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Records of the Grand Historian

Records of the Grand Historian
Shiji.jpg
Early printed edition
Author Sima Qian
Original title 太史公書 (Tàishǐgōng shū)
史記 (Shǐjì)
Country Han China
Language Classical Chinese
Subject Ancient Chinese history
Records of the Grand Historian
Shiji (Chinese characters).svg
"Shiji" in Traditional (top) and Simplified (bottom) Chinese characters
Traditional Chinese 史記
Simplified Chinese 史记
Literal meaning "The Scribe's Records"
Alternative Chinese name
Traditional Chinese 太史公書
Simplified Chinese 太史公书
Literal meaning Records of the Grand Historian

The Records of the Grand Historian (太史公書), now usually known as the Shǐjì (史記, "The Scribe's Records"), is a monumental history of ancient China and the world finished around 94 BC by the Han dynasty official Sima Qian after having been started by his father, Sima Tan, Grand Astrologer to the imperial court. The work covers the world as it was then known to the Chinese and a 2500-year period from the age of the legendary Yellow Emperor to the reign of Emperor Wu of Han in the author's own time.

The Records has been called a "foundational text in Chinese civilization". After Confucius and the First Emperor of Qin, "Sima Qian was one of the creators of Imperial China, not least because by providing definitive biographies, he virtually created the two earlier figures." The Records set the model for the 24 subsequent dynastic histories of China. Unlike Western historical works, the Records do not treat history as "a continuous, sweeping narrative", but rather break it up into smaller, overlapping units dealing with famous leaders, individuals, and major topics of significance.

The work that became Records of the Grand Historian was begun by Sima Tan, the Taishi (太史) of the Han dynasty court during the late 2nd century BC. After his death in 110 BC, it was continued and completed by his son and successor Sima Qian, who is generally credited as the work's author. Sima Qian is known to have completed the Records before his death in c. 86 BC, with one copy residing in the imperial capital of Chang'an (modern Xi'an) and the other copy probably being stored in his home.

Details regarding the Records' early reception and circulation are not well known. A number of 1st century BC authors, such as the scholar Chu Shaosun (褚少孫; fl. 32–7 BC), added interpolations to the Records, and may have had to reconstruct portions of it: ten of the original 130 chapters were lost in the Eastern Han period (AD 25–220) and seem to have been reconstructed later.


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