Records of the Grand Historian: Qin Dynasty by sima qian

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 26,2025

The "basic annals" chapters were tedious. The various biography chapters were quite interesting.

# 18 of 133 on Clifton Fadiman's New Lifetime Reading Plan

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Drpetrinko

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 26,2025

In-depth look into the rulers of Qin and the expansion of the state. If you enjoy ancient chinese history, you've probably heard of Sima Qian. This book starts with an ancient mythological account of the ancestors of the rulers Qin, then continues with the Spring & Autumn, Warring States periods, the unification of China and ends with the disintegration of the Qin empire. The most enjoyable part for me was the biography section, biographies of famous statesmen and generals that helped the state expand. Must read if you're into chinese history.

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bleachsai

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 26,2025

I just couldn't finish this. I'm sure it holds rich delights for students of ancient Chinese history, as recorded by a noted ancient Chinese historian, but I just found it too dry. I did admire the way Sima Qian editorialized on various aspects of Qin history, stepping into the facts and histories and making personal observations, but mostly I just got lost in the names and details, which hit the reader like a tsunami. I would enjoy something that breathed a little more, allowed me to get more intimately acquainted with the players. That's just me. I'm not giving this a star rating because I don't feel right in ascribing value to something that predates me by thousands of years as if I could cast judgment on how it could have been done better. It's just a matter of personal preference.

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Rougeonin

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 26,2025

Not your typical history book.

While most books follow a chronological narrative, Sima Qian tells the story of the early Han Dynasty with a series of biographies of various people who played an important part. Thus, the same event will be told a number of times, from different perspectives.

Also, at the end of most chapters, Sima Qian provides a "moral" (for example, how a person will have many friends at the height of his influence and popularity, but they'll drop like flies after his fortunes decline).

Note: Sima Qian was sentenced to castration by Emperor Wu because he took the side of one of his friends (a general punished for an unsuccessful campaign against the Xiongnu). In those days, most people condemned to castration chose to commit suicide rather than to suffer the indignity. Sima Qian chose to stay alive so that he could finish RECORDS OF THE GRAND HISTORIAN. Sima Qian (who lived during the years that he wrote about), suffered much for this book!

A consequence of this is that Sima Qian is not always able to conceal his bias. Mostly, his criticisms of Emperor Wu's regime are done in the form of subtle satire. For example, a chapter on "reasonable officials" uses people from previous regimes, while the chapter on "harsh officials" uses only people from Emperor Wu's regime.

Because of the breadth of the subject, however, there are a staggering number of difficult (for Westerners) names of people and places to keep track of. On the whole, though, RECORDS OF THE GRAND HISTORIAN is well written (or well-translated), with plenty of our own idioms, making for an enjoyable read.

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modesto_medicino

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 26,2025

All I can say is translation makes a hell lot of difference. I read the original text, of course, because I can. But even most Chinese speakers need translation from that to modern Mandarin and I have seen so many shitty translations riddled with mistakes that skew what it's actually said. The language is particular and precise and the style is unique to that of biography of imperial orders (this book is a collection of biographies) and is composed by one of the greatest historians of all time, so if the translation doesn't reflect that, it's bad. I have seen one version translated into modern Mandarin that's adequate and it's online. Not sure if I can post the link on here. It's a lot easier to learn Mandarin and then read this book than trying to read it in English. There is bound to be a fuckton of things lost in translation, the translator actually does more interpretating than translating, as much work as a re-write.

Thanks for your interest nonetheless, I am deeply touched by the striving intellect.

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hamliet

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 26,2025

All of this was new knowledge for me and, I suspect, it would be for most living in Western cultures. The author, Sima Qian, is the East's Thucydides. The translator, Burton Watson, has a significant fan base. Since I'm motivated to have at least some acquaintance with Eastern history and culture, I found it easy to absorb and enjoy this book. If reading history puts you to sleep, you might have that experience reading this. For all others, I highly recommend this excellent book.

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Psychiezen

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 26,2025

This is the ultimate example of speaking truth to power. Sima Qian - the Grand Historian - stood up to the seventh emperor of the Han dynasty and defended someone he thought had been wronged by the emperor. He did this despite his Records which chronicled how pretty much anyone who crossed emperors ended up dead. Sure enough, emperor Wu sentenced Qian to death, which could be commuted by a large fine or castration. Qian said, "Go ahead an unman me - I've got more history to write." And then he became a palace eunuch rather than take the honorable alternative of committing suicide - all so he could keep writing his (quite good) history.

As for this volume of Records, it's quite a compelling read. No wasted language, fairly unbiased, and insightful into the motives and corruptions of powerful men.

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