Reading Sima Qian From Han to Song : The Father of History in Pre-Modern China

La 4e de couverture indique : "In Father of Chinese History, Esther Klein explores the life and work of the great Han dynasty historian Sima Qian as seen by readers from the Han to the Song dynasties. Today Sima Qian is viewed as both a tragic hero and a literary genius. Premodern responses to him were more equivocal: the complex personal emotions he expressed prompted readers to worry about whether his work as a historian was morally or politically acceptable. Klein demonstrates how controversies over the value and meaning of Sima Qian's work are intimately bound up with larger questions: How should history be written? What role does individual experience and self-expression play within that process? By what standards can the historian's choices be judged?" Contents 6 Acknowledgements 8 List of Tables 10 List of Abbreviations 11 Introduction 14 Structure of the Book 19 Historians, Lineages, and Confucian Scholars: Good Problems in Translation 23 Part 1 34 Contextualization 34 Chapter 1 36 A Record of Doubts and Difficulties 36 Overview 37 Sources and Attribution 39 Who is the Honorable Senior Historian? 44 Autobiography and Authenticity 54 Chu Shaosun: a Third Author? 67 Extreme Textual Damage and Loss 80 A Conclusion Leading Onward 88 Chapter 2 90 Sima Qian’s Place in the Textual World 90 Aspects of Self-Description 91 Early Views of the Shiji 104 The New Historical Tradition 117 Sima Qian in the Realm of Literary Prose 132 Part 2 160 Autobiographical Readings 160 Chapter 3 162 Subtle Writing and Piercing Satire 162 Sources for Sima Qian’s Biography 163 Early Autobiographical Readings 176 Six Dynasties Developments 192 Autobiographical Readings in the Tang 203 Chapter 4 219 Creating and Critiquing a Sima Qian Romance 219 A Reversal of Verdicts 220 Su Shi’s Gentlemen and the Shiji 224 Blaming Emperor Wu 245 Backlash: Three Southern Song Critiques 257 Part 3 270 Reading Truth in the Shiji 270 Chapter 5 272 A “True Record” 272 On the Term “True Record” 274 Issues of Historical Truth in the Shiji: Early Views 292 Against “Defamatory Text” Readings 308 Dangers of “Straight Writing”in the Tang 314 Song Dynasty Developments 327 Chapter 6 346 Finding Truths in the Shiji’s Form 346 The Overall Form of the Shiji 348 Intention and Invention in the Shiji’s Five Sections 372 Conclusion 406 Bibliography 414 Index 439 "In Father of Chinese History, Esther Klein explores the life and work of the great Han dynasty historian Sima Qian as seen by readers from the Han to the Song dynasties. Today Sima Qian is viewed as both a tragic hero and a literary genius. Premodern responses to him were more equivocal: the complex personal emotions he expressed prompted readers to worry about whether his work as a historian was morally or politically acceptable. Klein demonstrates how controversies over the value and meaning of Sima Qian's work are intimately bound up with larger questions: How should history be written? What role does individual experience and self-expression play within that process? By what standards can the historian's choices be judged?"-- Provided by publisher In Father of Chinese History , Esther Klein explores the life and work of the great Han dynasty historian Sima Qian as seen by readers from the Han to the Song dynasties (100 BCE-1200 CE).