Sima Qian

Sima Qian (Chinese司马迁/司马迁, Pinyin Sīmǎ Qian, W.-G. Ssŭma Ch'ien ), style name Zichang (Chinese子 长/子 长, Pinyin Zǐcháng, W.-G. Tzu -ch'ang; * 145 BC, † 90 BC) was a Chinese astrologer, historian and writer.

Shiji

Sima Qian was the author of the Shiji (史记), the first overview of more than two thousand years of Chinese history from the legendary Yellow Emperor Wudi of up to Emperor of the Han dynasty and is considered the founder of Chinese historiography. He was like his father Sima Tan court astrologer at the court of Chang'an and thus had access to all the imperial archives.

Although the interpretation of history had till then varies greatly over the centuries, to later historians have Sima Qian's Shiji oriented to. This was also the fact that Ban Gu (班固) in his Han Shu (汉书) took up the shape of the Shiji as the standard. This standard has acted on the history of Korea and the Japanese historiography.

Sima Qian and his Shiji had such a great influence on Chinese history and the Chinese prose style that it can be compared to the effect of the Old Testament in the Bible and Herodotus Historiai.

Works

• Records of the grand historian, CUP, Hong Kong 1993, ISBN 0-231-08167-7
• Vies de Chinois illustrious, Picquier, Arles 2002, ISBN 2-87730-611-9