Let's talk about the first one, travel around the world and collect rumors. Sima Qian was born in a well-off family. Young Sima Qian studied calligraphy under the guidance of his father Sima Tan. At the age of ten, he was able to read and recite China's ancient books such as Shangshu, Zuozhuan and Guoyu.
At the age of 20, under the guidance of his father, he began to travel around the world.
He started from Chang 'an, the capital, and went southeast, leaving Wu Guan to Wan. Go south to Xiangfan to Jiangling. Cross the river, return to Xiangxi, and then turn southeast to Jiuyi Mountain. After nine doubts, I went north to Changsha, paid a visit to Qu Yuan in Miluo, crossed Dongting, went out of the Yangtze River and went downstream to the east. Lushan Mountain, Yu Shu Jiujiang, turn to Qiantang. Go to a meeting to discuss Yu's point of view. Go to Wudi to visit Chunshenjun Palace.
Go to Gusu to see the five lakes. Later, he crossed the great river in the north and Huaiyin, and went to Linzi and Qufu to inspect Qilu regional culture and observe the legacy left by Confucius. He was trapped in Pu, Xue and Pengcheng, and then went along the Chu-Han battlefield, the hometown where historical figures surged in the Qin and Han Dynasties, passing through Pengcheng, Feng, Ying, Suiyang and Liang (now Kaifeng, Henan).
He has been to many places. Everywhere he went, he collected local rumors and information. He once said in "Report to Ren 'an": A servant is not inferior in stealing, almost by incompetent words, trapped in the world, slightly measured his behavior, summarized his end, and recorded his success or failure.
In the Biography of Qu Yuan and Jia Sheng, Sima Qian described his feelings when he went to the Guluo River where Qu Yuan committed suicide: I read Li Sao, Tian Wen, Evocation and Mourning, and I felt sad for his ambition. When you were in Changsha, you saw Qu Yuan's self-destruction, but you couldn't help crying. It depends on him.
Wandering around and being there, Sima Qian's feelings for historical figures are more acute and profound.
The second reason is that he has the opportunity to read a lot of books and classics. Sima Qian's father's name was Sima Tan, and he served as Taishiling and Taishiling during Jianyuan and Yuanfeng years.
At an early age, Sima Tan decided to write a general history. During his time as an official, he came into contact with a large number of books and documents and dabbled in a wide range of materials.
Although Sima Tan failed to write a general history, he accumulated a lot of first-hand materials and established some arguments for the writing of Historical Records. Biography of Assassin, Biography of Li Sheng Lu Jia, Biography of Fan and Biography of Zhang Shizhi Feng Tang in Sima Qian's Historical Records are authentic works of Sima Tan.
After his father died, Sima Qian took over his father's official position and became an official. He also had more opportunities to get in touch with a large number of books and documents, especially some documents in the palace collection, which provided him with more written materials for writing Historical Records.
As the saying goes, "Reading thousands of books and Traveling on Wan Li Road", Sima Qian traveled around, collecting materials and reading books and documents extensively, which made his materials very rich, which is also the source of materials for Sima Qian to write Historical Records.