Sima Qian: A True Historian?

Abstract

This essay seeks to argue the merits of one approach to reading theShiji, which casts the complex text more as a product of contemporary religious beliefs than as the product of either thetaishi's individual genius or desire for historical objectivity. By the religious reading, Sima Qian fulfilled some part of his filial obligations when he honored his father's dying wish to “continue our ancestors” by bringing together the tales they had gathered. Equally importantly, insofar as Sima Qian had restored to life an array of remarkable men and women from the Central States, he lived in the pious hope that these especially potent spirits among the civilized dead would choose in return to confer benefits on Sima Qian and his family as long as theShijicontinued to be read. When compared with the more standard readings, this proposed reading strikes the author not only as less anachronistic for the period,but also as more fully reflective of the whole text, including the eloquent appraisals appended to the end of each chapter in the Basic Annals, Hereditary Houses, and Biographical Traditions sections.