The book, presents a broad and simple overview about the life of Si Ma Qian (司马迁), the Grand Historian (太史) from the imperial court of China's Han Dynasty (汉朝), the second (and longest) imperial dynasty of China. Si Ma Qian's acclaimed book, Records of the Grand Historian 《史记》is a very important piece of literary work. As such, the treatise presents a monumental history of ancient China.
Si Ma Qian (139 BC - 86 BC) was a Chinese historian and essayist of the Western Han Dynasty (西汉). He is widely regarded as the father of Chinese historiography for his acclaimed treatise Records of the Grand Historian《史记》. Si Ma Qian was the son of Si Ma Tan (司马谈), the grand historian (太史公) in the Han imperial court. In his early years, Si Ma Qian travelled across China to learn about the ancient customs and traditions. He was a bright student and could read the ancient scriptures by the age of 10. Later, he inherited his father's occupation (太史公) and wrote the history. In the later years, Si Ma Qian was sentenced for his defense of Li Ling's defeat against the northern barbarian tribe, the Xiongnu (匈奴). Si Ma Qian was castrated and imprisoned. After serving the sentence, he served as a clerk in the imperial court. Subsequently, he worked diligently to continue to complete the Records of the Grand Historian, the first historical biography of the Chronicles in China. The treatise, made of 130 Chapters, describes the historical events starting from the ancient legend of the Yellow Emperor period until his present time in the Han Dynasty. No wonder, Si Ma Qian is also known as the father of history.
The book, Chinese History 6, a Chinese reading practice book, presents a broad and simple overview about the life and legacies of Si Ma Qian. The volume, 16th in the Mandarin Chinese Reading Series, includes both the Chinese text (simplified characters) and pinyin. With about 900 unique Chinese characters, the volume would be suitable for the beginners, lower intermediate and advanced level Chinese language learners (HSK 1-6). Overall, the Mandarin Chinese Reading Series offers you a variety of elementary level books (Level 1/2/3) to learn Chinese culture as well as practice Chinese reading fast.
The book has 10 chapters in the following order:
Chapter 1: Basic facts about Si Ma Qian (第一章:关于司马迁的基本事实)
Chapter 2: Summary of Si Ma Qian's Life (第二章:司马迁的生活总结)
Chapter 3: Young Si Ma Qian (第三章:年轻的司马迁)
Chapter 4: The Grand Historian (第四章:太史)
Chapter 5: The Unfortunate Li Ling Incident (第五章:不幸的李陵事件)
Chapter 6: The Death of Si Ma Qian (第六章:司马迁之死)
Chapter 7: Descendants of Si Ma Qian (第七章:司马迁的后裔)
Chapter 8: Records of the Grand Historian: Si Ma Qian's Historical Biographical Work (第八章:史记: 司马迁著纪传体历史著作)
Chapter 9: Si Ma Qian's Writing Style (第九章:司马迁的写作风格)
Chapter 10: A Great Literary Figure (第十章:伟大的文学人物)
