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Title: Records of the Grand Historian by Sima Qian, Burton Watson ISBN: 0-231-08165-0 Publisher: Columbia University Press Pub. Date: 15 April, 1993 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $24.50 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.75 (4 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Great translation, easy read.
Comment: Sima Qian was appointed grand historian of the Emperor Wu's court in 108 B.C. In his Records of the Grand Historian he describes the events which he witnessed or heard of that occurred during his lifetime, which offers the modern historian a fairly accurate account of a contemporary historian of the Han Dynasty. He composed his records from conversations he had with courtiers. In addition, he also consulted a plethora of documents and files which were stored in the palace as well as having had the ability to interview generals which enabled him to comment on the military institutions of the Han Dynasty.
Sima Qian had the ability to accompany the emperor on his visits to the provinces where he was able to record the "barbarian" tribes and lands which were brought under Han rule by Emperor Wu. In Sima Qian's records we also have evidence of the penal system and the conditions in the prison system. Qian wrote very detailed descriptions of these penal conditions for he had an intimate experience with them, having been punished for his "attempting 'to deceive the emperor'" (xii). He was accused of using "veiled" words in his description of Emperor Wu, which was Qian's way of criticizing the emperor using language and words that were not outright critical, but inferred disapproval of the emperor and his actions.
The purpose of his official history is to record things so that the people who will be reading the history will be able to understand their past. This need to understand where one comes from helps states and individuals determine how and why they got to where they are. He organizes his accounts thematically, he discusses the military, generals, and he offers a geographic and ethnographic account of the peoples in the various "barbarian" provinces as well. He repeats himself often in order to get a certain point across.
The second way in which official histories are used is that they teach people important lessons. As Thucydides articulated in his Peloponnesian Wars Book I:
It will suffice if my work is judged useful by those who wish to gain a precise understanding of past events because, due to human nature, such events, or ones resembling them, will occur again at some time in the future (Thucydides, 1.22.4)
Basically, if you don't understand or study history, and the mistakes that were made in the past, then you are doomed to repeat them. He is very detailed in his descriptions because the more detailed a history is then the more accurate it appears to be by those who read it.
In contrast to Tacitus, the Roman historian who wrote about the Roman frontier, Sima Qian's descriptions of the barbarians occupying the Han frontier lands is more accurate, possibly because he was able to actually visit and see "first-hand" these barbarians whom he writes about, whereas, much of Tacitus' description came from second-hand sources, and usually merely stereotypical.
As an official history of the Han Dynasty, this book serves its purpose. It allows modern historians a semi-accurate look at what life was like along the borders of Han China. As a source, Sima Qian has recorded a history which makes a valiant attempt at staying clear of certain stereotypes which other historians such as Tacitus could not avoid, that of the uncivilized "barbarian". Rather, Qian's description of the frontier peoples is written from the barbarian perspective, therefore more reliable.
Rating: 5
Summary: The real thing
Comment: Good, readable translation of the authentic source material on ancient China. Nearly complete text (skips a few boring parts). It's worth it for Sima Qian (aka Ssu'ma Chien)'s story alone: imperial historian who offends the emperor but chooses not to do the honorable thing (aka commit suicide) so he can finish his book. That's perserverance.
Rating: 5
Summary: The classic work of Chinese history ...
Comment: I agree with everything the previous reviewer said, except that it is in print again as of 1999.
This is a five-star translation of a five-star book - China's first major work of history, dating from 90 BC. The Qin portion makes up only fifteen or so of the Shi Ji's 130 chapters, but tells the story central to the moral vision of the whole work. This is the rise and collapse of China's first imperial dynasty - Qin is in fact the name from which we derive "China."
The book is a remarkable commentary on human pride, intrigue, strategy and revenge; it also has an eye for detail and anecdote. To cite just one case, a minister is humiliated and driven from his kingdom; and ultimately takes revenge, as prime minister of a neighboring kingdom, by forgiving his persecutor, inviting him to a banquet, and then forcing him eat a meal of hay and water. There is also a detailed description of the tomb of China's First Emperor (the central figure of this book, whose career becomes exemplary of the folly of brutality and suppression of free thought); which has since been made famous by the discovery of the ceramic army of Xian.
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Title: Tales of Emperor Qin Shihuang (Insights into Chinese History) by Yang Yuan, Xiao Ding, Yuan Yang ISBN: 711902101X Publisher: Foreign Language Press Pub. Date: 01 January, 1999 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title: Art, Myth, and Ritual: The Path to Political Authority in Ancient China by Kwang-Chih Chang ISBN: 0674048083 Publisher: Harvard Univ Pr Pub. Date: October, 1988 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: The Cambridge Illustrated History of China by Patricia Buckley Ebrey ISBN: 052166991X Publisher: Cambridge University Press Pub. Date: 13 May, 1999 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
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Title: Legends of the Warring States : Persuasions, Romances, and Stories from Chan-kuo Ts'e by J. Crump ISBN: 0892641290 Publisher: U of M Center for Chinese Studies Pub. Date: 01 January, 1998 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
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Title: The Tso Chuan by Burton Watson ISBN: 0231067151 Publisher: Columbia University Press Pub. Date: 15 April, 1992 List Price(USD): $24.00 |
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