36 Sima Qian

A Great Writer Who Wrote Shi Ji (History Records)

Sima Qian (135-87 BC) was born into a family rich in historiography and literary background. He wrote a highly-valued history classic Shi Ji (History Records) which related 3000 years of Chinese history from primitive Yandi and Huangdi through Emperor Wudi of Han Dynasty. Though many stories were legendary, people still viewed them as authentic historical documents. Shi Ji was also a book of great literary importance that had given a great impact to the development of Chinese literature. Sima Qian began to learn a wide range of books when he was 10. At the age of 20, he started to travel to “famous mountains and big rivers” all over the country. People believed the practice of “reading ten thousand versions of books and traveling ten thousand miles of lands” had contributed him to have a “special spiritual atmosphere” surging in his mind when he wrote.

When Sima was 27 years old, his historian father died. On dying bed, the father wanted the son to write a history book. But in the year Sima was 34, he suffered an unexpected mishap that had greatly altered his life: Sima had a close friend Li Ling (Li Guang’s grandson) who had commanded troops to fight Xiong Nu. After his troops were defeated, Li surrendered the enemy. When Emperor Wudi ordered to execute all Li’s family members, Sima gave some words for Li’s defense. The out-raged Wudi then punished Sima with a cruel “castrate” penalty. On his suffering, he wrote to one of his friends: “Everyone should inevitably face death, someone’s death was as heavy as the Mount Tai, while someone’s death was as light as a string of hair.” He made clear that the reason he was still alive instead of killing himself was he had something important to do. He shut closed the door and concentrated himself on writing. Sima Qian finally finished his book Shi Ji in the year he was 55, the year people believed he had also finished his life, because people could no longer find any clue about his whereabouts ever since.