The most famous work of the Han Dynasty is Sima Qian's "History". It is the first chronicle of ancient China, which records about 3,000 years of history from the legendary Yellow Emperor to the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and is known as the first of the "Twenty-Four Histories". Why did Sima Qian write the "Records of History"? What difficulties did he encounter in writing the Chronicle of History? How did later generations evaluate the Chronicle of History?
Historical
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="2" > the reason why Sima Qian wrote the Chronicle of History</h1>
During the Western Han Dynasty, the state attached great importance to cultural construction. Sima Qian's father, Sima Tan, served as Taishi Ling during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, in charge of the astronomical calendar and state texts. Under the influence of family style, Sima Qian was diligent and studious from an early age, full of books, and traveled to famous mountains and rivers in his youth, inspecting customs and customs on the spot and collecting historical materials. At that time, his father also thought about completing a work from Xuanyuan down to Han, and made a lot of preparations. Unfortunately, before this idea could be completed, Sima Tan passed away. Therefore, Sima Qian was determined to inherit his father's legacy and write history books.
Sima Qian
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="4" > the bumps encountered in writing the Chronicle of History</h1>
Because of his good foundation, three years after his father's death, Sima Qian was appreciated by Emperor Wu of Han and succeeded taishi ling. After succeeding to the throne, Sima Qian studied historical materials every day and prepared to write the "Records of History". But who knows, a huge disaster has befallen him.
During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu often waged wars. The Han Dynasty general Li Ling asked Emperor Wu of Han for orders and brought 5,000 infantry to collect the Xiongnu. As a result, a group of people were surrounded by the Huns due to their weak power. After that, Li Ling surrendered to the Xiongnu. Emperor Wu of Han was very angry when he found out and put all of Li Ling's family in prison. However, at this time, Sima Qian expressed his belief that Li Ling was forced to surrender. Emperor Wu of Han thought he was defending Li Ling and was even more angry. Therefore, according to the laws of the time, the official was transferred to Sima Qian.
Huns
During this time, Sima Qian's health was seriously damaged, and his spirit was also greatly damaged, and he once wanted to commit suicide. But later, he thought that "people are inherently dead, or heavier than Taishan, or lighter than Hong Mao", his father's will was not completed, how can he easily commit suicide? So he turned his grief into motivation, endured great grief, and wrote more than 520,000 words and more than 130 articles in thirteen years. He recorded the history spanning more than 3,000 years from the Yellow Emperor period to the Han Wudi period, and wrote history and various dissatisfactions with the imperial court into the book, fairly recorded, love and hate, straight book, and had a profound impact on the development of Chinese historiography.
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="8" > later evaluations of the Chronicle of History</h1>
The "History of History" is beautifully written, the characters recorded are vivid, and they also have a lofty position in the history of literature.
After Lu Xun, who has written articles for many years, saw the "History of History", he deeply understood this and commented that "the history of history" is "the best song of historians, the departure of no rhyme".
Lu Xun
Chairman Mao was familiar with the history books all his life and admired the "History of History" even more. In particular, Sima Qian's sentence "Man is inherently dead, or heavier than Mount Tai, or lighter than Hong Mao", chairman Mao often quoted. For example, in the "Serving the People" commemorating Zhang Side, it is written:
People always have to die, but the meaning of death is different. In ancient China, a literary scholar named Sima Qian said: "Man is inherently dead, or heavier than Mount Tai, or lighter than Hong Mao." "To die for the interests of the people is heavier than Tarzan; to die for the fascists, to die for those who exploit and oppress the people, is lighter than the feathers." Comrade Zhang Side died for the interests of the people, and his death was heavier than Taishan.
Sima Qian was imprisoned and tortured, but he persevered in writing historical masterpieces. This tenacious will is worth learning.