What we know today of Sima Qian’s (145 –90 BCE) life and especially of the way he saw himself is drawn mainly from two sources of Chinese historiography – the Records of the Grand Historian or Shiji, written by himself and his father Sima Tan (164 – 110 BCE), and the History of the Former Han or Han Shu, written by Ban Gu (32 – 92 CE) . Chapter 130 of the former, i.e. the author’s postface, provides us with an autobiography of Sima Qian, whereas Ban Gu offers a biography of him in the Han Shu that is mostly copied from the Shiji’s postface. Additionally, after the biography Ban Gu added a letter to Ren An, a friend of Sima Qian’s, which was written as a response to Ren An’s own letter to the Grand Historian. The two mentioned accounts of Sima Qian’s life and his self-conception differ strongly from each other. Whereas his postface serves as a biography both for his father Sima Tan as well as his reasons for writing, or rather completing, the Shiji, his letter offers a great deal of insight into his situation at court and the way he perceived it.
The purpose of this paper is to give some insight into Sima Qian’s self-conception and especially into his ways of legitimising his life and work. Thus, I will argue that the reason for his Confucian agenda of self-legitimation can be found in his self-conception displayed in his letter to Ren An.
Table of Contents
Introduction
1. Sima Qian’s Postface, Chapter 130 of the Shiji
2. Sima Qian’s Letter to Ren An
3. Conclusion
Appendix – Daoism in Sima Qian’s Writing
Bibliography
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