Shiji 史記

Shiji 史記 "Records of the [Grand] Scribe" is a very famous universal history of early China and the first of the official dynastic histories (zhengshi 正史). It is the first history of China written in a biographic-thematic style (jizhuanti 紀傳體), in which biographies of different type, treatises and tables are combined.

The original name of the book was Taishigong shu 太史公書 "The book of the Master Grand Scribe" or Taishiji 太史記 "Records of the Grand Scribe". These titles are derived from the office the two compilers occupied, namely that of the official dynastic court scribes and astrologers (taishi 太史) of the Former Han dynasty 前漢 (206 BCE-8 CE), Sima Tan 司馬談 (died ca. 110 BCE) and his son Sima Qian 司馬遷 (145–86 BCE, courtesy name Zizhang 子長). Sima Tan, who had access to the imperial library and the official documents stored there, planned to write a universal history but was not able to finish his work and entrusted the completion to his son.

The Shiji covers a very long time period, ranging from the age of the mythological Yellow Emperor 黃帝 (trad. r. 2697 – 2597 BCE), to the Xia 夏 (21th - 17th cent. BCE), Shang 商 (17th-11th cent. BCE), Zhou 周 (11th cent.-221 BCE) and Qin 秦 (221-206 BCE) dynasties, and end in the year 93 BCE. The main focus is on the Warring States period 戰國 (5th cent.-221 BCE) and the Qin and the early Han dynasties.

According to the postface (130 Taishigong zixu 太史公自序), the autobiography of Sima Qian, the book contains 130 juan, of which 12 juan are imperial annals-biographies (本紀 benji), 10 juan tables (表 ), 8 juan treatises (書 shu), 30 juan biographies of the houses of regional rulers of the Zhou period as well as of eminent persons (世家 shijia), and 70 juan normal and collective biographies (列傳 liezhuan).

The imperial annals are internally arranged like chronicles, where the most important events and edicts are recorded. For the oldest periods of time the dynasties are treated in one juan, while from the First Emperor of Qin 秦始皇 (r. 246/221–210 BCE; 6 Qin Shihuang benji 秦始皇本紀) on each person has his/her own imperial annals. Two surprises catch the reader concerning the imperial annals.

Firstly, after the downfall of the Qin dynasty there were several warlords contesting for emperorship. One of them was Liu Bang 劉邦 (Emperor Gaozu 漢高祖, r. 206/02 – 195 BCE), the eventual founder of the Han dynasty, and another was Xiang Yu 項羽, the "hegemonial king of West Chu" (Xichu bawang 西楚霸王), who at that time was a superior of Liu Bang, the king of Han. Although he eventually was the loser of the game Xiang Yu was nevertheless granted an own imperial biography (7 Xiang Yu benji 項羽本紀). This circumstance shows that historiography can also be truthful, as Xiang Yu was the more or less official ruler of China between 206 and 202 BCE (he appointed the various warlords to their royal territories), and not Liu Bang, but it also shows that Sima Qian did probably not favour Liu Bang as a person. Another rebel against the Qin dynasty, Chen She 陳涉, is granted a hereditary biography (48 Chen She shijia 陳涉世家), as if he had been a regional ruler.

Secondly, Emperor Hui 漢惠帝 (r. 195–188 BCE) is not granted an own imperial biography, but his reign is included in the biography of his mother (9 Lü taihou benji 呂太后本紀), Empress Dowager Lü 呂太后, who acted as regent during the reign of her son and continued to do so after his death and the subsequent reign of two infant emperors. Except Empress Wu Zetian 武則天 (r. 690–704), who founded her own dynasty during the Tang period 唐 (618-907), Empress Dowager Lü is so the only female person for which imperial annals were compiled in the dynastic histories.

The tables of the Shiji provide invaluable information about the mythological genealogies of the ancient emperors (13 Sandai shibiao 三代世表), the genealogy of the regional rulers during the Spring and Autumn 春秋 (770-5th cent. BCE) and the Warring States periods, and the most important political events in that time (14 Shi'er zhuhou nianbiao 十二諸侯年表 and 15 Liuguo nianbiao 六國年表), the war between Liu Bang and Xiang Yu for the empire (16 Qin-Chu zhi ji yuebiao 秦楚之際月表), as well as the various princes and kings (17 Zhuhou wang nianbiao 諸侯王年表, 21 Wangzi houzhe nianbiao 王子侯者年表), noblemen (18-21 Gongchen houzhe nianbiao 功臣侯者年表) and highest officials (22 Jiangxiang mingchen nianbiao 將相名臣年表) of the early Han period.

The treatises give an overview of the most important matters of statecraft. Most of them served as models for the later dynastic histories, but the treatise of the offerings for Heaven and Earth (28 Fengshan shu 封禪書) is unique because very few emperors undertook the travel to the summit of Mt. Taishan 泰山. It occupies a very important place in the Shiji because Emperor Wu 漢武帝 (r. 141–87 BCE) had organized a huge state ceremony for this undertaking.

The shijia "biographies of hereditary houses" are in first instances the chronicles of the regional states of the Zhou period. Their titles normally include the founder of the house of a regional ruler, in most cases the person appointed as a regional ruler at the beginning of the Zhou period. For the regional state of Qi 齊 two biographies are presented (32 Qi Taigong shijia 齊太公世家 and 46 Tian Jingzhong Wan shijia 田敬仲完世家) because the house of Tian 田 usurped the throne of Qi, where the house of Jiang 姜 had ruled since the beginning of the Zhou period.

The chapters 50-52 and 58-60 are the biographies of imperial princes of the Han dynasty. Another category of persons for which hereditary biographies are written are the high ministers serving the Han dynasty in her founding period. Those were Xiao He 蕭何, Cao Shen 曹參, Zhang Liang 張良, Chen Ping 陳平, and Zhou Bo 周勃 (juan 53-57). Another hereditary biography is dedicated to the empresses and their kinsmen (49 Waiqi shijia 外戚世家). In this chapter the events under the reign of Empress Dowager Lü are narrated a second time, but the entries differ somewhat from that in her imperial biography. Another very important person, whose biography is reported in a hereditary biography, is Confucius (47 Kongzi shijia 孔子世家). Members of the imperial house of Han are partially to be found in hereditary biographies (50-52, 58-60), others in normal biographies (106, 118).

The biographies of "normal" persons are arranged chronologically and are either dedicated to one single person, as for instance that for the mighty minister of Qin, Sima Rangju (64 Sima Rangju liezhuan 司馬穰苴列傳), or as collective biographies to a group of persons who belong together, like the generals Bai Qi and Wang Jian (73 Bai Qi Wang Jian liezhuan 白起王翦列傳) or Mengzi 孟子 (Meng Ke 孟軻) and Xunzi 荀子 (Xun Qing 荀卿 or Xun Kuang 荀況), both thinkers of Confucianism (74 Mengzi Xun Qing liezhuan 孟子荀卿列傳).

The titles of the chapters do not always refer to all persons included, like chapter 63 Laozi Han Fei liezhuan 老子韓非列傳, which does not only deal with Laozi and Han Fei, but also presents the lives of Zhuangzi 莊子 (Zhuang Zhou 莊周) and Shen Buhai 申不害.

Very typical for the Shiji, and in consequence all official dynastic histories, are nevertheless the collective biographies of otherwise not very famous persons. Many of these were adopted as a model by later dynastic histories, like the collective biography of benevolent officials (119 Xunli liezhuan 循吏列傳), cruel officials (122 Kuli liezhuan 酷吏列傳), or the "forest of scholars" (121 Rulin liezhuan 儒林列傳) and diviners (128 Guice liezhuan 龜策列傳). Yet there are also many collective biographies uniquely to be found in the Shiji, like the "assassins" (86 Cike liezhuan 刺客列傳), "wandering knights" (124 Youxia liezhuan 游俠列傳), "flatterers" or "minions" (125 Ningxing liezhuan 佞幸列傳), "humorists" (126 Huaji liezhuan 滑稽列傳), or "profiteers" (129 Huozhi liezhuan 貨殖列傳).

A last group of "biographies" is to be mentioned. These are the "ethnographic" descriptions of foreign peoples and foreign countries, a genre imitated by all later dynastic histories. These chapters describe the Xiongnu (110 Xiongnu liezhuan 匈奴列傳), the Southern (113 Nanyue liezhuan 南越列傳) and Eastern Yue (114 Dongyue liezhuan 東越列傳), the Yi barbarians in the southwest (116 Xinan yi liezhuan 西南夷列傳), and the foreign countries of Korea (115 Chaoxian liezhuan 朝鮮列傳) and Dayuan (123 Dayuan liezhuan 大宛列傳).

For the compilation of the Shiji, father and son Sima made use of a vast treasury of sources. For the Spring and Autumn and the Warring states periods they used sources also otherwise known, like the Confucian Classic Chunqiu-Zuozhuan 春秋左傳, the Guoyu 國語 and Zhanguoce 戰國策, but also sources long since lost, like Chu-Han chunqiu 楚漢春秋 (fragmentarily suriving) or Shiben 世本, the latter being transmitted in several reconstructed versions. For contemporary events archival sources were at their disposal.

From the beginning the Shiji occupied an eminent position in historiography and was read by dozens of generations and imitated by later historians. After the death of Sima Qian it was his grandson Yan Yunzu 楊惲祖 who kept the original and helped distributing it. Nevertheless during the Later Han period 後漢 (25-220 CE) there were already 10 juan missing. Zhang Yan 張晏, who lived in the Cao-Wei empire 曹魏 (220-265), identified the missing chapters, namely the biographies of the emperors Jing 漢景帝 (r. 157–141 BCE) and Wu, the treatises on ritual, on music, and one on military (Bingshu 兵書, lost), a table on generals and counsellors-in-chief from the beginning of the Han period (Han xing yilai jiangxiang nianbiao 漢興以來將相年表, lost), and the biographies of the soothsayers (127 Rizhe liezhuan 日者列傳), the diviners (128 Guice liezhuan), the biography of Fu Kuan 傅寬 and Jin She 靳歙 (98 Fu Jin liezhuan 傅靳列傳), as well as that of the Three Princes (60 Sanwang liezhuan 三王世家).

Even earlier, some parts of the book were missing. Some were supplemented by Chu Shaosun 褚少孫 (fl. 48–7 BCE) and were not originally written by Sima Qian, at least not a part of the chapters. That a part of the missing chapters has indeed been added is clear from the words "Master Chu says" (Chu xiansheng yue 褚先生曰) that are inserted in the respective chapters.

There are three important commentaries (sanjia zhu 三家注) to the Shiji. These are Shiji jijie 史記集解 by Pei Yin 裴駰 (Liu-Song period 劉宋, 420-479), 80-juan long, Shiji suoyin 史記索隱 by Sima Zhen 司馬貞 (679-732), 30-juan long, and Shiji zhengyi 史記正義 by Zhang Shoujie 張守節 (late 7th century), with a length of 30 juan.

Although originally separately written they are normally inserted into the corresponding chapters of the main text. There are some newer commentaries of which the following shall be mentioned: Shiji zhiyi 史記志疑 by Liang Yusheng 梁玉繩 (fl. 1785) and 史記会注考証 by Takigawa Sukenobu 瀧川資言 (1865–1946), with a supplement by Mizusawa Toshitada 水澤利忠 (1918-?).

The bibliographic chapter of the Xintangshu 新唐書 lists a 130-juan long book called Xushiji 續史記 "Sequel to the Shiji", written by Han Wan 韓琬 (mid-7th cent.). Even if the title suggests that this book might be a continuation of Sima Qian's text, it is listed among the commentaries on the Shiji, and must thus have been a such.

The oldest surviving print was produced by Huang Shanfu 黃善夫 during the Southern Song period 南宋 (1127-1279). This excellent print served as the origin for the Bona edition 百衲本 of the Commercial Press 商務印書館. Other good printings are the Nanbeijian 南北監 print of the twenty-one dynastic histories from the Ming period 明 (1368-1644), the print of the seventeen dynastic histories by the Jiguge Library 汲古閣, and the print of the twenty-four dynastic histories from the Hall of Military Glory (Wuyingdian 武英殿), the imperial library of the Qing dynasty 清 (1644-1911).

In the 19th century the Jinling press 金陵書局 produced another print, based on Zhang Wenhu's 張文虎 (1808-1885) composition of different editions of the Shiji, based on Qian Taiji's 錢泰吉 (1791-1863) revision. This edition contains many printing errors. The Zhonghua Book Company 中華書局 published the common modern edition in 1959.

The oldest translation of parts of the Shiji was made by Édouard Chavannes, Les memoirs historiques de Se-ma Ts'ien (Paris: Leroux, 1895 ff.). Other translations were made by Burton Watson, Records of the Grand Historian (New York: Columbia University Press, 1993), Yang Hsien-yi and Gladys Yang, Selections from Records of the Historian (Peking: Foreign Languages Press, 1979), and William H. Nienhauser (ed.), The Grand Scribe's Records (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1994 ff., unfinished).