Historical Records and Sima Qian's Information

Sima Qian (former 145- former 90? ), the word zichang, Zuo Fengyi, a native of xia yang (now hancheng city, Shaanxi Province), lived in the era of Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty, and worked as a doctor, a Taishiling and a Zhongshuling. Historical Records contains * * * articles 130, with 520,000 words, including five parts: biography, biographies, books and tables. It started in Xuanyuan Huangdi, passed through Tang, Yu, Xia, Shang, Zhou and Qin Dynasties, and ended in the early years of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty. Historical Records covers a wide range and has profound thoughts. It not only wrote ancient and modern times, but also wrote modern and contemporary times; Not only wrote the Central Plains and China, but also wrote the frontier and foreign countries; Not only political and military, but also economic and cultural; Not only emperors and princes, heroes and heroes, but also all kinds of people in the lower classes. This kind of verve, which combines all kinds of knowledge and schools of culture in one furnace, is unprecedented; Sima Qian told himself that the purpose of writing this book is to "study the relationship between heaven and man, learn from the changes of ancient and modern times, and become a family statement." This grand goal of opening up all fields, standing on its own academic charter, summing up all the laws and serving the real politics is unprecedented.

The most exciting thought in Historical Records has four main points today: First, it shows the progressive national outlook. Sima Qian absorbed the theory of the development sources of various nationalities in China and neighboring countries since the Warring States Period, and regarded the countries and nationalities in the Central Plains, Jingchu, wuyue, Qin Long, Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan and Guizhou, Saibei and Northeast China as descendants of the Yellow Emperor in historical records, which played an inestimable role in the formation and stability of this multi-ethnic friendly family in China for two thousand years. Moreover, when Sima Qian wrote that the Han Dynasty used troops against neighboring countries and nations, he always stood against belligerence, expansion and plunder. He pursues equality, friendship and harmonious coexistence of all ethnic groups. It is in this sense that we say that Sima Qian was a friend of the oppressed people of the Han nationality and the surrounding ethnic minorities at that time.

The second is his progressive economic thought. This includes emphasizing economic development, which is considered as a strong foundation of the country; Oppose "emphasizing the foundation and restraining the end" in singles, and advocate paying equal attention to "industry", "agriculture", "business" and "danger"; Oppose political discrimination against businessmen, but praise their skills and talents, erect monuments for them and so on.

Third, it is strongly democratic and critical. Historical Records is the epitome of pre-Qin culture, and Sima Qian is the inheritor and promoter of pre-Qin literati's excellent ideological personality. The reason why he wrote Historical Records was not simply to record historical records, but to make a clear statement. Therefore, Historical Records highlights the author's pursuit of ideal politics and ideal society, as well as various criticisms of real politics and real society. Some of them are quite profound and accurate, and even some of them have been reading and innovating for two thousand years.

The fourth is to carry out the heroic outlook on life, life and death and values in the book. Almost all the heroes praised by Sima Qian in Historical Records are brave in making progress and making contributions. They have ideals, ambitions and pursuits; They can sacrifice their lives for certain beliefs and principles; They all have a spirit of perseverance and never give up until they reach their goals. Sima Qian once wrote in Baoren An Shu: "People are inherently mortal, or they are heavier than Mount Tai or lighter than a feather, so it is different to use them." He was castrated and in great pain. In order to complete the historical records, he stubbornly survived. The example he cited was "Wang Wen was arrested and played Zhouyi"; Zhong You wrote Spring and Autumn Annals; Qu Yuan's exile is a tribute to Li Sao. Zuo Qiu is blind and has "Mandarin"; The ruler of the revised version of Sun Tzu's Art of War; It's not Shu, but Lu Lan. Han Fei imprisoned Qin, expressing embarrassment, loneliness and anger; There are 300 poems, which are generally attributed to the angry actions of sages. This man has a sense of stagnation and can't understand his way, so he tells the past and thinks about newcomers. "Sima Qian's personal struggle experience and the thought of hard struggle praised in Historical Records are a precious wealth left by Sima Qian to future generations, which will always inspire us and enlighten us, and give us incomparable strength, confidence and courage when we are discouraged and on the verge of despair.

Historical Records is China's first people-centered great historical work and China's first people-centered great literary work. From a historical point of view, Historical Records initiated the "official history" of China's two thousand-year-old biographical dynasties. From the literary point of view, Historical Records shows people colorful and distinctive historical figures with colorful artistic techniques for the first time. There are emperors who shocked ancient and modern times, such as Qin Shihuang, Xiang Yu, Liu Bang and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. There are well-known courtiers such as Guan Zhong, Yan Ying, Xiao He and Sean; There are invincible stars such as Bai Qi, Han Xin, Wei Qing and Huo Qubing; There are reformers such as Wuqi, Shang Yang and King Wuling of Zhao. Other frugal types are Qu Yuan and Qin Wang; The oral debate types are Zhang Yi, Su Qin and Li Shiqi; Chivalrous types include Lu Zhonglian, Jing Ke, Zhujiajian Island and Guo Jie; Funny ones are Chun Yukun, You Fang and so on. They are varied, and about one hundred of them can leave a deep impression on readers.

The remarkable difference between the characters in Historical Records and those in pre-Qin literature lies in their distinct personalities. Because the author pays great attention to the specific situation of each plot and scene, and strives to realistically express the psychological character of each character, the description language of Historical Records and the dialogues he designed for the characters in his works are extremely wonderful. I think we just need to carefully analyze the specific descriptions of plots and scenes in Biography of Lian Po and Lin Xiangru and Biography of Jing Ke, such as "Full Return to Zhao", "Mianchi Meeting", "Yi Shui Bie" and "Qin Ting Sudden Change"; By analyzing the dialogues between Xiang Yu, Liu Bang and Sean in Biography of Gao Zu and Biography of Xiang Yu, we will be deeply fascinated by the author's superb ingenuity. In Biography of Emperor Gaozu, when Liu Bang and Xiang Yu were in Xingyang, Xiang Yu's men shot an arrow at Liu Bang's chest, and Liu Bang actually said,' I pinched my toe!' "This is a vivid portrayal of Liu Bang's extremely clever, quick and natural improvisation, and at the same time, he is" generous ",abusive and ridiculous! Xiang Yu was besieged and heard that the Han army was besieged on all sides at night. He "lamented and wrote a poem for himself:' If you pull out the mountain, you will be angry with the world, and if it is unfavorable, you will not die. What can I do if I don't die, but what can I do if I worry? ""In the Qing Dynasty, Duke Liang of Zhou said, "When was it injected? The princess died and her children were scattered, and the horse escaped. She was obsessed with Ozawa and didn't have time to write songs and poems! If there is a work, who will smell it and remember it? I'll call this number of words. No matter what, it should be Tai Shigong's pen to make up. " This statement can be described as some important secrets of the literariness of Historical Records. It is also from these aspects that I say that Historical Records seems to have a leap-forward maturity in the method of shaping characters.

Another notable feature of Shiji literature is lyricism. Some works in Historical Records are short in length, but the whole work is like a poem, such as Biography of Boyi, Biography of Qu Yuan and Biography of a Ranger. The lyricism of a large number of chapters in Historical Records lies in the narration and discussion of the works, as well as the strong feelings of love and hate in the narration and description. Such as Biography of Xiang Yu, Biography of Wei Gongzi and Biography of General Li. The whole Historical Records is an ode to love, a curse of hate and a sad song full of the author's blood and tears. Lu Xun once said that Sima Qian "hated being a jester, was deeply ashamed of his life experience and passed on the grotesque to future generations." Although it recites the meaning of Spring and Autumn Annals, it is a masterpiece of historians, and it has no rhyme. " (Outline of China Literature History) The subjective color and lyricism of historical records are the strongest and most prominent in the "official history" of past dynasties.

The appearance of Historical Records determines the basic pattern of China's ancient biography, such as taking history as a mirror in thought, which is enlightening; The form is short, emphasizing the performance of the characters, rather than the richness and completeness of the materials and the delicate lyricism of the language. The methods of writing characters and stories in Historical Records had a far-reaching influence on China's later novels and plays. Numerous themes, character paradigms, plots and scenes in Historical Records have opened up countless methods for later novels and dramas.

The establishment of Historical Records as the first biographical literature is of world significance. In the past, Europeans took Europe as the center, and they called Plutarch in ancient Greece "Biography of the king of world". Plutarch was born around 46 AD and died in 120 AD. He wrote 50 biographies (translated into Greek and Roman biographies), which was the beginning of European biographical literature. If we compare Plutarch in the ancient history of China, we can find that Plutarch was born 14 years later than Bangu (32-92) and 19 1 year later than Sima Qian. Sima Qian's Historical Records predates Plutarch's biography by almost two centuries.

Sima Qian was from the Western Han Dynasty. He was an outstanding historian and writer in ancient China.

Sima Qian 10 years old read ancient books and studied very carefully. When he meets a difficult problem, he always thinks over and over again until he understands it.

At the age of 20, Sima Qian set out from Chang 'an and traveled around the world. He went to Zhejiang to visit the legendary Dayu site; Go to Hunan to investigate the legend of Shun; Go to Qufu, Shandong, Confucius' hometown, and collect historical materials about Confucius; He has also been to Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan, where southwest ethnic minorities live in concentrated communities, to learn about the local customs there. Sima Qian got in touch with reality during his travels, broadened his horizons and enriched his social experience and historical knowledge.

Soon, Sima Qian gave a formal order. He had the opportunity to read a lot of credentials and sort out many useful historical materials. After five or six years of hard work, I began to write historical records.

In the process of compiling Historical Records, Sima Qian violated Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty one year, was put in prison and sentenced to heavy punishment. He is exhausted physically and mentally. However, in order to complete this masterpiece, he endured all the pain and continued to write books with anger.

After ten years of hard work, Historical Records was finally completed. Historical Records is a great historical work in ancient China, with more than 500,000 words, which describes the history from the legendary Yellow Emperor to the Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. In Historical Records, Sima Qian affirmed the role of Chen Sheng and Guangwu in overthrowing the tyranny of the Qin Dynasty. Accuse tyrants and corrupt officials of their sins; Boldly comment on the merits and demerits of the contemporary ruler Han Wudi. Historical Records is also an excellent literary work. Based on rich historical materials, Sima Qian vividly portrayed all kinds of characters in simple and popular language, reflecting complex social life and social contradictions.