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156-430: Sima Qian's father, Sima Tan , first conceived of the ambitious project of writing a complete history of China, but had completed only some preparatory sketches at the time of his death. After inheriting his father's position as court historian in the imperial court, he was determined to fulfill his father's dying wish of composing and putting together this epic work of history. However, in 99 BC, he would fall victim to

312-569: A speech in which he paid tribute to a fallen PLA soldier. Sima Qian wrote eight rhapsodies ( fu ), which are listed in the bibliographic treatise of the Book of Han . All but one, the "Rhapsody in Lament for Gentlemen who do not Meet their Time" ( 士不遇賦 ) have been lost, and even the surviving example is probably not complete. Sima and his father both served as the taishi (太史) of the Former Han dynasty ,

468-637: A broader range of subject matter and was longer and more loosely structured than literary fiction. One of the masterpieces of Chinese vernacular fiction is the 18th-century domestic novel Dream of the Red Chamber . Chinese fiction was rooted in the official histories and such less formal works as A New Account of the Tales of the World and In Search of the Supernatural (4th and 5th centuries); Finest Flowers from

624-675: A department of prisons, Fajia comes to mean something like Legalism, which contains Shang Yang and figures Sima Qian had described as Huang-Lao , as an early form of what would termed be Daoism. Fa standards would seem a major element of their philosophy, and by his own words, Sima Qian does favour Laozi and Zhuangzi over Shen Buhai and Han Fei . But it would be questionable if Sima Qian himself believed or intended that Shen Buhai , Shen Dao and Han Fei should go there, or he might have either used his father's categories, or at least discussed them alongside Shang Yang rather than Laozi and Zhuang Zhou . Giving Shang Yang his own individual chapter, he

780-456: A distinctively descriptive and erudite fu form (not the same fu character as that used for the bureau of music) developed that has been called "rhyme-prose", a uniquely Han offshoot of Chinese poetry's tradition. Equally noteworthy is Music Bureau poetry ( yuefu ), collected and presumably refined popular lyrics from folk music. The end of the Han witnesses a resurgence of the shi poetry, with

936-471: A few hundred songs became standard templates for poems with distinctive and variously set meters. The free and expressive style of Song high culture has been contrasted with majestic Tang poems by centuries of subsequent critics who engage in fierce arguments over which dynasty had the best poetry. Additional musical influences contributed to the Yuan dynasty 's (1279–1368) distinctive qu opera culture and spawned

1092-470: A general history affected later historiographers like Zheng Qiao (鄭樵) in writing Tongzhi and Sima Guang in writing Zizhi Tongjian . The Chinese historical form of dynasty history, or jizhuanti history of dynasties, was codified in the second dynastic history by Ban Gu 's Book of Han , but historians regard Sima's work as their model, which stands as the "official format" of the history of China . The Shiji comprises 130 chapters consisting of half

1248-514: A highly admired example of literary prose style, studied widely in China even today. The Letter to Ren An contains the quote, "Men have always had but one death. For some it is as weighty as Mount Tai ; for others it is as insignificant as a goose down. The difference is what they use it for." ( 人固有一死，或重于泰山，或輕于鴻毛，用之所趨異也。 ) This quote has become one of the most well known in all of Chinese literature. In modern times, Chairman Mao paraphrased this quote in

1404-552: A long dialogue between Zhonghang and an envoy sent by the Emperor Wen of China during which the latter disparages the Xiongnu as "savages" whose customs are barbaric while Zhonghang defends the Xiongnu customs as either justified and/or as morally equal to Chinese customs, at times even morally superior as Zhonghang draws a contrast between the bloody succession struggles in China where family members would murder one another to be Emperor vs.

1560-436: A major impact on the course of history, regardless of whether they were of noble or humble birth and whether they were born in the central states, the periphery, or barbarian lands. Unlike traditional Chinese historians, Sima went beyond the androcentric, nobility-focused histories by dealing with the lives of women and men such as poets, bureaucrats, merchants, comedians/jesters, assassins, and philosophers. The treatises section,

1716-598: A million characters. The jizhuanti format refers to the organization of the work into benji (本紀) or 'basic annals' chapters containing the biographies of the sovereigns ('sons of heaven') organized by dynasty and liezhuan (列傳) or 'ordered biographies' chapters containing the biographies of influential non-nobles, sometimes for one prominent individual, but often for two or more people who, in Sima Qian's judgment, played similarly important roles in history. In addition to these namesake categories, there are chapters falling under

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1872-429: A moralizing approach to history with the historian high-guiding the good and evil to provide lessons for the present could be dangerous for the historian as it could bring down the wrath of the state onto the historian as happened to Sima himself. As such, the historian had to tread carefully and often expressed his judgements in a circuitous way designed to fool the censor. Sima himself in the conclusion to chapter 110 of

2028-562: A new bourgeoisie, implementing class struggle within the party itself. Literature of the period reflected both strands of class struggle. Local government bureaus and work units composed cultural works such as songs and dramas in an effort to overturn traditional cultural preferences for early marriage, large families, and sons over daughters . Academic Sarah Mellors Rodriguez writes that though these works of birth planning propaganda may seem trite to modern audiences, their themes spoke directly to widespread concerns among Chinese people at

2184-407: A nice dinner. The Song versus Tang debate continues through the centuries. While China's later imperial period does not seem to have broken new ground for innovative approaches to poetry, picking through its vast body of preserved works remains a scholarly challenge, so new treasures may yet be restored from obscurity. Early Chinese prose was deeply influenced by the great philosophical writings of

2340-504: A palace eunuch to complete his histories, rather than commit suicide as was expected of a gentleman-scholar who had been disgraced by being castrated. As Sima Qian himself explained in his Letter to Ren An :       且夫臧獲婢妾猶能引決，況若僕之不得已乎。所以隱忍苟活，函糞土之中而不辭者，恨私心有所不盡，鄙沒世而文采不表於後也。古者富貴而名摩滅，不可勝記，唯俶儻非常之人稱焉。       If even the lowest slave and scullion maid can bear to commit suicide, why should not one like myself be able to do what has to be done? But

2496-482: A policy to which Sima was apparently opposed. Sima also broke new ground by using more sources like interviewing witnesses, visiting places where historical occurrences had happened, and examining documents from different regions and/or times. Before Chinese historians had tended to use only reign histories as their sources. The Shiji was further very novel in Chinese historiography by examining historical events outside of

2652-609: A position which he held until his death. Although Sima Tan began writing the Records of the Grand Historian ( Shiji ), he died before it was finished; it was completed by his son, Sima Qian . The year of Sima Tan's death (110 BCE) was the year of the great imperial sacrifice fengshan ( zh:封禅 ) by Emperor Han Wudi , for which the emperor appointed another person to the rank of fangshi , bypassing Sima, probably causing him much consternation. An essay by Sima Tan has survived within

2808-540: A position which includes aspects of being a historian, a court scribe, calendarist, and court astronomer/astrologer. At that time, the astrologer had an important role, responsible for interpreting and predicting the course of government according to the influence of the Sun, Moon, and stars, as well as other astronomical and geological phenomena such as solar eclipses and earthquakes , which depended on revising and upholding an accurate calendar. Before compiling Shiji , Sima Qian

2964-566: A protege of Lu Xun who, along with his wife Mei Zhi , did not toe the Party line on literature. Socialist realism became the uniform style, and many Soviet works were translated. The ability to satirize and expose the evils in contemporary society that had made writers useful to the Chinese Communist Party before its accession to power was no longer welcomed. Party cultural leaders such as Zhou Yang used Mao's call to have literature "serve

3120-421: A scholar in reclusion ( 隱士 ; yǐnshì ) after leaving the Han court, perhaps dying around the same time as Emperor Wu in 87/86 BC. Although the style and form of Chinese historical writings varied through the ages, Records of the Grand Historian ( Shiji ) has defined the quality and style from then onwards. Before Sima, histories were written as certain events or certain periods of history of states; his idea of

3276-504: A strong caesura , producing a driving and dramatic rhythm. Both the Shijing and the Chuci have remained influential throughout Chinese history. During the greater part of China's first great period of unification, begun with the short-lived Qin dynasty (221 BC – 206 BC) and followed by the centuries-long Han dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD), the shi form of poetry underwent little innovation. But

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3432-595: A traitor's death, the world has united in scoffing at him and has been loath to study his policies ... Su Qin arose from the humblest beginnings to lead the Six States in the Vertical Alliance, and this is evidence that he possessed an intelligence surpassing the ordinary person. For this reason I have set forth this account of his deeds, arranging them in proper chronological order, so that he may not forever suffer from an evil reputation and be known for nothing else. Such

3588-520: A very literary style, making extensive use of irony, sarcasm, juxtaposition of events, characterization, direct speech and invented speeches, which led the American historian Jennifer Jay to describe parts of the Shiji as reading more like a historical novel than a work of history. For an example, Sima tells the story of a Chinese eunuch named Zhonghang Yue who became an advisor to the Xiongnu kings. Sima provides

3744-458: Is Li Bai (701–762) also pronounced and written as Li Bo, who worked in all major styles, both the more free old style verse ( gutishi ) as well as the tonally regulated new style verse ( jintishi ). Regardless of genre, Tang poets notably strove to perfect a style in which poetic subjects are exposed and evident, often without directly referring to the emotional thrust at hand. The poet Du Fu (712–770) excelled at regulated verse and use of

3900-432: Is Eileen Chang. Though often said to be less successful than their counterparts in fiction writing, poets also experimented with the vernacular in new poetic forms, such as free verse and the sonnet. Given that there was no tradition of writing poetry in the vernacular, these experiments were more radical than those in fiction writing and also less easily accepted by the reading public. Modern poetry flourished especially in

4056-415: Is a descendant of Qin general Sima Cuo (司馬錯), the commander of Qin army in the state's conquest of Ba and Shu . Before his castration, Sima Qian was recorded to have two sons and a daughter. While little is recorded of his sons, his daughter later married Yang Chang (楊敞), and had sons Yang Zhong (楊忠) and Yang Yun (楊惲). It was Yang Yun who hid his grandfather's great work, and decided to release it during

4212-404: Is a reply to a lost letter by Ren An to Sima Qian, perhaps asking Sima Qian to intercede on his behalf as Ren An was facing execution for accusations of being an opportunist and displaying equivocal loyalty to the emperor during the rebellion. In his reply, Sima Qian stated that he is a mutilated man with no influence at court. Some later historians claimed that Sima Qian himself became implicated in

4368-590: Is a wealth of early Chinese literature dating from the Hundred Schools of Thought that occurred during the Eastern Zhou dynasty (770–256 BC). The most important of these include the Classics of Confucianism , of Daoism , of Mohism , of Legalism , as well as works of military science and Chinese history . Note that, except for the books of poems and songs, most of this literature is philosophical and didactic; there

4524-566: Is also depicted in the Wu Shuang Pu by Jin Guliang. Sima Qian was born at Xiayang in Zuopingyi (near present-day Hancheng , Shaanxi ). He was probably born around 145 BC, although some sources say he was born about 135 BC. In about 136 BC, his father Sima Tan was appointed to the position of "grand historian" ( tàishǐ 太史 , alternatively "grand scribe" or "grand astrologer") at

4680-508: Is because I regretted that it had not been completed that I submitted to the extreme penalty without rancor. When I have truly completed this work, I shall deposit it in the Famous Mountain. If it may be handed down to men who will appreciate it, and penetrate to the villages and great cities, then though I should suffer a thousand mutilations, what regret should I have? Upon his release from prison in 97/96 BC, Sima Qian continued to serve in

4836-529: Is in doubt. Another early text was the political strategy book of the Zhan Guo Ce , compiled between the 3rd and 1st centuries BC, with partial amounts of the text found amongst the 2nd century BC tomb site at Mawangdui . The oldest extant dictionary in China is the Erya , dated to the 3rd century BC, anonymously written but with later commentary by the historian Guo Pu (276–324). Other early dictionaries include

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4992-532: Is little in the way of fiction. However, these texts maintained their significance through both their ideas and their prose style. The Confucian works in particular have been of high importance to Chinese culture and history, as a set of works known as the Four Books and Five Classics were, in the 12th century AD, chosen as the basis for the Imperial examination for any government post. These nine books therefore became

5148-435: Is only those who were masterful and sure, the truly extraordinary men, who are still remembered.       僕竊不遜，近自託於無能之辭，網羅天下放失舊聞，考之行事，綜其終始，稽其成敗興壞之理 ... 凡百三十篇，亦欲以究天人之際，通古今之變，成一家之言。草創未就，適會此禍，惜其不成，是以就極刑而無慍色。僕誠已著此書，藏諸名山，傳之其人通邑大都，則僕償前辱之責，雖萬被戮，豈有悔哉！       I too have ventured not to be modest but have entrusted myself to my useless writings. I have gathered up and brought together

5304-427: Is strikingly concerned with the contemporary: social problems, historical upheaval, changing ethical values, etc. In this sense, late Qing fiction is modern. Important novelists of the period include Wu Woyao (吳沃堯) (1866–1910), Li Boyuan (李伯元) (1867–1906), Liu E (劉鶚) (1857–1909), and Zeng Pu (曾樸) (1872–1935). The late Qing also saw a "revolution in poetry" (詩界革命), which promoted experimentation with new forms and

5460-420: Is suspicious and doubtful, clarifies right and wrong, and settles points which are uncertain. It calls good good and bad bad, honours the worthy, and condemns the unworthy. It preserves states which are lost and restores the perishing family. It brings to light what was neglected and restores what was abandoned. Sima saw the Shiji as being in the same tradition as he explained in his introduction to chapter 61 of

5616-460: Is traditionally credited with editing the Shijing . Its stately verses are usually composed of couplets with lines of four characters each (or four syllables, as Chinese characters are monosyllabic), and a formal structure of end rhymes. Many of these early poems establish the later tradition of starting with a description of nature that leads into emotionally expressive statements, known as bi , xing , or sometime bixing . Associated with what

5772-591: The Dao De Jing , the Zhuangzi , and the Liezi . Later authors combined Daoism with Confucianism and Legalism, such as Liu An (2nd century BC), whose Huainanzi ( The Philosophers of Huai-nan ) also added to the fields of geography and topography . Among the classics of military science, The Art of War by Sun Tzu (6th century BC) was perhaps the first to outline guidelines for effective international diplomacy . It

5928-628: The Fangyan by Yang Xiong (53 BC – 18 AD) and the Shuowen Jiezi by Xu Shen (58–147 AD). One of the largest was the Kangxi Dictionary compiled by 1716 under the auspices of the Kangxi Emperor (r. 1661–1722); it provides definitions for over 47,000 characters. Although court records and other independent records existed beforehand, the definitive work in early Chinese historical writing

6084-441: The Records of the Grand Historian and completed it before 91 BC, probably around 94 BC. Three years after the death of his father, Sima Qian assumed his father's previous position as taishi . In 105 BC, Sima was among the scholars chosen to reform the calendar. As a senior imperial official, Sima was also in the position to offer counsel to the emperor on general affairs of state. In 99 BC, Sima became embroiled in

6240-430: The Records of the Grand Historian . The essay is the last of the Shiji , called Yaozhi or Essential Points. It discusses the strengths and weakness of six kinds of governance. Using the concept of 'Jia', which can mean "expert" but like meant "family", the essay coined the categories of Yin-Yangjia , Fajia , Mingjia and Daojia . Ideas like Yin-Yang existed, but all Han dynasty thought involves yin-yang thinking, even

6396-733: The Taichu calendar , which was officially promulgated in 104 BC. Sima was acutely aware of the importance of his work to posterity and its relationship to his own personal suffering. In the postface of the Records , he implicitly compared his universal history of China to the classics of his day, the Guoyu by Zuo Qiuming , " Li Sao " by Qu Yuan , and the Art of War by Sun Bin , pointing out that their authors all suffered great personal misfortunes before their lasting monumental works could come to fruition. Sima Qian

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6552-645: The Taiping Yulan (983), the Wenyuan Yinghua (986), and the Cefu Yuangui (1013). Although these Song dynasty Chinese encyclopedias featured millions of written Chinese characters each, their aggregate size paled in comparison to the later Yongle Encyclopedia (1408) of the Ming dynasty, which contained a total of 50 million Chinese characters. Even this size was trumped by later Qing dynasty encyclopedias, such as

6708-643: The Zizhi Tongjian , presented to Emperor Shenzong of Song in 1084 AD. The overall scope of the historiographical tradition in China is termed the Twenty-Four Histories , created for each successive Chinese dynasty up until the Ming dynasty (1368–1644); China's last dynasty, the Qing dynasty (1644–1911), is not included. Large encyclopedias were also produced in China through the ages. The Yiwen Leiju encyclopedia

6864-692: The sanqu form of individual poems based on it. Classical Chinese poetry composition became a conventional skill of the well-educated throughout the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1911) dynasties. Over a million poems have been preserved, including those by women, such as Dong Xiaowan and Liu Rushi , and by many other diverse voices. Painter-poets, such as Shen Zhou (1427–1509), Tang Yin (1470–1524), Wen Zhengming (1470–1559), and Yun Shouping (1633–1690), created worthy conspicuous poems as they combined art, poetry and calligraphy with brush on paper. Poetry composition competitions were socially common, as depicted in novels, for example over dessert after

7020-477: The Book of Han , which was written under the supervision of the imperial dynasty, Shiji was a privately written history since he refused to write Shiji as an official history covering only those of high rank. The work also covers people of the lower classes and is therefore considered a "veritable record" of the darker side of the dynasty. In Sima's time, literature and history were not seen as separate disciplines as they are now, and Sima wrote his magnum opus in

7176-421: The Hundred Schools of Thought (770–221 BC). The works of Mozi , Mencius , and Zhuang Zhou contain well-reasoned, carefully developed discourses that reveal much stronger organization and style than their predecessors. Mozi's polemic prose was built on solid and effective methodological reasoning. Mencius contributed elegant diction and, like Zhuang Zhou, relied on comparisons, anecdotes, and allegories. By

7332-512: The Li Ling affair for speaking out in defense of the general, who was blamed for an unsuccessful campaign against the Xiongnu . Given the choice of being executed or castrated, he chose the latter in order to finish his historical work. Although he is universally remembered for the Records , surviving works indicate that he was also a gifted poet and prose writer, and he was instrumental in the creation of

7488-469: The Shiji declared that he was writing in this tradition where he stated:       孔氏著春秋，隱桓之閒則章，至定哀之際則微，為其切當世之文而罔褒，忌諱之辭也。       When Confucius wrote the Spring and Autumn Annals , he was very open in treating the reigns of Yin and Huan, the early dukes of Lu; but when he came to the later period of Dukes Ding and Ai, his writing was much more covert. Because in

7644-533: The Shiji where he wrote:       或曰：天道無親，常與善人。若伯夷、叔齊，可謂善人者非邪。積仁絜行如此而餓死。... 盜蹠日殺不辜，肝人之肉 ... 竟以壽終。是遵何德哉。 ... 余甚惑焉，儻所謂天道，是邪非邪。       Some people say "It is Heaven's way, without distinction of persons, to keep the good perpetually supplied." Can we say then that Boyi and Shuqi were good men or not? They clung to righteousness and were pure in their deeds yet they starved to death ... Robber Zhi day after day killed innocent men, making mincemeat of their flesh ... But in

7800-499: The Tang – Song period. The great use of characterisation and plotting also influenced fiction writing, including the classical short stories of the middle and late medieval period (Tang- Ming ) as well as the vernacular novel of the late imperial period. Sima had immense influence on historiography not only in China, but also in Japan and Korea. For centuries afterwards, the Shiji was regarded as

7956-468: The Western Han dynasty . His work Records of the Grand Historian was completed by his son Sima Qian , who is considered the founder of Chinese historiography . Sima Tan studied astronomy with Tang Du, the I Ching under Yang He, and Daoism under Master Huang. He was appointed to the office of Court Astronomer ( Chinese : 太史令 ; pinyin : tài shǐ lìng ) at age 25 in 140  BCE ,

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8112-515: The Yan'an Rectification Movement . The Yan'an Talks articulated the view that socialist literature should not merely reflect existing culture, but should help culturally produce the consciousness of a new society. Mao articulated five independent although related categories of creative consideration for socialist cultural production: (1) class stand, (2) attitude, (3) audience, (4) work style, and (5) popularization/massification. The Yan'an Talks would become

8268-636: The Yangtze River to Changsha Kingdom (modern Hunan ), where he visited the Miluo River site where the Warring States -era poet Qu Yuan was traditionally said to have drowned himself. He then went to seek the burial place of the legendary rulers Yu on Mount Xianglu and Shun in the Jiuyi Mountains (modern Ningyuan County , Hunan). He then went north to Huaiyin (modern Huai'an , Jiangsu) to see

8424-561: The novel as early as the Song dynasty . The novel as an extended prose narrative which realistically creates a believable world of its own evolved in China and in Europe from the 14th–18th centuries, though a little earlier in China. Chinese audiences were more interested in history and Chinese authors generally did not present their works as fictional. Readers appreciated relative optimism, moral humanism, relative emphasis on group behavior, and welfare of

8580-433: The 'schools' relevant texts, using the categories in the imperial library a hundred years after Sima Qians death. They connect them with purported ancient Zhou dynasty departments. Daojia comes to mean something like Daoism around the same time. They become categories of texts in book catalogues, namely the Han states' own Book of Han under Ban Gu . Those later termed Daoists likely did not early know each other. While

8736-472: The 1930s, in the hands of poets like Zhu Xiang (朱湘), Dai Wangshu , Li Jinfa (李金發), Wen Yiduo , and Ge Xiao (葛蕭). Other poets, even those among the May Fourth radicals (e.g., Yu Dafu ), continued to write poetry in classical styles. May Fourth radicalism, combined with changes in the education system, made possible the emergence of a large group of women writers. While there had been women writers in

8892-506: The 3rd century BC, these writers had developed a simple, concise and economical style that served as a model literary form for over two millennia. These were written in Classical Chinese , which mostly represented the spoken language during the Spring and Autumn period . During the Tang dynasty , the ornate, artificial style of prose developed in previous periods was replaced by a simple, direct, and forceful prose based on examples from

9048-567: The Communists gradually nationalized the publishing industry, centralized the book distribution system, and brought writers under institutional control through the Writers Union. A system of strict censorship was implemented, with Mao's Yan'an Talks as the guiding force. Periodic literary campaigns targeted figures such as Hu Shih and other figures from the New Culture period, especially Hu Feng ,

9204-462: The Confucian classics, he systemically compared the information with other documents. Sima mentioned at least 75 books he used for cross-checking. Furthermore, Sima often questioned people about historical events they had experienced. Sima mentioned after one of his trips across China that: "When I had occasion to pass through Feng and Beiyi I questioned the elderly people who were about the place, visited

9360-554: The Confucians attempted to obfuscate Shen Buhai categorically, they wouldn't seem to attempt to obfuscate him individually. With a combination of the two more common after the Han Feizi , Shen Buhai's administrative ideas were at least relevant for penal practice to the extent that it's recorder keepers were named after them. Chinese literature The history of Chinese literature extends thousands of years, and begins with

9516-538: The English phrase low-brow fiction. In the late 1920s and 1930s, literary journals and societies espousing various artistic theories proliferated. Among the major writers of the period were Guo Moruo (1892–1978), a poet, historian, essayist, and critic; Mao Dun (1896–1981), the first of the novelists to emerge from the League of Left-Wing Writers and one whose work reflected the revolutionary struggle and disillusionment of

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9672-467: The Han court as zhongshuling ( 中書令 ), a court archivist position reserved for eunuchs with considerable status and with higher pay than his previous position of historian. The Letter to Ren An was written by Sima Qian in reply to Ren An in response to the latter's involvement in Crown Prince Liu Ju 's rebellion in 91 BC. This is the last record of Sima Qian in contemporary documents. The letter

9828-508: The Hundred Schools and the Han dynasty , the period in which the great historical works of Sima Tan and Sima Qian were published. This neoclassical style dominated prose writing for the next 800 years. It was exemplified in the work of Han Yu (768–824), a master essayist and strong advocate of a return to Confucian orthodoxy; Han Yu was later listed as one of the "Eight Great Prose Masters of

9984-741: The Jia are all flawed, orbiting his characteristically 'empty' Daojia, which then includes a description of a court of ministers with a Wu wei semi-inactive ruler. It's description, and the Shiji more generally, would suggest the Simas prefer a court with a wu wei semi-inactive ruler in a time when the central government was expanding. Despite a contrary statement by A.C. Graham , neither Tan nor Sima Qian name anyone under them. Although unknown interceding historians may have debated who may have fit under which categories, likely popular by their time, imperial archivists Liu Xiang (77–6BCE) and Liu Xin would have ratified

10140-541: The Li Ling affair, where Li Ling and Li Guangli , two military officers who led a campaign against the Xiongnu in the north, were defeated and taken captive. Emperor Wu attributed the defeat to Li Ling, with all government officials subsequently condemning him for it. Sima was the only person to defend Li Ling, who had never been his friend but whom he respected. Emperor Wu interpreted Sima's defence of Li as an attack on his brother-in-law, Li Guangli, who had also fought against

10296-549: The Li Ling affair. Although there are many theories regarding the exact dating as well as the true nature and purpose of the Letter to Ren An , one common interpretation suggests that the letter, in part, tacitly expressed a refusal to play an active role in securing a reduced punishment for Ren An. The early-20th-century scholar Wang Guowei stated that there are no reliable records establishing when Sima Qian died. He and most modern historians believe that Sima Qian spent his last days as

10452-543: The Red Chamber . Many of these writers became important as administrators of artistic and literary policy after 1949. Most of those authors who were still alive during the Cultural Revolution (1966–76) were either purged or forced to submit to public humiliation. The League of Left-Wing Writers founded in 1930 included Lu Xun among its leadership. By 1932 it had adopted the Soviet doctrine of socialist realism ; that is,

10608-534: The Renovation of the Temple of the Grand Historian ) erected in the nearby county seat Han City (韓城) claims that the title was given to the grandson of Sima Lin. Sima Tan Sima Tan ( traditional Chinese : 司馬談 ; simplified Chinese : 司马谈 ; pinyin : Sīmǎ Tán ; Wade–Giles : Ssu-ma T'an ; c. 165–110  BCE ) was a Chinese astrologist, astronomer, and historian during

10764-518: The Republican era, Butterfly fiction would reach many more readers than its "progressive" counterpart. In the course of the New Culture Movement during the 1910s and 1920s decades, the vernacular language largely displaced the classical in all areas of literature and writing. Literary reformers Hu Shih (1891–1962) and Chen Duxiu (1880–1942) declared the classical language "dead" and promoted

10920-501: The Sima ancestors. To this day, people living in the village with surnames Feng and Tong are forbidden from intermarrying on the grounds that the relationship would be incestuous. According to the Book of Han , Wang Mang sent an expedition to search for and ennoble a male-line descent of Sima Qian as 史通子 ("Viscount of Historical Mastery"), although it was not recorded who received this title of nobility. A Qing dynasty stele 重修太史廟記 ( Records of

11076-644: The Snowy Forest (Lin Hai Xue Yuan 林海雪原) by Qu Bo , Keep the Red Flag Flying (Hong Qi Pu 紅旗譜) by Liang Bin 梁斌, The Red Sun (Hong Ri 紅日) by Wu Qiang 吳強, and Red Crag by Luo Guangbin 羅廣斌 and Yang Yiyan (楊益言). During the 1960s, the Maoist view of class struggle focused on challenging revisionism within society through the socialist education movement , and, motivated by concerns that Party bureaucrats might become

11232-533: The Tang and Song". The Song dynasty saw the rise in popularity of "travel record literature" ( youji wenxue ). Travel literature combined both diary and narrative prose formats, it was practised by seasoned travellers like Fan Chengda (1126–1193) and Xu Xiake (1587–1641), and can be seen in the example of Su Shi 's Record of Stone Bell Mountain . After the 14th century, vernacular fiction became popular, at least outside of court circles. Vernacular fiction covered

11388-646: The World of Letters , a 10th-century compilation of earlier works; Great Tang Records on the Western Regions completed by a pilgrim to India named Xuanzang in 646; Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang , the best known collection of Literary Chinese chuanqi from the Tang dynasty; and the Taiping Guangji , which preserved the corpus of these Tang dynasty tales. There was a range of less formal works either oral or using oral conventions, such as bianwen , pingshu , and huaben , which formed background to

11544-410: The Xiongnu as savages who had the appearance of humans, but the minds of animals. In his comments about the Xiongnu, Sima refrained from evoking claims about the innate moral superiority of the Han over the "northern barbarians" that were the standard rhetorical tropes of Chinese historians in this period. Likewise, Sima in his chapter about the Xiongnu condemns those advisors who pursue the "expediency of

11700-403: The Xiongnu less favorably, so the debate was almost certainly more Sima's way of criticizing the Chinese court system and less genuine praise for the Xiongnu. Sima has often been criticized for "historizing" myths and legends as he assigned dates to mythical and legendary figures from ancient Chinese history together with what appears to be suspiciously precise genealogies of leading families over

11856-619: The Xiongnu without much success, and sentenced Sima to death. At that time, execution could be commuted either by money or castration . Since Sima did not have enough money to atone for his "crime", he chose the latter and was then thrown into prison, where he endured three years. He described his pain thus: "When you see the jailer you abjectly touch the ground with your forehead. At the mere sight of his underlings you are seized with terror ... Such ignominy can never be wiped away." Sima called his castration "the worst of all punishments". In 96 BC, on his release from prison, Sima chose to live on as

12012-511: The Zhou dynasty (originally serving as vassals to the Zhou kings), as well as the histories of contemporary aristocratic houses established during the Han dynasty. In all, the Records consist of 12 Basic Annals, 10 Tables, 8 Treatises, 30 House Chronicles, and 70 Ordered Biographies. The last of the Ordered Biographies is the postface. This final chapter details the background of how the Shiji

12168-451: The age of ten Sima was able to "read the old writings" and was considered to be a promising scholar. Sima grew up in a Confucian environment, and Sima always regarded his historical work as an act of Confucian filial piety . In 126 BC, around the age of 20, Sima Qian began an extensive tour around China as it existed in the Han dynasty. He started his journey from the imperial capital, Chang'an (modern Xi'an ), then went south across

12324-569: The anonymous 19 Old Poems . This collection reflects the emergence of a distinctive five-character line that later became shi poetry's most common line length. From the Jian'an reign period (196 – 220 AD) onward, the five-character line became a focus for innovations in style and theme. The Cao family, rulers of the Wei dynasty (220 – 265 AD) during the post-Han Three Kingdoms period, distinguished themselves as poets by writing poems filled with sympathy for

12480-432: The author himself. The postface concludes with a self-referential description of the postface as the 70th and last of the Ordered Biographies chapters. Sima was greatly influenced by Confucius's Spring and Autumn Annals , which on the surface is a succinct chronology from the events of the reigns of the twelve dukes of Lu from 722 to 484 BC. Many Chinese scholars have and still do view how Confucius ordered his chronology as

12636-416: The basic accuracy of the Shiji including the reigns and locations of tombs of ancient rulers. Sima's Shiji is respected as a model of biographical literature with high literary value and still stands as a textbook for the study of classical Chinese. Sima's works were influential to Chinese writing, serving as ideal models for various types of prose within the neo-classical ("renaissance" 复古 ) movement of

12792-624: The basic annals section, the Emperor Gaozu is portrayed as a good leader whereas in the section dealing with his rival Xiang Yu, the Emperor is portrayed unflatteringly. Likewise, the chapter on Xiang presents him in a favorable light whereas the chapter on Gaozu portrays him in more darker colors. At the end of most of the chapters, Sima usually wrote a commentary in which he judged how the individual lived up to traditional Chinese values like filial piety, humility, self-discipline, hard work and concern for

12948-565: The biographies sections and the annals section relating to the Qin dynasty (as a former dynasty, there was more freedom to write about the Qin than there was about the reigning Han dynasty) that make up 40% of the Shiji have aroused the most interest from historians and are the only parts of the Shiji that have been translated into English. When Sima placed his subjects was often his way of expressing obliquely moral judgements. Empress Lü and Xiang Yu were

13104-532: The book dealing with the Xiongnu "barbarians" might indicate his disapproval of the foreign policy of the Emperor Wu. In writing Shiji , Sima initiated a new writing style by presenting history in a series of biographies. His work extends over 130 chapters—not in historical sequence, but divided into particular subjects, including annals , chronicles , and treatises —on music, ceremonies, calendars, religion, economics, and extended biographies. Sima's work influenced

13260-404: The categories of biao (表) or 'tables', containing graphical chronologies of royalty and nobility, and shu (書) or 'treatises', consisting of essays giving a historical perspective on various topics like music, ritual, or economics. Most importantly, the shijia (世家) chapters, or 'house chronicles', document important events in the histories of the rulers of each of the quasi-independent states of

13416-560: The center of the educational system. They have been grouped into two categories: the Five Classics , allegedly commented and edited by Confucius , and the Four Books . The Five Classics are: The Four Books are: Other important philosophical works include the Mohist Mozi , which taught "inclusive love" as both an ethical and social principle, and Hanfeizi , one of the central Legalist texts. Important Daoist classics include

13572-498: The concept of youmo (humor), which he used in trenchant criticism of China's political and cultural situation before leaving for the United States. Themes of "revolution plus love" became a left-wing literary fashion during the 1930s, although it was also criticized from the left including by Mao Dun. In this narrative formula, the story begins with conflict between the revolutionary mission and romantic love, followed by calls for

13728-426: The contemporary reign of Emperor Wu of Han while retaining an objective and non-biased standpoint. This was often difficult for the official dynastic historians, who used historical works to justify the reign of the current dynasty. He influenced the written works of many Chinese historians, including the works of Ban Gu and Ban Zhao in the 1st and 2nd centuries, and even Sima Guang 's 11th-century compilation of

13884-448: The course of several millennia (including his own where he traces the descent of the Sima family from legendary emperors in the distant past). However, archaeological discoveries in recent decades have confirmed aspects of the Shiji , and suggested that even if the sections of the Shiji dealing with the ancient past are not totally true, at least Sima wrote down what he believed to be true. In particular, archaeological finds have confirmed

14040-424: The courts, providing a broader history than the traditional court-based histories had done. Lastly, Sima broke with the traditional chronological structure of Chinese history. Sima instead had divided the Shiji into five divisions: the basic annals which comprised the first 12 chapters, the chronological tables which comprised the next 10 chapters, treatises on particular subjects which make up 8 chapters, accounts of

14196-419: The day-to-day struggles of soldiery and the common people. Taoist philosophy became a different, common theme for other poets, and a genre emphasizing true feeling emerged led by Ruan Ji (210–263). The landscape genre of Chinese nature poetry emerged under the brush of Xie Lingyun (385–433), as he innovated distinctively descriptive and complementary couplets composed of five-character lines. A farmland genre

14352-524: The description of objects. Reunified China's Tang dynasty (618–907) high culture set a high point for many things, including poetry. Various schools of Buddhism (a religion from India) flourished as represented by the Chan (or Zen) beliefs of Wang Wei (701–761). His quatrains ( jueju ) describing natural scenes are world-famous examples of excellence, each couplet conventionally containing about two distinct images or thoughts per line. Tang poetry's big star

14508-473: The earliest layer of Chinese literature was influenced by oral traditions of different social and professional provenance: cult and lay musical practices ( Shijing ), divination ( Yi jing ), astronomy, exorcism. An attempt at tracing the genealogy of Chinese literature to religious spells and incantations (the six zhu 六祝, as presented in the "Da zhu" chapter of the Rites of Zhou ) was made by Liu Shipei. There

14664-533: The earliest recorded inscriptions, court archives, building to the major works of philosophy and history written during the Axial Age . The Han (202 BC – 220 AD) and Tang (618–907 AD) dynasties were considered golden ages of poetry, while the Song (960–1279) and Yuan (1271–1368) were notable for their lyrics ( ci ), essays, dramas, and plays. During the Ming and Qing , mature novels were written in written vernacular Chinese , an evolution from

14820-428: The effective rulers of China during reigns Hui of the Han and Yi of Chu, respectively, so Sima placed both their lives in the basic annals. Likewise, Confucius is included in the fourth section rather the fifth where he properly belonged as a way of showing his eminent virtue. The structure of the Shiji allowed Sima to tell the same stories in different ways, which allowed him to pass his moral judgements. For example, in

14976-422: The emergence of spoken drama. Most outstanding among playwrights of the day are Ouyang Yuqian , Hong Shen , Tian Han , and Cao Yu . More popular than this Western-style drama, however, was Peking opera, raised to new artistic heights by the likes of Mei Lanfang . In these decades, mass-appeal fiction which elites deemed culturally insignificant became known as "butterfly fiction," a label largely equivalent to

15132-426: The end he lived to a great old age. For what virtue did he deserve this? ... I find myself in much perplexity. Is this so-called "Way of Heaven" right or wrong? To resolve this theodical problem, Sima argued that while the wicked may succeed and the good may suffer in their own life-times, it is the historian who ensures that in the end good triumphs. For Sima, the writing of history was no mere antiquarian pursuit, but

15288-472: The entire Chinese court system where the Emperor preferred the lies told by his sycophantic advisors over the truth told by his honest advisors as inherently corrupt and depraved. The point is reinforced by the fact that Sima has Zhonghang speak the language of an idealized Confucian official whereas the Emperor's envoy's language is dismissed as "mere twittering and chatter". Elsewhere in the Shiji Sima portrayed

15444-413: The grave of Han dynasty general Han Xin , then continued north to Qufu , the hometown of Confucius , where he studied ritual and other traditional subjects. After his travels, Sima was chosen to be a Palace Attendant in the government, whose duties were to inspect different parts of the country with Emperor Wu in 122 BC. Sima married young and had one daughter. In 110 BC, at the age of 35, Sima Qian

15600-531: The greatest history book written in Asia. Sima is little known in the English-speaking world as a full translation of the Shiji in English has not yet been completed. His influence was derived primarily from the following elements of his writing: his skillful depiction of historical characters using details of their speech, conversations, and actions; his innovative use of informal, humorous, and varied language; and

15756-483: The ideal example of how history should be written, especially with regards to what he chose to include and to exclude, and his choice of words as indicating moral judgments. Seen in this light, the Spring and Autumn Annals are a moral guide to the proper way of living. Sima took this view himself as he explained:       夫春秋 ... 別嫌疑，明是非，定猶豫，善善惡惡，賢賢賤不肖，存亡國，繼絕世，補敝起廢。       It [ Spring and Autumn Annals ] distinguishes what

15912-414: The imperial court. The grand historian was a relatively low-ranking official whose main duty was to formulate the yearly calendar, identifying which days were ritually auspicious or inauspicious, and present it to the emperor prior to the new year . His other duties included traveling with the emperor for important rituals and recording daily events both at the court and around the country. By his account, by

16068-689: The incorporation of new registers of language. However, the poetry scene was still dominated by the adherents to the Tongguang School (named after the Tongzhi and Guangxu reigns of the Qing), whose leaders— Chen Yan (陳衍), Chen Sanli (陳三立), Zheng Xiaoxu (鄭孝胥), and Shen Zengzhi (沈曾植)—promoted a Song style in the manner of Huang Tingjian. These poets would become the objects of scorn by New Culturalists like Hu Shih , who saw their work as overly allusive, artificial, and divorced from contemporary reality. In drama,

16224-551: The insistence that art must concentrate on contemporary events in a realistic way, exposing the ills of nonsocialist society and promoting a glorious future under communism . Other styles of literature were at odds with the highly-political literature being promoted by the League. The " New Sensationists " (新感覺派)—a group of writers based in Shanghai who were influenced, to varying degrees, by Western and Japanese modernism—wrote fiction that

16380-413: The late 1920s; satirist and novelist Lao She (1899–1966); and Ba Jin (1904–2005), a novelist whose work was influenced by Ivan Turgenev and other Russian writers. In the 1930s Ba Jin produced a trilogy that depicted the struggle of modern youth against the age-old dominance of the Confucian family system. Comparison often is made between Jia (Family), one of the novels in the trilogy, and Dream of

16536-671: The late Qing saw the emergence of the new "civilized drama" (文明戲), a hybrid of Chinese operatic drama with Western-style spoken drama. Peking opera and "reformed Peking opera" were also popular at the time. The literary scene in the first few years before the collapse of the Qing in 1911 was dominated by popular love stories, some written in the classical language and some in the vernacular. This entertainment fiction would later be labeled " Mandarin Ducks and Butterflies " fiction by New Culturalists, who despised its lack of social engagement. Throughout much of

16692-462: The late imperial period and the late Qing, they had been few in number. These writers generally tackled domestic issues, such as relations between the sexes, family, friendship and war, Eileen Chang's writing uses the spatial specificities of the modern apartment as essential to the construction of a vision of life in wartime. But they were revolutionary in giving direct expression to female subjectivity. Ding Ling 's story Miss Sophia's Diary exposes

16848-654: The later Zhuangzi would seem familiar with the Daodejing , the first part does not demonstrate familiarity it. Although disconnected, as later used the Mingjia school of names would at least seem to represent an actual social category interacted with by the Mohists , earlier referred to by the Zhuangzi as debaters. Taken as having a common interest in disputative theories of language, they otherwise have different philosophies. Connected with

17004-663: The latest date for the writing of the Guodian Chu Slips unearthed in a Hubei tomb in 1993. The Book of Documents included early information on geography in the Yu Gong chapter. The Bamboo Annals found in 281 AD in the tomb of the King of Wei, who was interred in 296 BC, provide another example; however, unlike the Zuo Zhuan , the authenticity of the early date of the Bamboo Annals

17160-405: The latter case he was writing about his own times, he did not express his judgements frankly, but used subtle and guarded language. Bearing this in mind, not everything that Sima wrote should be understood as conveying didactical moral lessons. But several historians have suggested that parts of the Shiji , such as where Sima placed his section on Confucius's use of indirect criticism in the part of

17316-523: The legendary Yellow Emperor and extended to his own time, and covered not only China, but also neighboring nations like Korea and Vietnam . In this regard, Sima was significant as the first Chinese historian to treat the peoples living to the north of the Great Wall like the Xiongnu as human beings who were implicitly the equals of the Middle Kingdom, instead of the traditional approach which had portrayed

17472-436: The less fortunate. Sima analyzed the records and sorted out those that could serve the purpose of Shiji . He intended to discover the patterns and principles of the development of human history. Sima also emphasized, for the first time in Chinese history, the role of individual men in affecting the historical development of China and his historical perception that a country cannot escape from the fate of growth and decay. Unlike

17628-469: The military has it. It did not necessarily occur to Tan that anyone would later use them as historical categories, or put people under them. As new categories, Tan's contemporaries probably considered his Jia novel. Together with Mohism and Confucianism , he compares their purported strengths and weaknesses in promotion of what he dubs the Daojia, taking the essential points of the others. Tan's descriptions of

17784-528: The minor scholar-official Song Yingxing (1587–1666) and his Tiangong Kaiwu . The rich tradition of Chinese poetry began with two influential collections. In northern China, the Shijing or Classic of Poetry (approx. 11th–7th century BC) comprises over 300 poems in a variety of styles ranging from those with a strong suggestion of folk music to ceremonial hymns. The word shi has the basic meaning of poem or poetry, as well as its use in criticism to describe one of China's lyrical poetic genres. Confucius

17940-414: The moment", that is advise the Emperor to carry policies such as conquests of other nations that bring a brief moment of glory, but burden the state with the enormous financial and often human costs of holding on to the conquered land. Sima was engaging in an indirect criticism of the advisors of the Emperor Wu who were urging him to pursue a policy of aggression towards the Xiongnu and conquer all their land,

18096-444: The more orderly succession of the Xiongnu kings. The American historian Tamara Chin wrote that though Zhonghang did exist, the dialogue is merely a "literacy device" for Sima to make points that he could not otherwise make. The favorable picture of the traitor Zhonghang who went over to the Xiongnu who bests the Emperor's loyal envoy in an ethnographic argument about what is the morally superior nation appears to be Sima's way of attacking

18252-491: The national guideline for culture after the establishment of the People's Republic of China. Consistent with political goals of mobilizing the masses, literary depictions of Party cadres became important. Literature of the period represented good cadres as those who took the lead on the road to socialism while adopting a theme of antibureaucratism to criticize cadres who sought special privileges. After coming to power in 1949,

18408-449: The old home of Xiao He , Cao Can , Fan Kuai and Xiahou Ying , and learned much about the early days. How different it was from the stories one hears!" Reflecting the traditional Chinese reverence for age, Sima stated that he preferred to interview the elderly as he believed that they were the most likely to supply him with correct and truthful information about what had happened in the past. During one of this trips, Sima mentioned that he

18564-467: The old traditions of the world which were scattered and lost. I have examined the deeds and events of the past and investigated the principles behind their success and failure, their rise and decay [...] in one hundred and thirty chapters. I wished to examine into all that concerns heaven and man, to penetrate the changes of the past and present, completing all as the work of one family. But before I had finished my rough manuscript, I met with this calamity. It

18720-535: The people" to mount attacks on " petty bourgeois idealism" and "humanitarianism". This conflict came to a head in the Hundred Flowers Campaign (1956–57). Mao Zedong initially encouraged writers to speak out against problems in the new society. Having learned the lessons of the anti-Hu Feng campaign, they were reluctant, but then a flurry of newspaper articles, films, and literary works drew attention to such problems as bureaucratism and authoritarianism within

18876-545: The preeminence of Literary Chinese patterned off the language of the Chinese classics . The introduction of widespread woodblock printing during the Tang and the invention of movable type printing by Bi Sheng (990–1051) during the Song rapidly spread written knowledge throughout China. Around the turn of the 20th century, the author Lu Xun (1881–1936) is considered an influential voice of vernacular Chinese literature. Formation of

19032-479: The pretense that Prince Tan could via the use of magic make the clouds rain grain and horses grow horns. Sima constantly compared accounts found in the manuscripts with what he considered reliable sources like Confucian classics like the Book of Odes , Book of History , Book of Rites , Book of Music , Book of Changes and Spring and Autumn Annals . When Sima encountered a story that could not be cross-checked with

19188-510: The printed the Complete Classics Collection of Ancient China (1726), which featured over 100 million written Chinese characters in over 800,000 pages, printed in 60 different copies using copper -metal Chinese movable type printing. Other great encyclopedic writers include the polymath scientist Shen Kuo (1031–1095) and his Dream Pool Essays , the agronomist and inventor Wang Zhen ( fl. 1290–1333) and his Nongshu , and

19344-402: The protagonists to devote themselves to revolution and set aside their personal feelings, and ultimately results in the couple working together for the revolution in a form of love itself. As described by academic David Der-Wei Wang , "[R]evolution plus love functioned both as a literary trope, titillating and sustaining a society's desire for self-reform, and as a political mandate, calling for

19500-464: The ranks of the party. Shocked at the level of discontent, Mao's Anti-Rightist Movement put large numbers of intellectuals through "thought reform" or sent them to labor camps. At the time of the Great Leap Forward (1957–59), the government increased its insistence on the use of socialist realism and combined with it so-called revolutionary realism and revolutionary romanticism. Class struggle

19656-437: The reason I have not refused to bear these ills and have continued to live, dwelling in vileness and disgrace without taking my leave, is that I grieve that I have things in my heart which I have not been able to express fully, and I am shamed to think that after I am gone my writings will not be known to posterity. Too numerous to record are the men of ancient times who were rich and noble and whose names have yet vanished away. It

19812-470: The rebellion as a result of his friendship with Ren An and was executed as part of the purge of the crown prince's supporters in court; however, the earliest-attested record of this account dates from the 4th century. Moreover, it has also been pointed out that Sima Qian would have been reluctant to render substantive aid to Ren An, given the severe consequences that he suffered for supporting General Li Ling, as well as Ren An's failure to act on his behalf during

19968-593: The redisposition of the social body in both public and personal spheres." During the Second Sino-Japanese War , there was a revival of writing classical-style poetry. The Chinese Communist Party had established a base after the Long March in Yan'an . In 1942, Mao Zedong gave a series of lectures called " Talks at the Yan'an Forum on Art and Literature " that clearly made literature subservient to politics via

20124-459: The reign of Emperor Xuan . According to local legend, Sima Qian had two sons, the older named Sima Lin (司馬臨) and younger named Sima Guan (司馬觀), who fled the capital to Xu Village (徐村) in what is now Shanxi province during the Li Ling affair, for fear of falling victim to familial extermination . They changed their surnames to Tong (同 = 丨+ 司) and Féng (馮 = 仌 + 馬), respectively, to hide their origins while continuing to secretly offer sacrifices to

20280-463: The remainder". Reflecting these rigorous analytic methods, Sima declared that he would not write about periods of history where there was insufficient documentation. As such, Sima wrote "the ages before the Ch'in dynasty are too far away and the material on them too scanty to permit a detailed account of them here". In the same way, Sima discounted accounts in the traditional records that were "ridiculous" such as

20436-526: The ruling families which take up 30 chapters, and biographies of various eminent people which are the last 70 chapters. The annals follow the traditional Chinese pattern of court-based histories of the lives of various emperors and their families. The chronological tables are graphs recounting the political history of China. The treatises are essays on topics such as astronomy , music, religion, hydraulic engineering and economics. The last section dealing with biographies covers individuals judged by Sima to have made

20592-605: The seven-character line also contributed to the emerging posthumous fame of Du Fu, now ranked alongside Li Bai. The distinctively different ci poetry form began its development during the Tang as Central Asian and other musical influences flowed through its cosmopolitan society. China's Song dynasty (960–1279), another reunification era after a brief period of disunity, initiated a fresh high culture. Several of its greatest poets were capable government officials as well including Ouyang Xiu (1007–1072), Su Shi (1037–1101), and Wang Anshi (1021–1086). The ci form flourished as

20748-466: The seven-character line, writing denser poems with more allusions as he aged, experiencing hardship and writing about it. A parade of great Tang poets also includes Chen Zi'ang (661–702), Wang Zhihuan (688–742), Meng Haoran (689–740), Bai Juyi (772–846), Li He (790–816), Du Mu (803–852), Wen Tingyun (812–870), (listed chronologically) and Li Shangyin (813–858), whose poetry delights in allusions that often remain obscure, and whose emphasis on

20904-463: The simplicity and conciseness of his style. Even the 20th-century literary critic Lu Xun regarded Shiji as "the historians' most perfect song, a ' Li Sao ' without the rhyme" ( 史家之絶唱，無韻之離騷 ) in his Outline of Chinese Literary History ( 漢文學史綱要 ). Sima's famous letter to his friend Ren An about his sufferings during the Li Ling Affair and his perseverance in writing Shiji is today regarded as

21060-440: The society. With the rise of monetary economy and urbanization beginning in the Song dynasty, there was a growing professionalization of entertainment fostered by the spread of printing, the rise of literacy and education. In both China and Europe, the novel gradually became more autobiographical and serious in exploration of social, moral, and philosophical problems. Chinese fiction of the late Ming dynasty and early Qing dynasty

21216-543: The struggle women confronted in establishing their voices in a changing China. These Modern Girls were sometimes disillusioned with modernity. Male-authored works often portrayed the Modern Girl as a femme fatale who rejected chastity in favor of bodily pleasure and consumerism. The "New Woman" frequently emphasized nationalistic themes. Both of these archetypes appeared in literature dealing with debates over birth control and abortion in China . The 1920s and 1930s saw

21372-421: The thoughts and feelings of its female diarist in all their complexity. In the Republican period, the female literary archetypes of the "New Woman" and the "Modern Girl" developed as a response to the Confucian ideal of "good wives" and "wise mothers." Depictions of these new feminine archetypes often varied significantly between female and male writers. In literature written by women, the Modern Girl represented

21528-462: The translations of Yan Fu (嚴復) (1864–1921) and Lin Shu (林紓) (1852–1924). In this climate, a boom in the writing of fiction occurred, especially after the 1905 abolition of the civil service examination when literati struggled to fill new social and cultural roles for themselves. Stylistically, this fiction shows signs of both the Chinese novelistic tradition and Western narrative modes. In subject matter, it

21684-406: The vibrant vernacular in its stead. Hu Shih once said, "A dead language can never produce a living literature." In terms of literary practice, Lu Xun (1881–1936) is usually said to be the first major stylist in the new vernacular prose that Hu Shih and Chen Duxiu were promoting. Another female writer who, in the words of scholar Nicole Huang, "persistently experimented with new literary language"

21840-583: The writing style of other histories outside of China as well, such as the Goryeo (Korean) history the Samguk sagi . Sima adopted a new method in sorting out the historical data and a new approach to writing historical records. At the beginning of the Shiji , Sima declared himself a follower of Confucius's approach in the Analects to "hear much but leave to one side that which is doubtful, and speak with due caution concerning

21996-572: The year 841 BC, at the beginning of the Gonghe Regency of the Western Zhou dynasty . The earliest known narrative history of China was the Zuo Zhuan , which was compiled no later than 389 BC, and attributed to the blind 5th-century BC historian Zuo Qiuming . The Book of Documents is thought to have been compiled as far back as the 6th century BC, and was certainly compiled by the 4th century BC,

22152-625: Was a frequent narrative structure and political mode of expression in literature of the late 1950s. These narratives depicted class struggle as a way to resolve social conflict, usually through the protagonists uncovering a conspiracy between new and old class enemies. Despite the literary control and strictures to limit subjects to contemporary China and the glories of the revolution, writers produced widely read novels of energy and commitment. Examples of this new socialist literature include The Builder (Chuangye Shi 創業史) by Liu Qing 柳青, The Song of Youth (Qing Chun Zhi Ge 青春之歌) by Yang Mo , Tracks in

22308-599: Was also the first in a tradition of Chinese military treatises, such as the Wujing Zongyao ( Collection of the Most Important Military Techniques , 1044 AD) and the Huolongjing ( Fire Dragon Manual , 14th century AD). The Chinese kept consistent and accurate court records, and although their calendars varied from court to court, these disparate records could be aligned without evident contradiction by

22464-524: Was born in obscurity by Tao Qian (365–427) also known as Tao Yuanming as he labored in his fields and then wrote extolling the influence of wine. Toward the close of this period in which many later-developed themes were first experimented with, the Xiao family of the Southern Liang dynasty (502–557) engaged in highly refined and often denigrated court-style poetry lushly describing sensual delights as well as

22620-486: Was completed by Ouyang Xun in 624 during the Tang dynasty , with aid from scholars Linghu Defen and Chen Shuda . During the Song dynasty , the compilation of the Four Great Books of Song (10th century – 11th century), begun by Li Fang and completed by Cefu Yuangui , represented a massive undertaking of written material covering a wide range of different subjects. This included the Taiping Guangji (978),

22776-418: Was composed and compiled, and gives brief justifications for the inclusion of the major topics, events, and individuals in the work. As part of the background, the postface provides a short sketch of the history of the Sima clan, from legendary times to his father Sima Tan. It also details the dying words of Sima Tan, tearfully exhorting the author to compose the present work, and contains a biographical sketch of

22932-404: Was involved in the creation of the 104 BC Taichu Calendar 太初暦 (太初 became the new era name for Emperor Wu and means "supreme beginning"), a modification of the Qin calendar. This is the first Chinese calendar whose full method of calculation (暦法) has been preserved. The minor planet "12620 Simaqian" is named in his honour. Sima Qian is the son of court astrologer (太史令) Sima Tan , who

23088-480: Was more concerned with the unconscious and with aesthetics than with politics or social problems. Most important among these writers were Mu Shiying , Liu Na'ou (劉吶鷗), and Shi Zhecun . Other writers, including Shen Congwen and Fei Ming (廢名), balked at the utilitarian role for literature by writing lyrical, almost nostalgic, depictions of the countryside. Lin Yutang , who had studied at Harvard and Leipzig, introduced

23244-433: Was only able to put together an outline of the work before he died. The postface of the completed Shiji , there is a short essay on the six philosophical schools that is explicitly attributed to Sima Tan. Otherwise, there are only fragments of the Shiji that are speculated to be authored by Sima Tan or based on his notes. Fueled by his father's inspiration, Sima Qian spent much of the subsequent decade authoring and compiling

23400-440: Was overcome with emotion when he saw the carriage of Confucius together with his clothes and various other personal items that had belonged to Confucius. Despite his very large debts to Confucian tradition, Sima was an innovator in four ways. To begin with, Sima's work was concerned with the history of the known world. Previous Chinese historians had focused on only one dynasty and/or region. Sima's history of 130 chapters began with

23556-679: Was probably opposed to their combination. Although a modern Sinologist might consider a historical usage of the categories revisionist, to it's credit, the Book of Han only presents their groupings as theoretical; Feng Youlan chose to take it as a legitimate attempt at historical theory. Emphasizing philosophical differences with the Confucians, Sinologist Herrlee G. Creel argued that it might have been intentionally misleading to list Shen Buhai together with Shang Yang under Fajia . But Creel himself quotes Liu Xiang, who readily recounts that, unlike Shang Yang, Shen Buhai vacilitated against punishments. If

23712-514: Was rather a vital moral task as the historian would "preserve memory", and thereby ensure the ultimate victory of good over evil. Along these lines, Sima wrote:       蘇秦兄弟三人，皆游說諸侯以顯名，其術長於權變。而蘇秦被反閒以死，天下共笑之，諱學其術。 ... 夫蘇秦起閭閻，連六國從親，此其智有過人者。吾故列其行事，次其時序，毋令獨蒙惡聲焉。       Su Qin and his two brothers all achieved fame among the feudal lords as itinerant strategists. Their policies laid great stress upon stratagems and shifts of power. But because Su Qin died

23868-568: Was sent westward on a military expedition against some "barbarian" tribes. That year, his father fell ill due to the distress of not being invited to attend the Imperial Feng Sacrifice. Suspecting that his time was running out, he summoned his son back home to take over the historical work he had begun. Sima Tan wanted to follow the Annals of Spring and Autumn , the first chronicle in the history of Chinese literature . It appears that Sima Tan

24024-533: Was the Shiji , or Records of the Grand Historian written by Han dynasty court historian Sima Qian (145 BC – 90 BC). This groundbreaking text laid the foundation for Chinese historiography and the many official Chinese historical texts compiled for each dynasty thereafter. Sima Qian is often compared to the Greek Herodotus in scope and method, because he covered Chinese history from the mythical Xia dynasty until

24180-495: Was then considered to be southern China, the Chuci is ascribed to Qu Yuan (c. 340–278 BC) and his follower Song Yu (fl. 3rd century BC) and is distinguished by its more emotionally intense affect, often full of despair and descriptions of the fantastic. In some of its sections, the Chu Ci uses a six-character per line meter, dividing these lines into couplets separated in the middle by

24336-648: Was varied, self-conscious, and experimental. Scholars now tend to agree that modern Chinese literature did not erupt suddenly in the New Culture Movement (1910s–1920s). Instead, they trace its origins back at least to the late Qing period (1895–1911) and at most to the 17th century. The late Qing was a period of intellectual ferment sparked by a sense of national crisis. Intellectuals began to seek solutions to China's problems outside of its own tradition. They translated works of Western expository writing and literature, which enthralled readers with new ideas and opened up windows onto new exotic cultures. Most outstanding were

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