“Ancient Chinese Historiography and Cultural Tradition”

In ancient times, emperors and kings were chronicled by their right historians, who recorded their words and deeds. This was divided into the “Records of Speech” and the “Records of Events”, akin to the “Shangshu” and the “Spring and Autumn Annals”. Sima Qian, the Grand Historian, amalgamated these traditions into what we now know as the “Records of the Grand Historian”. He synthesized narratives from six different schools of thought to create a comprehensive history. The work encompasses discussions on the order of sovereigns, ministers, fathers, sons, husbands, wives, elders, and youngsters, as well as the names of celestial bodies, geographical features, cities, towns, various customs, and classifications of plants and animals. Sima Qian’s “Records of the Grand Historian” begins with legendary figures like the Yellow Emperor and concludes during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, covering a span of 2,413 years across twelve basic annals, symbolizing the months of the year. It includes ten tables representing the rigid and soft aspects of the heavens, and eight treatises symbolizing the eight annual festivals, thereby recording the establishment, decline, and conclusion of generations of feudal lords. It also features thirty biographies, resembling the thirty days of a month, with thirty spokes converging into one hub, used to record the achievements and failures of influential families, as well as loyal and filial ministers.

Historical Annotation

In terms of annotations, “Records of the Grand Historian” shares similarities with the ancient texts “Shangshu”. Therefore, annotations are derived from scholars like Kong Anguo. Annotations aligning with “Shangshu” are sourced from Zheng Xuan, Wang Su, and Ma Rong. Annotations corresponding with the “Three Commentaries” are attributed to Du Yuankai, Fu Qian, He Xiu, Jia Kui, and Fan Ning. Annotations akin to the “Three Rituals”, “Analects of Confucius”, and “Classic of Filial Piety” are sourced from Zheng Xuan, Ma Rong, and Wang Su. Annotations aligning with the “Han Poetry” draw from sources such as Mao’s commentary and Zheng’s notes. Annotations matching the “Book of Changes” rely on the annotations by the Wang family. For various philosophical works and other historical records, eminent Confucian interpretations, including those by Pei Yuan, are also used as annotations.

Discussion on Characters

Characters in “Records of the Grand Historian” and “Han Dynasty Literature” have been passed down for generations. Early texts may have written “悦” as “说”, “闲” as “閒”, and “智” as “知”. “汝” was written as “女”, and “早” as “蚤”, “後” as “后”, “既” as “溉”, “勅” as “饬”, and “制” as “剬”. These variations in writing stemmed from the limited number of characters in ancient times, which were commonly used.

Discussion on Pronunciation

The texts of “Records of the Grand Historian” are the same as those of other books, such as “Shangshu”, and Liu’s text follows the ancient pronunciation. Sima Qian changed the original records of the Five Emperors and ensured that these were publicly known, whether to the east, south, west, or north. He relied on the character readings seen there. The changes in the text were beneficial to the meaning, even though it changed the traditional form. Qian Taigi said that the pronunciation was “engaged”, and that its use changed with time, but the change was not always important. Qian Dian Yu’s assistants said that the language was different, and differen