Sima Qian and the Historical Records

There were two great historians in ancient China, one of them was Confucius, who wrote the Spring and Autumn Annals, which later became one of the five Confucian texts. The other is Sima Qian, the word Zi Chang, the Western Han Dynasty Xiayang (now Shaanxi Hancheng, said Hejin, Shanxi) people, he wrote the "Shiji" recorded from the ancient legend of the Yellow Emperor period to the Han Dynasty Emperor Yuanhari Yuanyi (122 BC) up to three thousand years of history, become China's "chronicle" of the first experience of the masterpieces, but also the later It is also the model of the "Twenty-four Histories". The Records of the Grand Historian (史记), which is the first of its kind in China, is also the model for the subsequent Twenty-Four Histories. The Records of the Grand Historian (史记) has been described by Lu Xun as "a masterpiece of the historians, and an unrhymed version of Li Sao.

Sima Qian's ancestors were historians for generations, and his father, Sima Tan, was the chief historian of the Han Dynasty. When Sima Qian was 38 years old (three years after his father's death), he was recommended by the prime minister to succeed his father as the chief historian. When Sima Qian was 42 years old, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty ordered the implementation of the Taichu Calendar, and he began to work on the Records of the Grand Historian (史记). Before he started writing, Sima Qian had to conduct field research on the historical events he was going to record, in addition to obtaining a large amount of documentary information.

Sima Qian worked day and night, and after a few years, he produced a partial manuscript of the Shiji. Sima Qian presented the manuscript to Emperor Wu of Han, who was pleased at first, but after flipping through it, he frowned and then became furious. It turned out that Sima Qian had unapologetically recorded Emperor Wu's mistakes in the manuscript. Emperor Wu's favorite consort, Consort Yi, once wanted Sima Qian to write a fugue for her, and held a grudge against him because of the refusal, so she took the opportunity to slander him: "I heard that Sima Qian is proud of his talent, comparing himself to a saint, and doesn't take His Majesty into consideration at all." Hearing this, Emperor Wu of Han became even more angry, and immediately summoned the ministers of civil and military affairs to question and condemn Sima Qian. When Emperor Wu handed the manuscript of the Historical Records to his ministers for circulation, all of them dared not speak, except for one minister who strongly encouraged Emperor Wu to punish Sima Qian severely because he was instructed by Consort Yi. The old prime minister knelt down to plead for mercy for Sima Qian, and the royal historian also sided with the prime minister. Emperor Wu had no choice but to let Sima Qian go easy on him and let him revise the Historical Records.

When Sima Qian learned that he was allowed to revise the Records of the Grand Historian, he was in great pain, his liver was broken, and he wanted to resign from his post in grief and indignation, saying, "I don't want to live in this world, but I want to be free of shame!" However, at this time he remembered his father's vow at his father's deathbed: "I must fulfill the old man's last wish to write history!" So, he decided to revise the manuscript, and came up with an ingenious way: the faults of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty were scattered in many chapters, so that it would not be easy to be found.

Soon after, the Han army returned victorious from the northern expedition against the Xiong Nu, and Emperor Wu of Han instructed Sima Qian to record the incident in the history books. Sima Qian originally only wanted to write a biography of Wei Qing, but after he investigated, he found that Li Guang, who was mighty and invincible and had great achievements in battle, died with a grudge, so he decided to write a biography of Li Guang as well. Some people kindly reminded Sima Qian: "If you do this, I am afraid that it will lead to trouble again." Sima Qian, however, laughed it off and did not take it seriously at all. The first time I saw him, he was in the middle of a story, and he was in the middle of a story that he had never seen before.

When Sima Qian was writing the biography of Li Guang, a friend came to visit him and picked up part of the manuscript he had just written. The friend found that Sima Qian wrote about Li Guang's fighting, escaping from danger, and shooting tigers, and so on, with a great deal of vigor, and his praise and admiration for Li Guang flowed between the lines; but later he wrote that Li Guang was not broad-minded and had a personal vendetta. So, my friend asked Sima Qian: "If you write about Li Guang in this way, won't it damage his image?" Sima Qian said, "When I write history, truth is the first rule. You cannot hide the truth by personal favor or dislike." My friend nodded his head and said yes, but also from then on to Sima Qian's admiration.

The biography of Li Guang was written in a beautiful style, and Emperor Wu of Han was very satisfied after reading it. But Fei Fei and nothing more, accusing the historical manuscript of contempt of the court. She said: "Li Guang is so brave and good at fighting, outstanding achievements, but did not get the marquis, and in the battlefield only let him play a supporting role, this is not to criticize the court improper use of people? Also, he cut his own throat and died, isn't this saying that the court is forcing loyal people to die?" Han Wu Di suddenly realized, but a word out, and can not be retracted, had to bear the anger to stop.

Soon after, the court got the news that Li Ling, a minister of the dynasty, had defected to the Xiong Nu after being captured in battle. The Han Emperor was furious and ordered Li Ling to be killed. A military general risked his life to plead for mercy, Emperor Wu was furious, also beheaded. As a result, no one dared to speak for Li Ling. Emperor Wu also told Sima Qian to write down this incident in the history book to warn the future generations. Sima Qian searched around and learned that Li Ling's family had been loyal for generations and was dedicated to the country. Li Ling surrendered to the Huns only to save the lives of his soldiers. Sima Qian also found Li Ling's former subordinates and got first-hand information. So, he had a bottom in his heart, and resolutely decided to write the truth, and never let the loyal people suffer injustice.

Among his friends, some people know about this matter, and then again reminded him that he must think twice before acting, and must not be bookish, or else, may incur the trouble of killing himself. But Sima Qian did not change his mind. He said, "My father was alive, and had taught me that history should be based on facts, and I know this very well, so how can I go against my father and his training to extinguish my conscience, and not let the truth be known to the whole world?"

After reading Sima Qian's manuscript, Emperor Wu ordered Sima Qian to be thrown into jail and sentenced to death. When the old prime minister learned that Sima Qian was arrested, he immediately pleaded guilty to Emperor Wu and asked to share the blame with Sima Qian. Emperor Wu had no choice but to promise Sima Qian that he could replace the death penalty with money or a palace sentence. The old prime minister told Sima Qian the good news, but Sima Qian smiled bitterly and said, "Money - I have no money to pay for the crime as I have no family. Palace punishment - a scholar can be killed but not humiliated. I cannot accept it! There is no way, I will wait to be executed."

That night, Sima Qian thought about it and could not sleep for a long time. When it was almost dawn, he fell asleep in a daze, and also had a dream, dreaming of his father, his father's words of wisdom: "enduring humiliation can bear the burden, my generation of history, only to pass the truth in future generations. If you leave us like this, who can take up the important task of writing history? Although our family has no money, you can endure the palace torture! Listen to me, my son, and write the Records of the Grand Historian!" After listening to his father's words, Sima Qian was awakened, and fell into a deep meditation ...... Finally, Sima Qian decided to accept the palace punishment.

After the execution. Sima Qian from then on to endure humiliation, furious writing, and finally completed the immortal history of the great masterpiece - "the Records of the Grand Historian". Sima Qian was also honored as "Shi Qian" and "Duke of History" by the later generations because of the book "The Records of the Grand Historian".