Editing Sima Qian (section)

==<span class="anchor" id="Records of the Grand Historian"></span>''Shiji''==
[[File:Shiji.jpg|thumb|The first page of the ''Shiji'']]
{{main|Shiji}}

=== Format ===
The ''Shiji'' totals over 500,000 [[Chinese characters|characters]] in length, organized into 130 chapters. While the style and form of [[Chinese historiography]] was not static over time, the ''Shiji'' created a permanent standard for quality and style for later scholars. Before Sima, histories focused on recounting particular events or the affairs of a specific region; his idea of a general history guided later historiographers, like [[Sima Guang]] and {{ill|Zheng Qiao|zh|鄭樵}} ({{zhi|鄭樵}}), authors of the  ''[[Zizhi Tongjian]]'' (1084) and ''[[Tongzhi (encyclopedia)|Tongzhi]]'' (1161) respectively. While the traditional format by which official histories would be organized was codified later by [[Ban Gu]] in the ''[[Book of Han]]'' (111&nbsp;AD), historians consider the ''Shiji'' to have informed Ban's work. <ref name="jay"/>

The ''jizhuanti'' ({{lang|zh|紀傳體}}) format divides a work into several different types of chapters, most prominently 'basic annals' ({{lang|zh|本紀}}; ''benji'') and 'ordered biographies' ({{lang|zh|列傳}}; ''liezhuan''). ''Benji'' contain biographies for each sovereign, ordered chronologically and organized by dynasty; ''liezhuan'' contain biographies of influential individuals outside the nobility, sometimes for one prominent individual, but often for two or more people who, in Sima's judgment, played comparably important roles. In addition to these namesake categories, there are chapters falling under the categories of 'tables' ({{lang|zh|表}}; ''biao'') collating graphical chronologies of royalty and nobility, and 'treatises' ({{lang|zh|書}}; ''shu'') giving historical accounts of topics like music, ritual, or economics. Most importantly, the 'house chronicles' ({{lang|zh|世家}}; ''shijia'') document important events during each ruler's reign for each [[ancient Chinese state|state]] within the Zhou dynasty, as well as histories of the noble houses established during the Han.

The ''Shiji'' includes 12 basic annals, 10 tables, 8 treatises, 30 house chronicles, and 70 ordered biographies; with the final ordered biography serving as the postface. This final chapter details the background of how the ''Shiji'' was composed and compiled, and gives brief justifications for the inclusion of the major topics, events, and individuals in the work. As part of the background, the postface provides a short sketch of the history of the Sima clan, from legendary times to his father Sima Tan. It also details the dying words of Sima Tan, tearfully exhorting the author to compose the present work, and contains a biographical sketch of the author himself. The postface concludes with a self-referential description of the postface as the 70th and last of the Ordered Biographies chapters.

=== Influences and legacy ===

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&nbsp;BC.{{sfnp|Hughes-Warrington|2000|p=291}} Many Chinese scholars have and still do view how 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 judgments.{{sfnp|Hughes-Warrington|2000|p=291}} Seen in this light, the ''Spring and Autumn Annals'' are a moral guide to the proper way of living.{{sfnp|Hughes-Warrington|2000|p=292}} Sima took this view himself as he explained:
{{blockquote
|text={{nbsp|5}}{{lang|zh|夫春秋 ... 別嫌疑，明是非，定猶豫，善善惡惡，賢賢賤不肖，存亡國，繼絕世，補敝起廢。|size=110%}}<br/>
{{nbsp|5}}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.{{sfnp|Hughes-Warrington|2000|p=292}}
}}
Sima saw the ''Shiji'' as belonging to the same tradition, as he explained in the introduction to chapter 61:
{{blockquote
|text={{nbsp|5}}{{lang|zh|或曰：天道無親，常與善人。若伯夷、叔齊，可謂善人者非邪。積仁絜行如此而餓死。... 盜蹠日殺不辜，肝人之肉 ... 竟以壽終。是遵何德哉。 ... 余甚惑焉，儻所謂天道，是邪非邪。|size=110%}}<br/>
{{nbsp|5}}Some people say "It is Heaven's way, without distinction of persons, to keep the good perpetually supplied." Can we say then that [[Boyi and Shuqi]] were good men or not? They clung to righteousness and were pure in their deeds yet they starved to death ... Robber Zhi 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?{{sfnp|Hughes-Warrington|2000|p=292}}
}} 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.{{sfnp|Hughes-Warrington|2000|p=292}} 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.{{sfnp|Hughes-Warrington|2000|p=292}} Sima wrote:
{{blockquote
|text={{nbsp|5}}{{lang|zh|蘇秦兄弟三人，皆游說諸侯以顯名，其術長於權變。而蘇秦被反閒以死，天下共笑之，諱學其術。 ... 夫蘇秦起閭閻，連六國從親，此其智有過人者。吾故列其行事，次其時序，毋令獨蒙惡聲焉。|size=110%}}<br/>
{{nbsp|5}}[[Su Qin]] 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 Qin died a traitor's death, the world has united in scoffing at him and has been loath to study his policies ... Su Qin arose 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.{{sfnp|Hughes-Warrington|2000|pp=292-293}}
}}
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.{{sfnp|Hughes-Warrington|2000|p=293}}

Sima himself stated he was writing in this tradition in the conclusion to chapter 110, writing:
{{blockquote
|text={{nbsp|5}}{{lang|zh|孔氏著春秋，隱桓之閒則章，至定哀之際則微，為其切當世之文而罔褒，忌諱之辭也。|size=110%}}<br/>
{{nbsp|5}}When 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.{{sfnp|Hughes-Warrington|2000|p=293}}
}}
Bearing this in mind, not everything that Sima wrote should be understood as conveying didactic moral lessons.{{sfnp|Hughes-Warrington|2000|p=293}} 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 "barbarians" might indicate his disapproval of the foreign policy of the Emperor Wu.{{sfnp|Hughes-Warrington|2000|p=293}}

In writing the ''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]], [[chronicle]]s, and [[treatise]]s—on music, ceremonies, calendars, religion, economics, and extended biographies. Sima's work influenced the writing style of other histories outside of China as well, such as the Korean ''[[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".{{sfnp|Hughes-Warrington|2000|p=293}} Reflecting these rigorous analytic methods, Sima declared that he would not write about periods of history where there was insufficient documentation.{{sfnp|Hughes-Warrington|2000|p=293}} 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".{{sfnp|Hughes-Warrington|2000|p=293}} 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.{{sfnp|Hughes-Warrington|2000|p=293}} Sima constantly compared accounts found in the manuscripts with what he considered reliable sources like Confucian classics like the ''[[Classic of Poetry]]'', ''[[Book of Documents]]'', ''[[Book of Rites]]'', ''[[Classic of Music]]'', ''[[I Ching]]'' and ''Spring and Autumn Annals''.{{sfnp|Hughes-Warrington|2000|p=293}} 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.{{sfnp|Hughes-Warrington|2000|p=294}} Furthermore, Sima often questioned people about historical events they had experienced.{{sfnp|Hughes-Warrington|2000|p=293}} Sima mentioned after one of his trips across China that: "When I had occasion to pass through Feng and Beiyi I questioned the elderly people who were about the place, visited the old home of [[Xiao He]], [[Cao Shen|Cao Can]], [[Fan Kuai]] and [[Xiahou Ying]], and learned much about the early days. How different it was from the stories one hears!"{{sfnp|Hughes-Warrington|2000|p=294}} 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 what had happened in the past.{{sfnp|Hughes-Warrington|2000|p=294}} During one of this trips, Sima mentioned that he was overcome with emotion when he saw the carriage of Confucius together with his clothes and various other personal items that had belonged to Confucius.{{sfnp|Hughes-Warrington|2000|p=294}}

=== Innovations and unique features ===
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.{{sfnp|Hughes-Warrington|2000|p=294}} Previous Chinese historians had focused on only one dynasty and/or region.{{sfnp|Hughes-Warrington|2000|p=294}} Sima's history of 130 chapters began with the legendary Yellow Emperor and extended to his own time, and covered not only China, but also neighboring nations like [[Korea]] and [[Vietnam]].{{sfnp|Hughes-Warrington|2000|p=294}} 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 as human beings who were implicitly the equals of the Middle Kingdom, instead of the traditional approach which had portrayed the Xiongnu as savages who had the appearance of humans, but the minds of animals.{{sfnp|Chin|2010|p=318–319}} 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.{{sfnp|Chin|2010|p=320}} Likewise, Sima in his chapter about the Xiongnu condemns those advisors who pursue 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.{{sfnp|Chin|2010|p=321}} 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 and conquer all their land, a policy to which Sima was apparently opposed.{{sfnp|Chin|2010|p=311–354}}

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.{{sfnp|Hughes-Warrington|2000|p=294}} Before Chinese historians had tended to use only reign histories as their sources.{{sfnp|Hughes-Warrington|2000|p=294}} The ''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.{{sfnp|Hughes-Warrington|2000|p=294}} Lastly, Sima broke with the traditional chronological structure of Chinese history. Sima instead had divided the ''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.{{sfnp|Hughes-Warrington|2000|p=294}} The annals follow the traditional Chinese pattern of court-based histories of the lives of various emperors and their families.{{sfnp|Hughes-Warrington|2000|p=294}} The chronological tables are graphs recounting the political history of China.{{sfnp|Hughes-Warrington|2000|p=294}} The treatises are essays on topics such as [[astronomy]], music, religion, hydraulic engineering and economics.{{sfnp|Hughes-Warrington|2000|p=294}} The last section dealing with biographies covers individuals judged by Sima to have made a major impact on the course of history, regardless of whether they were of noble or humble birth and whether they were born in the central states, the periphery, or barbarian lands.{{sfnp|Hughes-Warrington|2000|p=294}} Unlike traditional Chinese historians, Sima went beyond the androcentric, nobility-focused histories by dealing with the lives of women and men such as poets, bureaucrats, merchants, comedians/jesters, assassins, and philosophers.{{sfnp|Hughes-Warrington|2000|p=295}} 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'' have aroused the most interest from historians and are the only parts of the ''Shiji'' that have been translated into English.<ref name="jay"/>

When Sima placed his subjects was often his way of expressing obliquely moral judgements.{{sfnp|Hughes-Warrington|2000|p=295}} [[Empress Lü]] and [[Xiang Yu]] were the effective rulers of China during reigns Hui of the Han and Yi of Chu, respectively, so Sima placed both their lives in the basic annals.{{sfnp|Hughes-Warrington|2000|p=295}} Likewise, Confucius is included in the fourth section rather the fifth where he properly belonged as a way of showing his eminent virtue.{{sfnp|Hughes-Warrington|2000|p=295}} The structure of the ''Shiji'' allowed Sima to tell the same stories in different ways, which allowed him to pass his moral judgements.{{sfnp|Hughes-Warrington|2000|p=295}} For example, in the basic annals section, the [[Emperor Gaozu of Han|Emperor Gaozu]] is portrayed as a good leader whereas in the section dealing with his rival Xiang Yu, the Emperor is portrayed unflatteringly.{{sfnp|Hughes-Warrington|2000|p=295}} Likewise, the chapter on Xiang presents him in a favorable light whereas the chapter on Gaozu portrays him in more darker colors.{{sfnp|Hughes-Warrington|2000|p=295}} 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.{{sfnp|Hughes-Warrington|2000|p=295}} 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 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'' was a privately written history since 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. 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'' as reading more like a historical novel than a work of history.<ref name="jay"/> For an example, Sima tells the story of a Chinese eunuch named [[Zhonghang Yue]] who became an advisor to the Xiongnu kings.{{sfnp|Chin|2010|p=325}} Sima provides a long dialogue between Zhonghang and an envoy sent by the Emperor Wen of China during which the latter disparages the Xiongnu as "savages" whose customs are barbaric while Zhonghang defends the 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 where family members would murder one another to be Emperor vs. the more orderly succession of the Xiongnu kings.{{sfnp|Chin|2010|p=325–326}} 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.{{sfnp|Chin|2010|p=328–329}} The favorable picture of the traitor Zhonghang who went over to the 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.{{sfnp|Chin|2010|p=333–334}} 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".{{sfnp|Chin|2010|p=334}} Elsewhere in the ''Shiji'' Sima portrayed the Xiongnu less favorably, so the debate was almost certainly more Sima's way of criticizing the Chinese court system and less genuine praise for the Xiongnu.{{sfnp|Chin|2010|p=340}}

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).<ref name="jay"/> However, archaeological discoveries in recent decades have confirmed aspects of the ''Shiji'', and suggested that even if the sections of the ''Shiji'' dealing with the ancient past are not totally true, at least Sima wrote down what he believed to be true. In particular, archaeological finds have confirmed the basic accuracy of the ''Shiji'' including the reigns and locations of tombs of ancient rulers.<ref name="jay"/>