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Sima Qian.
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Ssu-ma Ch'ien (145-ca. 90 BC), who has been described as the "Grand Historian of China," held the office of T'ai-shih, or director of astrology, in the imperial government. He completed a draft histor...
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In the following essay, Watson outlines some general features of Chinese historical writings and explores the areas that were of greatest concern to Qian.
Before proceeding to any detailed discussion ...
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In the following essay, Boltz contends that shifts in content in the Shih chi also indicate shifts in sources used.
The new and unprecedented establishment of the Chinese imperial state, founded as it...
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In the following essay, Nienhauser examines some structural problems in chapter 96 of the Shih chi.
The Problems
Be kind to your reader.1 This was one of the basic rules on writing we learned in schoo...
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In the following essay, Cohen analyzes three instances of the avenging ghost motif in the Shih chi, positing that these episodes show the historian's desire for justice.
The compilation of the ...
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In the following essay, Durrant discusses the importance of tradition in early Chinese self-reflexive texts and explains how Qian avoided presumptuousness and irreverence.
Since Georg Misch's m...
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In the following essay, Nienhauser examines problems with The Biographies of the Reasonable Officials section of the Shih chi and contends they can be resolved without concluding that the work is a fo...
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In the following essay, Watson explains that Qian's main purpose in writing history was didactic, so he did not hesitate to describe the oldest of events even when some of his sources were dubi...
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In the following essay, Hardy analyzes the rhetorical strategy Qian employed in his historical writings, including the use of multiple narrations and interpretations.
How history differs from fiction ...
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In the following essay, Allen credits Qian with shaping how the Chinese view both their history and themselves.
The Records of the Historian (Shi ji [Shih chi]) is the most important historiographic w...
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In the following introduction to his translation of Shih chi, Dawson presents an overview of Qian's historical, political, and philosophical context.
Historical Records (Shiji) is the most famo...
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In the following excerpt from his full-length study of Qian's work, Durrant analyzes how Qian shaped the historical sources he used as the basis of his Shih chi.
The Master said, “The Tr...
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Ssu-ma Ch'ien
Critical Essay by Burton Watson
