Knowra Sima Qian Sima Qian Sima Qian was a Han dynasty historian whose Records of the Grand Historian chronicled China’s past from legendary origins to his own era and shaped later Chinese historiography.
Records of the Grand Historian : A history of China from legendary antiquity through the early Han, written by Sima Qian. This monumental work is the defining achievement of his life.
Shiji annals : The chronologically ordered biographies of rulers that form one of the five sections of the Shiji. These annals organize dynastic history around the reigns of sovereigns.
Western Han : The first major period of the Han dynasty, lasting from 206 BCE to 9 CE. Sima Qian lived and served during this era of imperial consolidation and expansion.
Ban Gu : A Han historian who wrote the Book of Han, a history of the Western Han dynasty. His dynastic history followed Sima Qian’s model while narrowing its chronological scope.
Han dynasty : A Chinese imperial dynasty that ruled from 206 BCE to 220 CE, with an interregnum from 9 to 23 CE. The court and political upheavals of this dynasty shaped Sima Qian’s career.
Shiji tables : Chronological tables in the Shiji that align rulers, events, and dates across different states. The tables clarify overlapping timelines that prose narratives can obscure.
Emperor Wu of Han : The Han emperor who ruled from 141 to 87 BCE and greatly expanded the empire. His reign formed the immediate political setting for Sima Qian’s official career.
Book of Han : A history of the Western Han dynasty compiled by Ban Gu and completed by his sister Ban Zhao. It became a major successor to the Shiji and established a dynastic-history pattern.
Sima Tan : A Han court official and historian who served as Grand Astrologer and began historical work continued by his son Sima Qian. His father’s unfinished project and scholarly inheritance shaped Sima Qian’s work.
Shiji treatises : Topical essays in the Shiji on institutions, ritual, music, astronomy, and other subjects. These treatises let Sima Qian explain systems that do not fit a ruler-by-ruler account.
Show all 20