The Zizhi Tongjian is the largest chronicle in China, with a total of 294 volumes, throughout the ancient and modern, originating from the three families of Han, Zhao and Wei in the early Warring States period (403 BC), ending in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, Zhao Kuangyin after the fall of Zhou, and it was Sima Guang who compiled this history of more than 1300 years.
About Sima Guang, most of them stayed in the childhood "smashing cylinders to save people", Sima Guang was born in the third year of Emperor Zhenzong of Song (1019), his father Sima Chi was the county commander of Gwangju, named Guang, when he was six years old, Sima Chi began to teach Sima Guang to read, Sima Guang was also very studious, and very sensible, deeply loved by his father.
Sima Chi would take Sima Guang with him every time he traveled or talked with his staff, and under this kind of hearing and hearing, Sima Guang was "as awe-inspiring as an adult" in both learning and insight, and at the age of seven, Sima Guang could recite "Zuo Shi Chunqiu" and explain the meaning of the book.
Once, Sima Guang was studying in the backyard, a child climbed on the water tank and unfortunately fell, the child who fell into the water tank shouted for help, the children around the edge of the water tank saw that something was wrong, one by one panicked, all left him and left, Sima Guang heard it, he was in a hurry, picked up a stone from the ground, and smashed it into the water tank.
Although Sima Guang thought the same as adults, but always a 7-year-old child, the strength is not very large, he smashed more than a dozen water tanks before cracking, successfully rescued the people who fell into the water, Sima Guang's smashing cylinder to save people as soon as the incident came out, it was also a sensation in Jingluo, that is, Henan.
For this story, everyone must be familiar with it, in fact, in the "History of Song", there are few records of smashing the cylinder to save people, only a few words, the real spread of Sima Guang's smashing of the cylinder is the modern period, in order to praise the spirit of Sima Guang was compiled into primary school language textbooks, this spirit is indeed worth learning.
However, whether it is a language teacher or a "History of Song", there is little record of the child rescued by Sima Guang, in fact, the identity of this rescued child is not simple, in the song Dynasty's official law, there is a strict division between officials, small officials are generally difficult to be officials, and ordinary people cannot enter and leave the official residence at will.
This child's name is Shangguan Shangguang, there are few historical records, but it is also the home of the official eunuchs, which can also be explained, why Shangguan Shangguang appeared in the backyard of Sima Guang's family, Shangguan Shangguang moved to the south slope of the Longdi in the west of the city after he became an adult, and built a pavilion called "Thanksgiving Pavilion" to repay Sima Guang's life-saving grace.
However, Shangguan Shangguang did not appear in the official history, only the genealogy of the Shangguan family is recorded, historians speculate that after the Shangguan family moved, there was little contact with the Sima family, and after Sima Chi's death, Pang Yuan, who had served as the deputy prime minister, took Sima Guang with him and cultivated him as a son.
In the first year of Baoyuan (1038), Sima Guang was twenty years old, and in one fell swoop, he entered Shilin, he served as a judge in Shaanxi, and he made a good friend, Shi Changyan, and Pang Also also appreciated Sima Guang, in 1041, Sima Chi died of illness, and Sima Guang returned to his hometown to mourn.
During the three years of mourning, Sima Guang learned about the living conditions of the lower classes, and at the same time wrote dozens of expositions such as "TheOry of Machine Power", "Theory of Talent and Virtue", and "Theory of Honesty", but due to opposing Wang Anshi's change of law, he chose to leave the imperial court and began to write the "Zizhi Tongjian".
Regarding Sima Guang's great achievements in the main history, there is little mention of smashing the cylinder, because we are learning the spirit of Sima Guang, rather than insisting on smashing the cylinder.