Linked from

The 61 pages that link to Sima Qian, each with the reason it gives.

• Han dynastyBroader topic: His history preserved accounts of Han origins and earlier Chinese states.

• Chinese historiographyBroader topic: His biographical approach and broad chronological scope set a lasting precedent.

• ConfuciusRelated: His biography is a major early narrative source for Confucius’s life.

• Mandate of HeavenRelated: His historical writing helped establish patterns for interpreting dynastic legitimacy and succession.

• Zhou dynastyRelated: His histories preserve influential accounts of Zhou rulers and origins.

• Records of the Grand HistorianRelated: He composed the work and framed its historical judgments through an unusually broad range of sources.

• XiongnuRelated: His descriptions preserve influential Chinese accounts of Xiongnu society and politics.

• Emperor Wu of HanRelated: His histories are a major source for Wu’s envoys, campaigns, and western contacts.

• Qin Shi HuangRelated: His account became the principal narrative source for Qin Shi Huang’s life and reign.

• Chinese literatureRelated: His narrative biographies shaped Chinese historical writing and literary practice.

• Chinese astronomyRelated: His history includes accounts of astronomical offices, portents, and celestial observations.

• LaoziRelated: His biography preserves the earliest major narrative about Laozi.

• Zhang QianRelated: His account in the Shiji is the surviving source for nearly everything about the missions.

• Ban GuCompared with: His pioneering chronicle contrasts with Ban Gu’s dynastic history.

• ShijiRelated: His authorship and personal ordeal shaped the work’s composition and perspective.

• Sun TzuRelated: His biography of Sun Tzu helped transmit the traditional account of the strategist’s life.

• Qu YuanRelated: He recorded the influential account of Qu Yuan’s service, exile, and death.

• Book of HanRelated: His historical method and literary example strongly influenced Ban Gu.

• Dong ZhongshuRelated: His historical account preserves a famous narrative of Dong Zhongshu’s proposals to Emperor Wu.

• I ChingRelated: His history preserves early accounts of the classic’s traditional authors and transmission.

• Shang YangRelated: His biography is a major source for the traditional account of Shang Yang’s life and death.

• Universal historyRelated: His work assembled rulers, states, and institutions into an expansive historical account.

• Vietnamese historiographyCompared with: Chinese models of dynastic history influenced Vietnamese court historiography, while Vietnamese accounts asserted political distinctiveness.

• Ancient historiographyBroader topic: His biographical and chronological structures established a lasting model for Chinese dynastic history.

• Dynastic cycleRelated: His histories organized earlier reigns into narratives of dynastic rule, virtue, and failure.

• King Wu of ZhouRelated: His later narrative preserves a major account of King Wu’s rise.

• Western Han dynastyRelated: His history preserves foundational narratives of Han origins and earlier Chinese rulers.

• Spring and Autumn AnnalsRelated: His account preserves the tradition that Confucius edited the Annals.

• Twenty-Four HistoriesRelated: His work supplied a model for later official histories in the collection.

• Battle of ChangpingRelated: His narrative shaped later knowledge of the commanders, decisions, and reported massacre.

• Chinese zodiacRelated: His history preserves early material relevant to the branches and their calendrical meanings.

• King Wen of ZhouRelated: His narrative is a major later source for King Wen’s life and Zhou origins.

• Bai QiRelated: His account is a major source for Bai Qi’s career and later reputation.

• Mausoleum of the First Qin EmperorRelated: His account supplies the famous description of the emperor’s underground tomb.

• Xiang YuRelated: His narrative gives Xiang Yu a prominent, complex place despite his defeat by the Han.

• Yu the GreatRelated: His dynastic history transmitted a canonical account of Yu’s rule.

• Zhao TuoRelated: His narrative shaped later knowledge of Zhao Tuo’s reign and dealings with Han rulers.

• Huo QubingRelated: His biography of Huo is a principal source for the general’s life and campaigns.

• Ban ZhaoRelated: His historical model preceded the dynastic history Ban Zhao helped complete.

• Burning of books and burying of scholarsRelated: His account is the principal early narrative of the episode.

• Jing KeRelated: His biography of the assassins shaped the enduring account of Jing Ke.

• Lian PoRelated: His account shaped later understandings of Lian Po and the other figures of Zhao.

• Shen BuhaiRelated: His biography helped frame Shen Buhai’s place in the historical record.

• Three Sovereigns and Five EmperorsRelated: He organized legendary rulers into the opening sequence of a comprehensive Chinese history.

• Zuo QiumingRelated: His account helped transmit traditions about Zuo Qiuming and the Zuo Zhuan.

• Axial AgeCompared with: His later account of Chinese history contrasts with Jaspers's attempt to organize traditions into a global period.

• Guan ZhongRelated: His biography is a major source for the traditional account of Guan Zhong’s life.

• Jia YiRelated: His biography preserves a major account of Jia Yi’s life and political thought.

• Wei QingRelated: His account preserves key details of Wei Qing’s campaigns and family.

• Zou YanRelated: His biography is a principal surviving account of Zou Yan’s life and reputation.