Synopses & Reviews
This second volume of the ongoing annotated translation of Ssu-ma Ch'ien's Shih chi (The Grand Scribe's Records), widely acknowledged as the most important early Chinese history, contains the "basic annals" of five early Han-dynasty emperors. The annals trace the first century of Han rule (206 b.c. to ca. 100 b.c.) in a year-by-year account that focuses on imperial activities. In these later annals, Ssu-ma Ch'ien revitalized the style he had employed in accounts of previous rulers in the opening chapters of The Grand Scribe's Records. When this translation is completed, it will make available in English all 130 chapters of the Shih chi. Volumes 1 and 7 were published by Indiana University Press in 1994.
About the Author
Ssu-ma Ch'ien (145-ca. 86 B.C.), China's greatest historian and an important official in the Han dynasty, compiled the history of his culture from its beginnings through the end of the second century B.C.
William H. Nienhauser, Jr., editor and co-translator, is Halls-Bascom Professor of Classical Chinese Literature at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. In 1979 he helped found the journal Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews (CLEAR) and has edited it since. He has published a number of articles and books on traditional Chinese literature, including The Indiana Companion to Traditional Chinese Literature (two volumes, Indiana University Press, 1985; 1998)
Table of Contents
Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction
On Using This Book
Weights and Measures
List of Abbreviations
The Exalted Emperor, Basic Annals 8
Empress Dowager Lü, Basic Annals 9
The Filial and Cultured [Emperor], Basic Annals 10
The Filial and Luminous [Emperor], Basic Annals 11
The Filial and Martial [Emperor], Basic Annals 12
Frequently Mentioned Commentators
Biographical Sketches of Shih chi Commentators
Glossary
Shih chi Chi-chieh Preface
Ssu-k'u ch'üan-shu Resumes on Shih chi and Shih chi Chi-chieh
Recent Studies of the Shi chi
Index
Maps