Records of the Grand Historian

The Records of the Grand Historian, also known by its Chinese

name Shiji, is a monumental history of ancient China and the
Records of the Grand
world finished around 94 BC by the Western Han Dynasty official Historian
Sima Qian after having been started by his father, Sima Tan, Grand
Astrologer to the imperial court. The work covers the world as it
was then known to the Chinese and a 2,500-year period from the
age of the legendary Yellow Emperor to the reign of Emperor Wu
of Han in the author's own time.[1]

The Records has been called a "foundational text in Chinese

civilization".[2] After Confucius and the First Emperor of Qin,
"Sima Qian was one of the creators of Imperial China, not least
because by providing definitive biographies, he virtually created
the two earlier figures."[3] The Records set the model for the 24
subsequent dynastic histories of China. In contrast to Western
historical works, the Records do not treat history as "a continuous,
sweeping narrative", but rather break it up into smaller,
overlapping units dealing with famous leaders, individuals, and
major topics of significance.[4]
Printed copy by Zhonghua Book
Company (1982)
Author Sima Qian
Contents
Original title 太史公書
History (Tàishǐgōng shū)
Manuscripts 史記 (Shǐjì)
Contents Country Western Han China
Style Language Classical Chinese
Source materials Subject Ancient Chinese
Reliability and accuracy history
Transmission and supplementation by other writers Publication c. 91 BC
date
Editions
Notable translations Records of the Grand
English Historian
Non-English
See also
Notes
References
Citations
"Shiji" in Traditional (top) and
Sources Simplified (bottom) Chinese
Further reading characters
External links Traditional Chinese 史記
 Simplified Chinese 史记
History Literal meaning "Scribal
Records"
The work that became Records of the Grand Historian was begun Transcriptions
by Sima Tan, who was Grand Astrologer (Taishi 太史 ) of the Han Standard Mandarin
dynasty court during the late 2nd century  BC. Sima Tan drafted
plans for the ambitious work and left behind some fragments and Hanyu Pinyin Shǐjì
notes that may have been incorporated into the final text. After his Wade–Giles Shih3-chi4
death in 110 BC, the project was continued and completed by his IPA [ʂɨ̀.tɕî]
son and successor Sima Qian, who is generally credited as the
Wu
work's author.[5][6] The exact date of the Records's completion is
unknown, but it is certain that Sima Qian completed it before his Romanization Sy-ci
death in approximately 86  BC, with one copy residing in the Yue: Cantonese
imperial capital of Chang'an (present-day Xi'an) and the other
Yale Romanization Sí-gei
copy probably being stored in his home.[7][note 1]
Jyutping Si2-gei3
The original title of the work, as given by the author in the
太史公書
IPA [sǐː kēi]
postface is Taishigongshu ( ), or Records of the Grand Southern Min
Historian, although it was also known by a variety of other titles,
including Taishigongji (太史公記 ) and Taishigongzhuan ( 太史公 Hokkien POJ Sú-kì
傳 ) in ancient times. Eventually, Shiji (史記 ), or Historical Middle Chinese
Records became the most commonly used title in Chinese. This Middle Chinese ʂí-kì
title was originally used to refer to any general historical text,
Old Chinese
although after the Three Kingdoms period,[note 2] Shiji gradually
began to be used exclusively to refer to Sima Qian's work. In Baxter–Sagart s-rəʔ C.krəʔ-
English, the original title, Records of the Grand Historian is in (2014) s
common use,[8] although Historical Records,[9] The Grand Alternative Chinese name
Scribe's Records,[10] and Records of the Historian[11] are also
used. Traditional Chinese 太史公書
Literal meaning "Records of
Details of the Records' early reception and circulation are not well the Grand
known.[12] A number of 1st-century BC authors, such as the
scholar Chu Shaosun ( 褚少孫 ; fl. 32–7 BC), added interpolations
Transcriptions
Historian"

to the Records, and may have had to reconstruct portions of it: ten
of the original 130 chapters were lost in the Eastern Han period Standard Mandarin
(AD 25–220) and seem to have been reconstructed later.[7] Hanyu Pinyin Tàishǐgōng shū

Beginning in the Northern and Southern dynasties (420–589) and Yue: Cantonese
the Tang dynasty (618–907), a number of scholars wrote and Yale Tai sí gōng syū
edited commentaries to the Records.[7] Most 2nd-millennium Romanization
editions of the Records include the commentaries of Pei Yin ( 裴駰, Jyutping Tai3 si2 gong1 syu1
5th century), Sima Zhen (early 8th century), and Zhang Shoujie
(張守節 , early 8th century).[13][14] The combined commentaries Southern Min
of these three scholars is known as the Sanjiazhu ( 三家注 , Hokkien POJ Thài-sú-kong su
"commentaries of the three experts"). The primary modern edition Middle Chinese
of the Records is the ten-volume Zhonghua Book Company
Middle Chinese tʰài ʂí kuwng sho
edition of 1959 (revised in 1982), and is based on an edition
prepared by the Chinese historian Gu Jiegang in the early 1930s Old Chinese
and includes the Sanjiazhu.[15] Baxter–Sagart *l̥ˤat-s s-rəʔ
(2014) C.qˤung s-ta
Manuscripts

There are two known surviving fragments of Records manuscripts from before the Tang dynasty, both of
which are preserved in the Ishiyama-dera temple in Ōtsu, Japan. Portions of at least nine Tang dynasty
manuscripts survive: three fragments discovered among the Dunhuang manuscripts in the early 20th
century, and six manuscripts preserved in Japanese temples and museums, such as the Kōzan-ji temple in
Kyoto and the Tōyō Bunko museum in Tokyo. A number of woodblock printed editions of the Records
survive, the earliest of which date to the Song dynasty (960–1279).[13]

Contents
In all, the Records is about 526,500 Chinese characters long, making
it four times longer than Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian
War and longer than the Old Testament.[16][17]

Sima Qian conceived and composed his work in self-contained units,

with a good deal of repetition between them. His manuscript was
written on bamboo slips with about 24 to 36 characters each, and
assembled into bundles of around 30 slips. Even after the manuscript
was allowed to circulate or be copied, the work would have
circulated as bundles of bamboo slips or small groups. Endymion
Wilkinson calculates that there were probably between 466 and 700
bundles, whose total weight would have been 88–132 pounds (40–
60  kg), which would have been difficult to access and hard to
transport. Later copies on silk would have been much lighter, but also
expensive and rare. Until the work was transferred to paper many
centuries later, circulation would have been difficult and piecemeal,
which accounts for many of the errors and variations in the text.[17] An early printed edition

Sima Qian organized the chapters of Records of the Grand Historian

into five categories, which each comprise a section of the book.

Basic Annals
The "Basic Annals" (běnjì 本紀 ) make up the first 12 chapters of the Records, and are
largely similar to records from the ancient Chinese court chronicle tradition, such as the
Spring and Autumn Annals.[18] The first five cover either periods, such as the Five
Emperors, or individual dynasties, such as the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties.[18] The
last seven cover individual rulers, starting with the First Emperor of Qin and progressing
through the first emperors of the Han dynasty.[18] In this section, Sima chose to also
include de facto rulers of China, such as Xiang Yu and Empress Dowager Lü, while
excluding rulers who never held any real power, such as Emperor Yi of Chu and Emperor
Hui of Han.[19]
Tables
表
Chapters 13 to 22 are the "Tables" (biǎo ), which are one genealogical table and nine
other chronological tables.[18] They show reigns, important events, and royal lineages in
table form, which Sima Qian stated that he did because "the chronologies are difficult to
follow when different genealogical lines exist at the same time."[20] Each table except the
last one begins with an introduction to the period it covers.[18]
Treatises
書
The "Treatises" (shū , sometimes called "Monographs") is the shortest of the five
Records sections, and contains eight chapters (23–30) on the historical evolution of ritual,
 music, pitch pipes, the calendar, astronomy, sacrifices, rivers and waterways, and financial
administration.[18]
Hereditary Houses
The "Hereditary Houses" (shìjiā 世家
) is the second largest of the five Records sections,
and comprises chapters 31 to 60. Within this section, the earlier chapters are very different
in nature than the later chapters.[18] Many of the earlier chapters are chronicle-like
accounts of the leading states of the Zhou dynasty, such as the states of Qin and Lu, and
two of the chapters go back as far as the Shang dynasty.[18] The later chapters, which
cover the Han dynasty, contain biographies.[18]
Ranked Biographies
The "Ranked Biographies" (lièzhuàn 列傳, usually shortened to "Biographies") is the
largest of the five Records sections, covering chapters 61 to 130, and accounts for 42% of
the entire work.[18] The 69 "Biographies" chapters mostly contain biographical profiles of
about 130 outstanding ancient Chinese men, ranging from the moral paragon Boyi from
the end of the Shang dynasty to some of Sima Qian's near contemporaries.[18] About 40 of
the chapters are dedicated to one particular man, but some are about two related figures,
while others cover small groups of figures who shared certain roles, such as assassins,
caring officials, or Confucian scholars.[18] Unlike most modern biographies, the accounts
in the "Biographies" give profiles using anecdotes to depict morals and character, with
"unforgettably lively impressions of people of many different kinds and of the age in which
they lived."[18] The "Biographies" have been popular throughout Chinese history, and
have provided a large number of set phrases still used in modern Chinese.[18]

Style
Unlike subsequent official historical texts that adopted Confucian
doctrine, proclaimed the divine rights of the emperors, and
degraded any failed claimant to the throne, Sima Qian's more
liberal and objective prose has been renowned and followed by
poets and novelists. Most volumes of Liezhuan are vivid
descriptions of events and persons. Sima Qian sought out stories
from those who might have closer knowledge of certain historical
events, using them as sources to balance the reliability and accuracy
of historical records. For instance, the material on Jing Ke's attempt
at assassinating the King of Qin incorporates an eye-witness
account by Xia Wuju ( 夏無且 ), a physician to the king of Qin who
happened to be attending the diplomatic ceremony for Jing Ke, and
this account was passed on to Sima Qian by those who knew Sima Qian
Xia.[21]

It has been observed that the diplomatic Sima Qian has a way of accentuating the positive in his treatment
of rulers in the Basic Annals, but slipping negative information into other chapters, and so his work must be
read as a whole to obtain full information. For example, the information that Liu Bang (later Emperor
Gaozu of Han), in a desperate attempt to escape in a chase from Xiang Yu's men, pushed his own children
off his carriage to lighten it, was not given in the emperor's biography, but in the biography of Xiang Yu.
He is also careful to balance the negative with the positive, for example, in the biography of Empress
Dowager Lu which contains startling accounts of her cruelty, he pointed out at the end that, despite
whatever her personal life may have been, her rule brought peace and prosperity to the country.[22]

Source materials
Sima's family were hereditary historians to the Han emperor. Sima Qian's father Sima Tan served as Grand
Historian, and Sima Qian succeeded to his position. Thus he had access to the early Han dynasty archives,
edicts, and records. Sima Qian was a methodical, skeptical historian who had access to ancient books,
written on bamboo and wooden slips, from before the time of the Han dynasty. Many of the sources he
used did not survive. He not only used archives and imperial records, but also interviewed people and
traveled around China to verify information. In his first chapter, "Annals of the Five Emperors," he
writes,[23]

余嘗西至空桐，北過涿鹿，東漸於海，南浮江淮矣，至長老皆各往往稱
黃帝、堯、舜之處，風教固殊焉，總之不離古文者近是。
I myself have travelled west as far as K'ung-t'ung, north past Cho-lu, east to the sea, and in the
south I have sailed the Yellow and Huai Rivers. The elders and old men of these various lands
frequently pointed out to me the places where the Yellow Emperor, Yao, and Shun had lived,
and in these places the manners and customs seemed quite different. In general those of their
accounts which do not differ from the ancient texts seem to be near to the truth.

— Sima Qian, translation by Burton Watson[24]

The Grand Historian used The Annals of the Five Emperors ( 五帝系諜 ) and the Classic of History as
source materials to make genealogies from the time of the Yellow Emperor until that of the Gonghe regency
(841–828 BC). Sima Qian often cites his sources. For example, in the first chapter, "Annals of the Five
Emperors", he writes, "I have read the Spring and Autumn Annals and the Guoyu." In his 13th chapter,
"Genealogical Table of the Three Ages," Sima Qian writes, "I have read all the genealogies of the kings
諜記
(dieji ) that exist since the time of the Yellow Emperor." In his 14th chapter, "Yearly Chronicle of the
Feudal Lords", he writes, "I have read all the royal annals (chunqiu li pudie 春秋曆譜諜 ) up until the time
of King Li of Zhou." In his 15th chapter, "Yearly Chronicle of the Six States," he writes, "I have read the
Annals of Qin (qin ji秦記 ), and they say that the Quanrong [a barbarian tribe] defeated King You of Zhou
[ca 771 BC]."

In the 19th chapter, he writes, "I have occasion to read over the records of enfeoffment and come to the
case of Wu Qian, the marquis of Bian...." (The father of Marquis Bian, Wu Rui, was named king (wang) of
Changsha in Hunan for his loyalty to Gaozu. See article on Zhao Tuo). In his chapter on the patriotic
minister and poet Qu Yuan, Sima Qian writes, "I have read [Qu Yuan's works] Li Sao, Tianwen ("Heaven
Asking"), Zhaohun (summoning the soul), and Ai Ying (Lament for Ying)". In the 62nd chapter,
"Biography of Guan and of Yan", he writes, "I have read Guan's Mu Min ( 牧民 - "Government of the
People", a chapter in the Guanzi), Shan Gao ("The Mountains Are High"), Chengma (chariot and horses; a
long section on war and economics), Qingzhong (Light and Heavy; i.e. "what is important"), and Jiufu
(Nine Houses), as well as the Spring and Autumn Annals of Yanzi." In his 64th chapter, "Biography of
Sima Rangju", the Grand Historian writes, "I have read Sima's Art of War." In the 121st chapter,
"Biographies of Scholars", he writes, "I read the Imperial Decrees that encouraged education officials."

Sima Qian wrote of the problems with incomplete, fragmentary and contradictory sources. For example, he
mentioned in the preface to chapter 15 that the chronicle records of the feudal states kept in the Zhou
dynasty's archive were burnt by Qin Shi Huang because they contained criticisms and ridicule of the Qin
state, and that the Qin annals were brief and incomplete.[25] In the 13th chapter he mentioned that the
chronologies and genealogies of different ancient texts "disagree and contradict each other throughout". In
his 18th chapter, Sima Qian writes, "I have set down only what is certain, and in doubtful cases left a
blank."[26]
Reliability and accuracy
Scholars have questioned the historicity of legendary kings of the
ancient periods given by Sima Qian. Sima Qian began the Shiji
with an account of the five rulers of supreme virtue, the Five
Emperors, who modern scholars, such as those from the Doubting
Antiquity School, believe to be originally local deities of the
peoples of ancient China.[27] Sima Qian sifted out the elements of
the supernatural and fantastic which seemed to contradict their
existence as actual human monarchs, and was therefore criticized
for turning myths and folklore into sober history.[27]

However, according to Joseph Needham, who wrote in 1954 on

Sima Qian's accounts of the kings of the Shang dynasty (c. 1600 –
c. 1050 BC):

It was commonly maintained that Ssuma Chhien [Sima

Qian] could not have adequate historical materials for
his account of what had happened more than a
thousand years earlier. One may judge of the
Chapter 2, Annals of Xia (Ming
astonishment of many, therefore, when it appeared that
dynasty edition)
no less than twenty-three of the thirty rulers' name
were to be clearly found on the indisputably genuine
Anyang bones. It must be, therefore, that Ssuma
Chhien [Sima Qian] did have fairly reliable materials
at his disposal—a fact which underlines once more the
deep historical-mindedness of the Chinese—and that
the Shang dynasty is perfectly acceptable.

— Joseph Needham[28]

While the king names in Sima Qian's history of the Shang dynasty are supported by inscriptions on the
oracle bones, there is, as yet, no archaeological corroboration of Sima Qian's history of the Xia dynasty.

There are also discrepancies of fact such as dates between various portions of the work. This may be a
result of Sima Qian's use of different source texts.[29]

Transmission and supplementation by other writers

After ca. 91 BC, the more-or-less completed manuscript was hidden in the residence of the author's
daughter, Sima Ying ( 司馬英 ), to avoid destruction under Emperor Wu and his immediate successor
Emperor Zhao. The Shiji was finally disseminated during the reign of Emperor Xuan by Sima Qian's
grandson (through his daughter), Yang Yun ( 楊惲 ), after a hiatus of around twenty years.

The changes in the manuscript of the Shiji during this hiatus have always been disputed among scholars.
That the text was more or less complete by ca. 91 BC is established in the Letter to Ren'an ( 報任安書 ),
composed in the Zhenghe ( 征和 ) era of Emperor Wu's reign. In this letter, Sima Qian describes his work as
"spanning from the time of the Yellow Emperor to the present age and consisting of ten tables, twelve basic
annals, eight treatises, thirty chapters on hereditary houses, and seventy biographies, together totaling 130
chapters."[30] These numbers are likewise given in the postface to Shiji.[31]
After his death (presumably only a few years later), few people had the opportunity to see the whole work.
However, various additions were still made to it. The historian Liu Zhiji reported the names of a total of
fifteen scholars supposed to have added material to the Shiji during the period after the death of Sima Qian.
褚少孫
Only the additions by Chu Shaosun ( , c. 105 – c. 30 BC) are clearly indicated by adding "Mr Chu
said," (Chu xiansheng yue, 褚先生曰 ). Already in the first century AD, Ban Biao and Ban Gu claimed
that ten chapters in Records of the Grand Historian were lacking. A large number of chapters dealing with
the first century of the Han dynasty (i.e. the 2nd century BC) correspond exactly to the relevant chapters
from the Book of Han (Hanshu). It is unclear whether those chapters initially came from the Shiji or from
the Hanshu. Researchers Yves Hervouet (1921–1999) and A. F. P. Hulsewé argued that the originals of
those chapters of the Shiji were lost and they were later reconstructed using the corresponding chapters
from the Hanshu.[32]

Editions
The earliest extant copy of Records of the Grand Historian, handwritten, was made during the Southern
and Northern Dynasties period (420–589 AD). The earliest printed edition, called Shiji jijie ( 史記集解,
literally Records of the Grand Historian, Collected Annotations), was published during the Northern Song
dynasty. Huang Shanfu's edition, printed under the Southern Song dynasty, is the earliest collection of the
Sanjiazhu commentaries on Records of the Grand Historian ( 三家注, literally: The Combined Annotations
of the Three Experts).

In modern times, the Zhonghua Book Company in Beijing has published the book in both simplified
Chinese for mass consumption and traditional Chinese for scholarly study. The 1959 (2nd ed., 1982)
Sanjiazhu edition in traditional Chinese (based upon the Jinling Publishing House edition, see below)
contains commentaries interspersed among the main text and is considered to be an authoritative modern
edition.

The most well-known editions of the Shiji are:

Printing
Year Publisher Notes
technique

Southern Song Block- Abbreviated as the Huang Shanfu

dynasty (1127–1279)
Huang Shanfu
printed 黄善夫本
edition ( )

Ming dynasty,
between the times of published in 21 Shi. Abbreviated as the
The Northern and Southern Block-
the Jiajing and Wanli
Emperors (between
Imperial Academy printed 监本
Jian edition ( )
1521 and 1620)
Publisher: the bibliophile Mao
毛晋
Jin ( ), 1599–1659) and his Published in 17 Shi. Abbreviated as the
Ming dynasty studio Ji Gu Ge ( 汲古閣 or the
Block-
毛刻本
Mao Ke edition ( ) or the Ji Gu Ge
Drawing from Ancient Times
printed
汲古閣本
edition ( )
Studio)

Qing dynasty, in the Published in the Twenty-Four Histories,

Block- abbreviated as the Wu Yingdian edition
time of the Qianlong Wu Yingdian
Emperor (1711–1799)
printed
武英殿本
( )

Proofreading and copy editing done by

Qing dynasty, in the Zhang Wenhu. Published with the
Jinling Publishing House (in Block- Sanjiazhu commentaries, 130 volumes
time of the Tongzhi
Nanjing) printed in total. Abbreviated as the Jinling Ju or
Emperor (1856–1875)
金陵局本
Jinling Publishing edition ( )
Notable translations

English
Watson, Burton, trans. (1961). Records of the Grand Historian of China. New York: Columbia
University Press.
Second edition, 1993 (Records of the Grand Historian). Translates roughly 90 out of 130
chapters.
Qin dynasty, ISBN 978-0-231-08169-6.
Han dynasty, Volume 1, ISBN 978-0-231-08165-8.
Han dynasty, Volume 2, ISBN 978-0-231-08167-2.
Yang Hsien-yi and Gladys Yang (1974), Records of the Historians. Hong Kong: Commercial
Press.
Reprinted by University Press of the Pacific, 2002. Contains biographies of Confucius
and Laozi. ISBN 978-0835106184
Raymond Stanley Dawson (1994). Historical records. New York: Oxford University Press.
Reprinted, 2007 (The first emperor : selections from the Historical records). Translates
only Qin-related material. ISBN 9780199574391
William H. Nienhauser, Jr., ed. (1994– ). The Grand Scribe's Records, 9 vols. Bloomington:
Indiana University Press. Ongoing translation, and being translated out of order. As of 2020,
translates 92 out of 130 chapters.
I. The Basic Annals of Pre-Han China (2018), ISBN 978-0-253-03855-5.
II. The Basic Annals of the Han Dynasty (2018), ISBN 978-0-253-03909-5.
V. part 1. The Hereditary Houses of Pre-Han China (2006), ISBN 978-0-253-34025-2.
VII. The Memoirs of Pre-Han China (1995), ISBN 978-0-253-34027-6.
VIII. The Memoirs of Han China, Part I (2008), ISBN 978-0-253-34028-3.
IX. The Memoirs of Han China, Part II (2010), ISBN 978-0-253-35590-4.
X. The Memoirs of Han China, Part III (2016), ISBN 978-0-253-01931-8.
XI. The Memoirs of Han China, Part IV (2019), ISBN 978-0-253-04610-9.

Non-English
(in French) Chavannes, Édouard, trans. (1895–1905). Les Mémoires historiques de Se-ma
Ts'ien [The Historical Memoirs of Sima Qian], 6 vols.; rpt. (1967–1969) 7 vols., Paris: Adrien
Maisonneuve. Left uncompleted at Chavannes' death. William Nienhauser calls it a
"landmark" and "the standard by which all subsequent renditions... must be measured."[33]
(in French) Chavannes, Édouard, Maxime Kaltenmark Jacques Pimpaneau, translators.
(2015) Les Mémoires historiques de Se-Ma Ts'ien [The Historical Memoirs of Sima Qian], 9
vols.; Éditions You Feng, Paris. This is the completed full translation of the Shiji
(in Russian) full translation in 9 vols: Vyatkin, Rudolf V., trans. . Istoricheskie Zapiski (Shi-
czi) [Исторические записки (Ши-цзи)], 8 vols. Moscow: Nauka (1972–2002); 9th volume:
Vyatkin, Anatoly R., trans. (2010), Moscow: Vostochnaya literatura. This is the first complete
translation into any European language.
杨钟贤; Hao, Zhida 郝志达, eds. (1997). Quanjiao
(in Mandarin Chinese) Yang, Zhongxian
quanzhu quanyi quanping Shiji 全校全注全译全评史记 [Shiji: Fully Collated, Annotated,
 Translated, and Evaluated], 6 vols. Tianjin: Tianjin guji chubanshe.
(in Mandarin Chinese) Yang, Yanqi 杨燕起; eds. (2001). “Shi Ji Quan Yi" 史记全译, 12 vols.
Guiyang: Guizhou renmin chubanshe 贵州人民出版社 .
(in Mandarin Chinese) Xu, Jialu 许嘉璐; An, Pingqiu 安平秋, eds. (2003). Ershisishi quanyi:
Shiji 二十四史全译：史记, 2 vols. Beijing: Hanyudacidian chubanshe.
(in Japanese) Mizusawa, Toshitada 水澤利忠; Yoshida, Kenkō 吉田賢抗, trans. (1996–
1998). Shiki 史記 [Shiji], 12 vols. Tokyo: Kyūko.
(in Danish) Svane, Gunnar O., trans. (2007). Historiske Optegnelser: Kapitlerne 61-130,
Biografier 1-70. Aarhus: Aarhus Universitetsforlag.
(in German) Gregor Kneussel, Alexander Saechtig, trans. (2016). Aus den Aufzeichnungen
des Chronisten, 3 vols. Beijing: Verlag für fremdsprachige Literatur (Foreign Languages
Press); ISBN 978-7-119-09676-6.

See also
Twenty-Four Histories

Notes
1. The postface of the Records states that the text will be stored within "a famous mountain"
while a copy will be stored in the capital, hidden and awaiting "sages and gentlemen of
藏之名山，副在京師，俟後世聖人君子。
future generations": " "
王肅
2. The Three Kingdoms period scholar Wang Xiao ( , AD 195–256) appears to be among
the earliest to apply the name Shiji to Sima Qian's work.

References

Citations
1. Nienhauser (2011), pp. 463-464 (https://books.google.com/books?id=pYM3AwAAQBAJ&pg
=PA486&dq=Historiography+Chinese+shiji&hl=en&sa=X&ei=zFVIVJyXMoSTyASojYHoDw
&ved=0CE0Q6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=Shiji&f=false).
2. Hardy (1999), p. xiii.
3. Hardy (1999), pp. xiii, 3.
4. Durrant (1986), p. 689.
5. Hulsewé (1993), pp. 405–06.
6. Durrant (2001), pp. 502–03.
7. Knechtges (2014), p. 897.
8. Sima, Qian (December 1992). Records of the grand historian. Han dynasty. Translated by
Watson, Burton (Rev. ed.). Hong Kong: Columbia University Press (published 1993).
ISBN 0231081642. OCLC 26674054 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/26674054).
9. Sima, Qian (1994). Historical records. Translated by Dawson, Raymond Stanley. Oxford:
Oxford University Press. ISBN 0192831151. OCLC 28799204 (https://www.worldcat.org/ocl
c/28799204).
10. Sima, Qian (1994). The grand scribe's records. Translated by Nienhauser, William H.;
Cheng, Tsai Fa. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN 0253340217.
OCLC 30508745 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/30508745).
11. Sima, Qian (1969). Records of the historian; chapters from the Shih chi of Ssu-ma Ch'ien (htt
ps://archive.org/details/recordsofhistori0000ssum). Translated by Watson, Burton; Takigawa,
Kametarō. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0231033214. OCLC 332024 (https://
www.worldcat.org/oclc/332024).
12. Kern (2010), p. 102.
13. Knechtges (2014), p. 898.
14. Hulsewé (1993), p. 407.
15. Hulsewé (1993), p. 409.
16. Hardy, Grant (1994). "Can an Ancient Chinese Historian Contribute to Modern Western
Theory? The Multiple Narratives of Ssu-Ma Ch'ien". History and Theory. 33 (1): 20–38.
doi:10.2307/2505650 (https://doi.org/10.2307%2F2505650). JSTOR 2505650 (https://www.j
stor.org/stable/2505650).
17. Wilkinson (2012), p. 708.
18. Wilkinson (2012), p. 706.
19. Watson (1958), pp. 111–112.
20. Shiji 130: 3319, cited in Wilkinson (2012), p. 706.
21. Watson (1958), pp. 191, 240.
22. Watson (1958), pp. 95–98.
五帝本紀
23. "Annals of the Five Emperors" (http://ctext.org/shiji/wu-di-ben-ji). ctext.org. Chinese
余嘗西至空桐，北過涿鹿，東漸於海，南浮江淮矣，至長老皆各往往稱黃帝、
Text Project. "
堯、舜之處，風教固殊焉，總之不離古文者近是。 "
24. Watson (1958), p. 183.
25. 六國年表 (https://ctext.org/shiji/liu-guo-nian-biao#n5146) [Chronological table of the six
秦既得意，燒天下詩書，諸侯史記尤甚，為其有
kingdoms]. ctext.org. Chinese Text Project. "
所刺譏也。詩書所以復見者，多藏人家，而史記獨藏周室，以故滅。惜哉，惜哉！獨有秦
記，又不載日月，其文略不具。"
26. Records of the Grand Historian, vol. Han Dynasty I, translated by Burton Watson (Columbia
University, Revised Edition, 1993)
27. Watson (1958), pp. 16–17.
28. Needham, Joseph. (1954). Science and Civilization in China: Volume 1, Introductory
Orientations (https://books.google.com/books?id=lNXZGQVdz_gC&pg=PA88). Cambridge
University Press. p. 88. ISBN 0-521-05799-X.
29. Watson (1958), p. 113.
30. 報任少卿書 (https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E5%A0%B1%E4%BB%BB%E5%B0%91%E5%
報任少卿書：『上計軒
8D%BF%E6%9B%B8) [Letter to Ren'an]. Wikisource (in Chinese). "
轅，下至于茲，為十表，本紀十二，書八章，世家三十，列傳七十，凡百三十篇。』 "
31. Watson (1958), pp. 56–67.
32. Hulsewé, A. F. P. (1979). China in Central Asia: The Early Stage 125 BC – AD 23: an
annotated translation of chapters 61 and 96 of the History of the Former Han Dynasty (http
s://books.google.com/books?id=HzhCAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA8). E. Brill, Leiden. pp. 8–25.
ISBN 90-04-05884-2.
33. Classe, Olive, ed. (2000). Encyclopedia of Literary Translation into English (https://books.go
ogle.com/books?id=C1uXah12nHgC&q=Shi+Ji+Chavannes&pg=PA1283). Fitzroy
Dearborn. p. 1282. ISBN 9781884964367.
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Durrant, Stephen (1986). "Shih-chi 史記 ". In William H. Nienhauser Jr. (ed.). The Indiana
Companion to Traditional Chinese Literature, Vol. 1. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
ISBN 978-0-253-32983-7. OCLC 11841260 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/11841260).
Durrant, Stephen (2001). "The Literary Features of Historical Writing". In Mair, Victor H. (ed.).
The Columbia History of Chinese Literature (https://archive.org/details/columbiahistoryc00m
air). New York, NY: Columbia University Press. pp. 493 (https://archive.org/details/columbiah
istoryc00mair/page/n519)–510. ISBN 0-231-10984-9.
Hardy, Grant (1999). Worlds of Bronze and Bamboo: Sima Qian's Conquest of History (http
s://books.google.com/books?id=BeVS1n4iTmcC). New York: Columbia University Press.
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Bibliographical Guide. Berkeley, CA: Society for the Study of Early China; University of
California, Berkeley. pp. 405–414. ISBN 1-55729-043-1.
Kern, Martin (2010). "Early Chinese literature, Beginnings through Western Han". In Owen,
Stephen (ed.). The Cambridge History of Chinese Literature, Volume 1: To 1375.
Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. pp. 1–115. ISBN 978-0-521-11677-0.
Knechtges, David R. (2014). "Shi ji 史記 ". In Knechtges, David R.; Chang, Tai-ping (eds.).
Ancient and Early Medieval Chinese Literature, A Reference Guide: Part Two. Leiden: Brill.
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Nienhauser, William (2011). "Sima Qian and the Shiji". In Feldherr, Andrew; Hardy, Grant
(eds.). The Oxford History of Historical Writing: Volume 1: Beginnings to AD 600. Oxford
University Press. pp. 463–484. ISBN 978-0-19-103678-1.
Watson, Burton (1958). Ssu Ma Ch'ien Grand Historian Of China (https://archive.org/stream/s
sumachiengrandh012602mbp). Columbia University Press.
Wilkinson, Endymion (2012). Chinese History: A New Manual. Harvard-Yenching Institute
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Further reading
Yap, Joseph P, (2019). The Western Regions, Xiongnu and Han, from the Shiji, Hanshu and
Hou Hanshu. ISBN 978-1792829154.

External links
史記 （三家注） (https://archive.org/details/ymwang_post_1959) [Shiji with Commentary of
the Three Experts] (in Chinese). Commentary by Pei Yin (裴駰), Sima Zhen (司馬貞), and
Zhang Shoujie (張守節). Zhonghua Publishing House. 1959 – via Internet Archive.
Xu Jialu (許嘉璐); An Pingqiu (安平秋), eds. (2004). Records of the Grand Historian, Original
and Modern Chinese Translation (https://archive.org/details/ShijiClassicalAndVernacular)
(in Chinese). Century Publishing Group – via Internet Archive.
"Shiji"史記 (http://ctext.org/shiji) (in Chinese and English). Chinese Text Project. "Shiji
(Simplified Chinese version)" 史记 (http://ctext.org/shiji/ens) (in Chinese and English).
Chinese Text Project.
 The Original Text in its Entirety (Chinese) (http://www.guoxue.com/shibu/24shi/shiji/sjml.htm)
CHINAKNOWLEDGE Shiji 史記
Records of the Grand Scribe. (http://www.chinaknowledge.
de/Literature/Historiography/shiji.html)
Ssuma Ch'ien (http://www.sacred-texts.com/cfu/smc/index.htm) at Internet Sacred Text
Archive. Chapters 1–3, Ssuma Ch'ien's Historical Records, translated by Herbert J. Allen:
1. "Introductory Chapter" (https://archive.org/stream/journalroyalasi71irelgoog#page/n287)
(1894), Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 26 (2): 269–295.
doi:10.1017/S0035869X00143916 (https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0035869X00143916).
(text (http://www.sacred-texts.com/journals/jras/1894-10.htm))
2. "The Hsia Dynasty" (https://archive.org/stream/journalroyalasi74irelgoog#page/n109)
(1895), Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 27 (1): 93–110.
doi:10.1017/S0035869X00022784 (https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0035869X00022784).
(text (http://www.sacred-texts.com/journals/jras/1895-03.htm))
3. "The Yin Dynasty" (https://archive.org/stream/journalroyalasi74irelgoog#page/n633)
(1895), Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 27 (3): 601–615.
doi:10.1017/S0035869X00145083 (https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0035869X00145083).
(text (http://www.sacred-texts.com/journals/jras/1895-17.htm))
Part of chapter 63 (https://archive.org/details/sacredbooksearly12hornuoft)The Sacred
Books and Early Literature of the East, Volume XII: Medieval China (https://archive.org/detail
s/sacredbooksearly12hornuoft), ed. Charles F. Horne, 1917, pp. 396–398.

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