Shiji

Shiji
1982 printed edition by the Zhonghua Book Company
AuthorSima Qian
LanguageClassical Chinese
SubjectHistory
Publication date
c. 91 BC
Publication placeChina
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese
Simplified Chinese
Hanyu PinyinShǐjì
Literal meaning"Scribal Records"
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinShǐjì
Wade–GilesShih3-chi4
IPA[ʂɻ̩̀.tɕî]
Wu
RomanizationSy-ci
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationSí-gei
JyutpingSi2-gei3
IPA[si˧˥ kej˧]
Southern Min
Hokkien POJSú-kì
Middle Chinese
Middle Chineseʂí-kì
Old Chinese
Baxter–Sagart (2014)s-rəʔ C.krəʔ-s
Alternative Chinese name
Traditional Chinese太史公書
Hanyu PinyinTàishǐgōng shū
Literal meaning"Book of the Grand Historian"
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinTàishǐgōng shū
Wade–GilesT'ai4-shih3-kung1 shu1
IPA[tʰâɪ.ʂɻ̩̀.kʊ́ŋ ʂú]
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationTaisígōng syū
JyutpingTai3-si2-gong1 syu1
Southern Min
Hokkien POJThài-sú-kong su
Middle Chinese
Middle ChineseTʰài ʂí kuwng sho
Old Chinese
Baxter–Sagart (2014)*l̥ˤat-s s-rəʔ C.qˤung s-ta
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese alphabetSử ký
Chữ Hán史記
Korean name
Hangul사기
Transcriptions
Revised RomanizationSagi
Japanese name
Kanji史記
Transcriptions
RomanizationShiki

The Shiji, often known in English as Records of the Grand Historian or The Grand Scribe's Records, is a Chinese historical text that is the first of the Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. It was written during the late 2nd and early 1st centuries BC by the Han dynasty historian Sima Qian, building upon work begun by his father Sima Tan. The work covers a 2,500-year period from the age of the legendary Yellow Emperor to the reign of Emperor Wu of Han in the author's own time, and describes the world as it was known to the Chinese of the Western Han dynasty.[1]

The Shiji has been called a "foundational text in Chinese civilization".[2] After Confucius and Qin Shi Huang, "Sima Qian was one of the creators of Imperial China, not least because by providing definitive biographies, he virtually created the two earlier figures."[3] The Shiji set the model for all subsequent dynastic histories of China. In contrast to Western historiographical conventions, the Shiji does not treat history as "a continuous, sweeping narrative", but rather breaks it up into smaller, overlapping units dealing with famous leaders, individuals, and major topics of significance.[4]

  1. ^ Nienhauser (2011), pp. 463–464.
  2. ^ Hardy (1999), p. xiii.
  3. ^ Hardy (1999), pp. xiii, 3.
  4. ^ Durrant (1986), p. 689.