Historical Records (Complete Translation): The First and Most Important Biographical General History Book in China 史记

by Sima Qian

史记 "Historical Records" was written by Sima Qian, the Western Han Dynasty historian. The biographical history book is the first biographical general history in China, documented on to the ancient legend of the Yellow Emperor era, down to the Han Dynasty between the beginning four years, a total of 3,000 years of history. In 104 B.C., Sima Qian began the creation of a history book called " Tai Shi Gong Shu " which was later called “史记”, or "Historical Records". It took 14 years before and after to complete.

The "Historical Records" book includes twelve Origins Volumes recording the emperor's political achievements (“十二本纪”), thirty Family Volumes remembering the vassal state and dynasty princes (“三十世家”), honors and dying, Seventy Fame Verses remembering the deeds of important people (“七十列传”)，ten Tables (chronology of major events, “十表”), eight Books remembering various rules and regulations, ritual, music, temperament, calendar, astronomy, meditation, water conservancy, financial use (“八书”), a total of 130 articles, 520 thousand words.

The book is translation of full text of Historical Records, covering all contents aforementioned.

Genres: History, China, Classics

1819 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 2, 2018

About the author

Sima Qian (Szu-ma Chien; 司馬遷 c. 145 or 135 BC – 86 BC) was a Chinese historian of the Han dynasty. He is considered the father of Chinese historiography for his work, the Records of the Grand Historian, a Jizhuanti-style (纪传体) general history of China, covering more than two thousand years from the Yellow Emperor to his time, during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han. Although he worked as the Court Astrologer (Chinese: 太史令; Tàishǐ Lìng), later generations refer to him as the Grand Historian (Chinese: 太史公; taishigong or tai-shih-kung) for his monumental work. (Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Joye · Rating 5 out of 5]

it's very difficult to get it.it is written in Han dynasty.many people think highly of it.but it's a little dull.司馬遷is a great writer

[343arbiter · Rating 5 out of 5]

在goodreads上标记史记总感觉怪怪的……

[Feiyu Yin · Rating 5 out of 5]

这是我目前读过的最伟大的著作。使我感触最深的倒不是其中的故事而是太史公本人。读史记对我来说是和太史公的一次对话。从他的抑恶扬善中可以感受到他的品德高尚，从他的评论中可以看见他的高瞻远瞩，和对自身命运的叹息。
史记中的一个个历史人物反到像太史公创作出来的，在他的笔下才显出自己的特点。我们心中的中国历史大概受到史记的很大影响吧。
历史似乎是很难考证的，我宁可全信太史公。

[Lee Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

分卷阅读，这两天读的是《秦本纪》。河鱼大上，不解其含义。