Sima Qian and the Shiji (Records of the Grand Historian) : Historicism under the Early Han Empire

It is nearly impossible to overstate the singular importance of the Shiji (Records of the Grand Historian) in the vast tradition of historical writings in East Asia. Compiled more than two millennia ago during the early Han Empire (206 bce-220 ce) by Sima Qian, the empire’s senior archivist, it has since cast a very long shadow over the entire East Asian historiographical tradition. 1 This was not at all expected by the senior archivist himself at the time of the compilation. If anything, he was fearful that this monumental work of history, to which he dedicated most of his life, may never find an appreciative audience. In the final lines of the Shiji, he wrote somewhat plaintively that this book will be “stored away in Famous Mountains (mingshan), with a second copy in the capital, to await sages and gentlemen of later generations.” 2 His protest was that the Shiji had no sympathetic reader in his own times, and that they may only come in an indefinite future. He turned out to be right, after all. Appreciative readers did come. In the past two millennia, it has captivated countless readers, who did not only mine it for valuable historical information about the ancient world but also took great pleasure in its dramatic retelling of the past. Its formal structure has compelled many instances of emulation and adaptation, while its historical thought, embodied in complex narratives, has invited thoughtful contemplation and prompted fierce debates among historians of diverse persuasion. 3 Subsequent historical writings all bear its deep imprint, wittingly or unwittingly. It was a key inflection point in the historiographical tradition of East Asia.