Records of the Grand Historian (Qin Dynasty)
Records of the Grand Historian (Qin Dynasty)
By Sima Qian
Translated by Burton Watson
1993
Co-published with Columbia University Press
xviii + 221 pages
ISBN 0231-08168-5
Sima Qian (145?–90? BC) is the first major Chinese historian. His Shi ji, or Records of the Grand Historian, records the history of China and much of the adjacent world from the remote past to his own time. These three volumes contain a new translation of the history of the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) and a revised version of the Han dynasty (from 206 up to c. 90 BC) portion of the Records.
Western readers will value this book not only for its historical importance, but perhaps even more for Sima Qian's warm interest in people. His brief, keen characterizations, his skilful use of dialogue, and his method of presenting different aspects of a figure in the different chapters give Sima Qian's history the engrossing power of a novel.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Introduction — ix
Translator’s Note on Text — xviii
Shi ji 5: The Basic Annals of Qin — 1
Shi ji 6: The Basic Annals of The First Emperor of the Qin — 35
Shi ji 15: Reflections on the Rise of the Qin — 85
Shi ji 68: The Biography of Lord Shang — 89
Shi ji 71 The Biographies of the Shuli Zi and Gan Mou — 101
Shi ji 72 The Biography of the Marquis of Rang — 113
Shi ji 73: The Biography of Bai Qi and Wang Jian — 121
Shi ji 79: The Biographies of Fan Ju and Cai Ze — 131
Shi ji 85: The Biography of Lü Buwei — 159
Shi ji 86: The Biographies of the Assassin-retainers (Excerpt) — 167
Shi ji 87: The Biography of Li Si — 179
Shi ji 88: The Biography of Meng Tian — 207
Shi ji 126: The Biographies of Wits and Humorists (Excerpt) — 215
Index — 217
Review(s)
Review(s)
'Burton Watson's elegant renditions will continue to be useful, especially when readers are primarily interested in the Shiji as literature.'
—CLEAR
-
AUTHOR(s)
Sima Qian set these aims for himself: to separate fact from legend, to be accurate in geographical details, and to give as full an account as possible of historial events and the lives of those concerned. His achievement is a landmark in Chinese history which has maintained its eminent position for 2,000 years. Chinese, Japanese, and Korean scholars have never ceased to read, admire, and love the Shi ji.
-
TRANSLATOR(s)
Burton Watson is a world renowned translator of Chinese and Japanese literature and an adjunct professor of Chinese and Japanese at Columbia University. He lives in Osaka, Japan.