gu's History of the Han judged its writing direct and its facts sound, and Lu Xun called it the swan song of the historians.
104 BCECompiling the ShijiTook partSima Qian organized the Shiji into annals, tables, treatises, houses, and biographies spanning legendary antiquity through the Han.
Sima Qian Continues His Father's HistoryFulfilling his dying father's mandate, Sima Qian took office as Grand Astrologer and reformed China's canonical calendar.
Li Ling Surrenders; Sima Qian Punishedc. 99 BCELi Ling surrendered to the Xiongnu after his defeat at Mount Junji, and Sima Qian, who spoke in his defence, was imprisoned and sentenced to castration.
Court historian who wrote the Records in one hundred thirty chapters
Western Han
The Han History says Sima Qian was born at Longmen, traveled south to the Yangtze and Huai at twenty, became court historian and later palace secretary. His Records of the Grand Historian run to one hundred thirty chapters and 526,500 characters, and the bibliography lists them among the Spring and Autumn works as the Grand Historian's one hundred thirty chapters.
The Han History bibliography lists eight fu by Sima Qian among its poetry and fu works. The closing verdict on his biography says that Liu Xiang and Yang Xiong both admired his skill at setting out events, which was clear but not ornate, plain but not coarse, direct in its prose and sound in its facts.
MUZIChinese Matrix
Hanbirth by another account 135 BCE
Took partSima Qian organized the Shiji into annals, tables, treatises, houses, and biographies spanning legendary antiquity through the Han.
Literature · Sayings165
