The Contribution of Historical Records to the Study of the Ancient History of China
First of all, Sima Qian extensively collected and summarized the historical data of the pre-Qin period and listed it as a complete system, which made China have a scientific, systematic and complete ancient history book for the first time. Sima Qian sorted out the legends of the ancient "five emperors" according to Shangshu, Yizhou Shu and Guoyu, and sorted out the outline of the ancient history of Xia, Shang and Western Zhou. He combed the history of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period in detail according to Chunqiu, Zuozhuan and Warring States Policy, especially the history of the Spring and Autumn Period was quite clear. There was a lot of historical confusion in Historical Records during the Warring States Period, which was due to the fact that the historical books of the six eastern countries were burned by Qin Shihuang during the Warring States Period. Sima Qian was able to sort out such a clue that we can see now without more materials, which provided convenience for future generations to study the history of the Warring States and let everyone absorb the correct and supplement the wrong. In a word, this is the first aspect of Sima Qian's study of ancient history.
Secondly, Sima Qian compiled and wrote the history of the early Western Han Dynasty since the unification of Qin Dynasty, the peasant uprising at the end of Qin Dynasty, the Chu-Han War and the founding of Liu Bang. This part is entirely out of Sima Qian's originality.
Contemporary people have a lot of troubles in writing the history of contemporary autocratic dynasties. If you praise all the praises, of course, no problem. If you don't agree or expose its dark side, I'm afraid it will be in trouble. Sima Qian, however, can write the history of more than 100 years from the unification of Qin Dynasty, the end of Qin Dynasty to the Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty like this in today's Historical Records, just as Ban Gu said, "Its writing is straight, its substance is the core, it is not empty, and it does not hide evil"; Sima Qian wrote about the achievements of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and all kinds of problems that he thought Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty should criticize. It's not easy. Liu Zhiji in the Tang Dynasty once said that as a good historian, you should have "historiography", "historical talent" and "historical knowledge"; In the Qing Dynasty, Zhang Xuecheng put forward another kind of "real virtue". In other words, as an outstanding historian, he should have the character of an outstanding historian, be able to seek truth from facts and insist on telling the truth to future generations. People think that Sima Qian is really unique in this respect, and in the history of China, there are very few people like Sima Qian.
The Literariness and Lyricity of Historical Records
There are quite a few works in Historical Records that are similar to today's novels, such as Biography of Xiang Yu, Biography of Gaozu, Biography of Lian Po and Lin Xiangru, Biography of Tian Dan, Biography of Jing Ke and Biography of Huaiyin Hou. They all tell stories in detail, vividly describe plots and scenes, and vividly design personalized language for the characters in their works. In a sense, Historical Records is a gallery of tragic heroes. Sima Qian's subjective feelings, in particular, are sometimes not on the side of the winner. For example, the winner of the Chu-Han War was Liu Bang, while Sima Qian's sympathy was on the side of the defeated Xiang Yu. Another example is that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty attacked the Huns. It was Wei Qing and Huo Qubing who made great contributions to the Han Dynasty, but Sima Qian's feelings focused on Li Guang, who had never won a battle. The winner's performance is naturally great, and the performance of the "loser" is by no means small. Let's take a closer look at the battle of Dongcheng after Xiang Yu's failed suicide. Read the horse that Li Guang escaped after being defeated and captured. With these details, we call Xiang Yu "God of War" and Li Guang "Flying General". Who can say it's inappropriate? This is the profundity of Sima Qian's description and the great success of the literature and art of Historical Records.
The articles in Historical Records are full of lyricism, such as Biography of Boyi, Biography of Qu Yuan and Biography of Rangers, which are almost like a lyric poem. There are also Biography of General Li, Biography of Zhang Shizhi and Feng Tang, Family of consorts and so on. Wandering and sighing in sadness, anger or confusion, how touching. Lu Xun called Historical Records "Li Sao has no rhyme", which is true. In historical records, such as Biography of Boyi, Biography of Japanese, Biography of Funny, etc. It seems difficult for us to examine whether their "characters" and "stories" really exist. Shu Fan's "Hou Zhi Comments on the Legend of a Dream of Red Mansions" has the so-called "who dares to fight if he is poor, and Zhuang Sao's legacy will last forever"; Liu E's Preface to Lao Can's Travels has the so-called "Zhuangzi cries Meng Zuo, and Shi Ji cries Tai Shigong". Nine times out of ten, "Zhuangzi" is a fable, while some characters' stories in "Historical Records" are just fables. What we want to think and understand here is whether its reasoning is profound, without having to experience whether the "characters" and "stories" it uses are true or not. Historical Records had a great influence on China's later literati literature. Wu Yuefa said: "Most novelists owe their masterpieces to Historical Records. Cheng said: "The ancestral court of novels in past dynasties should belong to Sima family." . "("The Story of Ke Yunlu ")
As Historical Records is a biographical historical book with strong literariness, people who study biographical literature naturally call it the pioneering work of China's "biographical literature". In the past, westerners took Europe as the center, and they called Plutarch in ancient Greece "Biography of the king of world". However, compared with Sima Qian, Plutarch was born later 19 1 year. Sima Qian's Historical Records is nearly two centuries earlier than Plutarch's Who's Who in Greece and Rome. One of the ideological significance of Historical Records today is that it shows a progressive national view that all ethnic groups in China are descendants of the Chinese people and their brothers. This view generally originated in the Warring States period and was fully expressed in Sima Qian's Historical Records. This slogan has been widely accepted by Chinese in China, overseas and all over the world. This slogan itself is not necessarily very scientific, but as a bond, theory and thought that unites Chinese descendants, it has formed a psychological stereotype and has been widely accepted for more than 2,000 years, so it has become a huge spiritual force.
The second is that Sima Qian thinks that economy is a strong foundation of a country. Why can Qin unify the six countries? Because it builds water conservancy and develops agriculture. Why can Guan Zhong strengthen the vital energy and make Qi Huangong the first of the "Five Overlords"? Because Qi can develop industry and commerce. Sima Qian advocated paying equal attention to industry, agriculture, commerce and danger, and opposed the one-sided idea of "emphasizing agriculture and restraining commerce". Sima Qian's economic thought was suppressed for more than 2,000 years. It was not until Deng Xiaoping's reform and opening up that people re-read Historical Records that Sima Qian's economic thought made such progress. Sima Qian erected a monument for outstanding industrialists and businessmen in Biography of Huo Zhi, praising their outstanding contributions to society. This kind of vision is rare. In particular, he wrote about the commercial talent of Zi Gong, a student of Confucius. He said that Zigong has established many multinational companies, and no matter which country you go to, the governor of that country should respectfully come out to entertain you. He said that Confucius had traveled to some countries at that time, and the reason why Confucius was treated by the rulers of these countries was entirely because of Zi Gong, which was the result of spending money. Although this is a bit like a joke, there is no doubt that Sima Qian attaches importance to the development of industry and commerce.
Thirdly, Historical Records critically inherited the two schools of Confucianism and Legalism which prevailed in the pre-Qin and Han Dynasties. The abdication, rule by virtue, benevolent governance, selflessness and practice advocated by Confucianism were all accepted by Sima Qian, and in Historical Records they formed the typical politics and personality they dreamed of, such as Yao, Shun, Yu, King Wen and Duke Zhou. However, Sima Qian attached importance to the legal system. He described Wuqi, Shang Yang, King Wuling of Zhao, Chao Cuo and other people who dared to carry out political reform, and even paid their lives for it. There is Biography of Officials in Historical Records, in which Li Li, who is impartial in law enforcement, is especially praised. Because he killed someone by mistake in the process of law enforcement, he firmly sentenced himself to death and committed suicide. He also praised Shi's extravagance and adherence to principles. Shi Jia had to convict his father out of the rules of national law enforcement. He felt sorry for his father from his family and decided to commit suicide. These thoughts and practices about governing the country and leveling the world in Historical Records have had a very important influence on later thinkers and politicians.
Fourthly, Historical Records praises and praises a positive outlook on life and death and values. The heroes praised in Historical Records generally have the characteristics of being aggressive, being brave in making contributions to the country and society, and wanting to do something vigorous. These people may also be for some moral concept, or for some personal interest or fame. We don't have to pursue them too much. The key is to see the effect of their objective practice. Not only Sima Qian's favorite heroes, but also Guan Zhong, Yan Ying, Chen She, Xiang Yu, Li Guang and Guo Jie. Even the people he hates, such as Reese and Zhufuyan, have this characteristic of seizing the opportunity to do something.
Recommend some notes
Historical Records has been published for 2 100 years, and readers living in modern times need a proper annotation if they want to understand it more accurately. Here I put forward a few for your reference. The first is "Three Records". The so-called "Three Annotations" are the collective names of three annotations: Liu Songpei's Collection of Historical Records, Tang Sima Zhen's Study of Historical Records and Zhang Tang's Justice of Historical Records. This is the earliest historical annotation we can see today. These three kinds of notebooks were written separately. In the Northern Song Dynasty, some people began to break up the three notes and arrange them under the text of Historical Records. Today, The Historical Records compiled by Zhonghua Book Company is such a combined edition. The "Three Annotations" have made great contributions to the collation of original historical records, the textual research of articles and the annotation of geographical names.
Second, Historical Records and Lin Quotations compiled by Ling Zhilong in the late Ming Dynasty. Based on the three notes of Historical Records, this book extensively collects the comments on Sima Qian and Historical Records from Han Dynasty to Ming Dynasty, as well as the collation of the original text, the explanation of the meaning, the source of materials and the comments on the writing of Historical Records. So it is very helpful for readers to draw inferences from others, like worrying about problems, and is conducive to research and writing articles.
The third is Zhang's Notes on the New Biography of Historical Records. The first feature of this book is that it is early and comprehensive, and it is an earlier concise annotation of the whole book of Historical Records since the founding of New China. It was first published by Sanqin Publishing House on 1990, and later published by other publishing houses for many times. The second characteristic of this book is conciseness. It uses concise and vivid language to dredge the meaning of the original text and explain the sound, meaning, characters, places, official positions, laws and regulations. Generally do not quote, only indicate ambiguity. The third feature of this book is innovation. Based on Zhonghua Book Company, it uses different fonts to distinguish and typeset the original historical records, Chu's supplementary articles and important events after he ascended the throne. In writing, "preface", "explanation" and "brief discussion" are used as the introduction to draw out the author's personal views, comments or theories.