Records of the Grand Historian (Volume VII)
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Summary
The Shiji comprises 130 chapters: twelve Basic Annals (recording the achievements of successive rulers), thirty Hereditary Houses (recording the rise and fall of vassal states and Han-era princes and nobles), seventy Biographies (recording the words and deeds of important figures, chiefly officials, with the final chapter being the author's own preface), ten Tables (chronologies of major events), and eight Treatises (on ritual, music, pitch standards, the calendar, astronomy, the Feng and Shan sacrifices, water conservancy, and finance). Encyclopedic yet coherent and clearly organized, it faithfully documents the political, economic, military, and cultural development of high antiquity.
The Shiji is also an outstanding literary work and holds a major place in Chinese literary history. In terms of historical value, it preserves several thousand years of historical sources and possesses exceptional historiographical significance, being ranked first among the Twenty-Four Histories. It pioneered the biographical method of recording events and has been admired by generations of historians and scholars. In terms of literary value, its descriptive language is vivid, its characters sharply drawn, its reasoning lucid, and its narrative flexible. Liu Xiang and others praised the book as "skilled in ordering events and principles, lucid without ostentation, plain without vulgarity."
Editor's review
Who it's for
A good fit for
- Deep readers with a strong interest in ancient Chinese history and culture
- Students or researchers of Chinese language and literature who need to read classical historical texts closely
- Managers and professionals seeking wisdom and insight from biographical accounts
- Writing enthusiasts intent on learning classical narrative techniques and methods of characterization
Not a good fit for
- Readers seeking light entertainment or quick, simplified historical stories
- Beginners completely unfamiliar with classical Chinese who are unwilling to spend time overcoming the language barrier
Reading tips
- Read in conjunction with Volumes One through Six of the Shiji to grasp the overall structure and the unity of Sima Qian's thought
- First consult a vernacular translation or annotations to understand the general meaning, then repeatedly savor the original text to appreciate the excellence of its prose and historical writing
- For key chapters such as the "Biographies of Wandering Knights" and the "Biographies of the Money-Makers," consult related historical background materials for extended study and deeper understanding
About the publisher
China Culture and History Press has long devoted itself to modern and contemporary literature and culture-and-history reading matter, with publishing directions centered on classic works, social novels, prose and miscellaneous writings, and Eastern philosophy, alongside culture-and-history periodicals such as Zongheng. Among the more than 1,500 titles in the collection, representative books include Zhang Henshui's Ti Xiao Yin Yuan, Lu Xun's Complete Classic Works (10 volumes) and Wild Grass, and Lao She's Four Generations Under One Roof series and the boxed set of Lao She's Classic Works (10 volumes), while its author resources are concentrated on figures such as Zhang Henshui, Lu Xun, Lao She and Sima Qian. Its publishing character lies in solid editorial work on culture-and-history source texts and in issuing famous authors' works in sets, balancing the readability of individual texts with the systematic presentation of complete collections for focused reading and collecting. Beyond these directions, public information on the press's contemporary original publishing is limited, so it is not elaborated here.
Contents
- 版权信息
- 第五十八卷 平原君虞卿列传第十六
- 第五十九卷 魏公子列传第十七
- 第六十卷 春申君列传第十八
- 第六十一卷 范雎蔡泽列传第十九
- 第六十二卷 乐毅列传第二十
- 第六十三卷 廉颇蔺相如列传第二十一
- 第六十四卷 田单列传第二十二
- 第六十五卷 鲁仲连邹阳列传第二十三
- 第六十六卷 屈原贾生列传第二十四
- 第六十七卷 吕不韦列传第二十五
- 第六十八卷 刺客列传第二十六
- 第六十九卷 李斯列传第二十七
- 第七十卷 蒙恬列传第二十八
- 第七十一卷 张耳陈馀列传第二十九
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About the author
Sima Qian was a historian, man of letters, and thinker of the Western Han dynasty. His courtesy name was Zichang, and he was a native of Xiayang in Zuo Fengyi (present-day Hancheng, Shaanxi). Succeeding his father Sima Tan as Grand Astrologer, he traveled widely to collect historical materials. Later, having suffered punishment in connection with the Li Ling affair, he endured humiliation and devoted himself to his work, ultimately completing the Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji, originally titled Taishigong shu), China's first comprehensive history in the biographical (jizhuanti) style. The work covers events from the Yellow Emperor down to Emperor Wu of Han, organizing three thousand years of history through the five sections of annals, tables, treatises, hereditary houses, and biographies. Its narrative is concise and richly literary, its characters vividly drawn, and it has been praised as "the supreme swan song of historians." Later generations have often classified his writings under historical reading and Eastern philosophy, and his influence on Chinese historiography and literature has been profound.
Shi Lei, born in 1962, graduated from Harbin Normal University and is a freelance writer and scholar. He has long worked in writing, editing, reporting and planning, and has opened columns in several media outlets, publishing more than one million words. His writing focuses on public speaking, communication training and mental health, and he has served as chief editor of several book series on the art of speaking, inspirational life guidance, the thought of world masters, and mental health, bringing practical knowledge of expression, interpersonal communication and psychological adjustment to general readers. Twenty-seven of his works are included in the library, including several volumes related to the Records of the Grand Historian, with Eastern philosophy as a common category. Public information is limited and few details of his life are recorded, but his existing works show an emphasis on practicality and readability, and a tendency to connect traditional culture with topics of everyday self-cultivation.
