Sima Qian, a long character, and his father Sima Tan were appointed as Taishiling. His wish to write a general history of ancient and modern times was not realized, and Sima Qian was asked to fulfill his long-cherished wish before he died. Later, Sima Qian's stepfather Taishiling began to write historical records, which was finally completed after more than ten years.
Sima Qian wrote Historical Records, and his view of history lies in "understanding the changes of ancient and modern times and becoming a unified statement when studying the relationship between man and nature". Sima Qian paid attention to the evolution of the relationship between heaven and man, instead of acknowledging the mysterious power of heaven, so as to understand the key of "the change of ancient and modern times", explore the level of historical dynamic development and change, and finally complete the "one-family statement". His motivation for writing is mainly in the following three aspects:
1. In order to inherit the legacy of his father Sima Tan, Sima Qian completed his ambition of compiling Historical Records. Sima was a historian of past dynasties, and Sima Tan devoted himself to inheriting the legacy of his ancestors-Taishiling, reappearing the spirit of Confucius' writing Spring and Autumn Annals, and sorting out and discussing the history of the previous generation. The Annals of Sui Shu's Classics says: "Tan is based on Zuo's Spring and Autumn Annals, Mandarin, Shiben, Warring States Policy and Chu and Han Chunqiu." It can be seen that Sima Tan intends to continue compiling the historical events after Chunqiu. In the first year of Emperor Wudi's Yuan Dynasty, Emperor Wudi closed the Zen ceremony. As an official, Sima Tan missed the opportunity to participate in contemporary events, which was a lifelong regret, leading to his angry death. Before he died, he told his son Sima Qian: "Today, I want to inherit the chitose system and seal Mount Tai, but I can't follow it. This is fate! When I die, you will be too old to forget what I want to write ... "Sima Qian replied:" My boy is not sensitive, please go and learn about the old news of my ancestors. " It can be seen that Sima Qian completed his historical work according to his father's wishes. The Book of Enchanting Zen is one of the eight books in Historical Records, which means to see my late father.
Second, Sima Qian should inherit the spirit of Spring and Autumn Annals. Sima Qian said in Preface to Taishi Gong: "The ancestors said that after the death of Duke Zhou, there was Confucius at the age of 500. After the death of Confucius, as for being 500 years old today, I have the opportunity to show the Ming Dynasty. What was the original meaning of Yi Zhuan, Chun Qiu, Shu, Li and Yue at that time? How dare this boy give way? " This just implies that it has the mission of understanding morality and showing people with lofty ideals. The lower limit of Chunqiu is the year when it was obtained in Lu Aigong. There is no complete historical record since then. Sima Qian followed the Spring and Autumn Annals, and wrote historical records on the basis of "winning the forest" in the first year of Emperor Yuanshou of the Han Dynasty and the lower limit of changing the calendar in the first year of Taichu. However, Sima Qian's inheritance of Chunqiu not only formally inherited the orthodoxy since the Duke of Zhou, but also attached importance to the nature of Chunqiu. In the preface to Taishi Gong, he said: "In the Spring and Autumn Period, Ming History, Wang Zhidao, we should distinguish between personnel and discipline, not be suspicious, distinguish between right and wrong, hesitate, distinguish between good and evil, distinguish between good and evil, and live and die." It can be seen that Sima Qian's interest in the Meaning of the Spring and Autumn Annals and the Writing Style of the Spring and Autumn Annals has a long history. This is because he wants to inherit the true meaning of Confucius and the praise and criticism spirit of Spring and Autumn Annals and write historical records.
Third, Sima Qian should shoulder the responsibility of historian. According to the Records of Officials in the Later Han Dynasty, "Taishiling" is only a small official with a salary of 600 stone. His duty is only to manage the atlas, in charge of astrology and astronomy. He only records past lives and contemporary events at most, and he has no responsibility to write. However, Sima Tan and Sima Qian were obviously not satisfied with "gleaning". Sima Tan had planned to sort out the history of the previous generation, but unfortunately, he died in anger. Before he died, he told Sima Qian that "the historical records have been released since the grant". Today, in the prosperous Han Dynasty, there are many virtuous and loyal people. As an official, they have the task of continuing the history of the previous generation. Sima Qian also pointed out his duty as an Taishi Gong in Preface to Taishi Gong, saying that "it is a great sin to want to dominate his official, abolish the virtue of saints, destroy the words of heroes, famous families and famous doctors, and praise the words of ancestors." Therefore, Sima Qian is determined to write historical records, adhering to the sense of responsibility of "telling the past to think of those who came." In An Shu, the guarantor, he also revealed the purpose of writing Historical Records. He said, "Every 130 articles should also learn from the changes of ancient and modern times and become a family statement." It can be seen that he should do his duty as a historian as well as an official.
The chronicle of this book began in the legendary period of the Yellow Emperor, and the lower limit reached the last year of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty, spanning more than 3,000 years. There are 130 books, including 12 biographies, 10 forms, 8 books, 30 families, 70 biographies, and 5265 15 words. Ji Ji is the outline of the book, which records the words and deeds of the emperor every year. Table lists lineages, people and historical events in tables. The Book describes the development of the system, involving the system of rites and music, astronomical military law, social economy, river geography and other aspects. The "aristocratic family" describes the historical relics of the vassal's seal of the country. Biographies are biographies of important people. Among them, biography and biography are the main body.
According to Sima Qian, the purpose of editing is to "study the relationship between heaven and man, understand the changes of ancient and modern times, and become a family statement." "Studying the relationship between man and nature" is to explore the relationship between Tao and personnel in autumn. The author criticizes the original theory of "destiny" and puts forward the theory of "emperor-centered". "Connecting the preceding with the following" is to explore the development of history and its laws.
Historical records refer to many ancient books, such as Zuo Zhuan, Guoyu, Shi Ben, Warring States Policy, Chu and Han Chunqiu, A Hundred Schools of Thought contend, archives and folk ancient books. He also interviewed in person, made field trips, and then carefully selected and used materials, with a very strict academic attitude.
Historical works before the Han Dynasty can't be compared with Historical Records in terms of content, historical events, materials and compilation level of authors. It can be said that "Historical Records" is the first general history of ancient China, which is not only large in scale and complete in system, but also has a far-reaching influence on biographical history books, and the official history of all dynasties is basically written in this genre. At the same time, the vividness of words and narration in the book is also the highest achievement, and Mr. Lu Xun's evaluation of Historical Records is also very high.
After Sima Qian's death, Historical Records did not immediately become popular and received attention. By the time of Xuan Di, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Sima Qian's grandson had begun to spread through hard work, but by the time of the Eastern Han Dynasty, it was not complete.
In terms of annotation, The Collection of Historical Records written by Pei in the Song Dynasty is the earliest existing old annotation. There are many new ideas in the study of Historical Records written by Sima Zhen in Tang Dynasty. In Tang Dynasty, Zhang Shoujie wrote Justice in Historical Records all his life and made great achievements.
One of the existing early editions of this book, Huang Jiashu Engraving in Southern Song Dynasty, is recognized as a rare book, which has been copied by the Commercial Press into Twenty-four History, Twenty-one History of Ming Dynasty and Twenty-four History of Engraving in Qing Wuying Temple, all of which have high reference value. During the Tongzhi period of the Qing Dynasty, there was an engraving by Jinling Bookstore. 1959 Punctuation Collation published by Zhonghua Book Company is beneficial to today's readers. ......
The book is slightly shorter than the pre-Qin period and more detailed than the Qin and Han dynasties. The history from the Reform of Shang Yang in Qin Dynasty to the last years of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty accounts for about three-fifths of the book. According to Sima Qian's records, there are 12 biographies, tables 10, 8 books, 30 aristocratic families and 70 biographies, totaling 130. Biography is actually the biography of the emperor, because the emperor is the supreme leader in charge of state affairs, so it is called "Biography", which shows the position of the whole world and makes the officials and people act under certain discipline. It is also the general outline of this book, recorded in chronological order. In the writing of Historical Records, Sima Qian adopted the method of making the present a little more detailed, and the farther the times go, the more detailed it is. The origin of "Benji" is because the Yellow Emperor is the ancestor of the Chinese nation and the founder of "rectifying everything". Xiang Yu was included in the "chronology" because of the emergence of politics in Qin and Han Dynasties and respect for his personality. ?