Tao Te Ching
Sima Qian 司馬遷
(Ssu-ma Ch'ien)
145 – 86 BCE
Father of Chinese historians
Father of Chinese historians, Court Astrologer, and and for centuries considered author of the greatest history book ever written; Sima Qian—although imprisoned, castrated, and enslaved—managed to write a monumental and innovative history of China including a series of biographies that went back more than 2000 years. His writings and writing style had a deep influence on Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and Vietnamese cultures. Sorting through myth and imagination, he went beyond the tradition of only writing about the emperors and generals, used more than 75 books to cross-check for accuracy, refused to include information he couldn’t verify, and traveled extensively interviewing people about their personal experience of events. He wrote the earliest known biography of Lao Tzu.
Lineages
Confucian Historians / Journalists
Eras
Chinese
Western Han (206 BCE – 9 CE)Sources
Shiji, Records of the Grand Historian, 太史公書
Unlisted Sources
Quotes by Sima Qian (13 quotes)
“When you see the jailer you abjectly touch the ground with your forehead. At the mere sight of his underlings you are seized with terror... Such ignominy can never be wiped away.”
from Shiji, Records of the Grand Historian, 太史公書
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“I have examined the deeds and events of the past and investigated the principles behind their success and failure, their rise and decay. I wished to examine into all that concerns heaven and man, to penetrate the changes of the past and present, completing all as the work of one family.”
from Shiji, Records of the Grand Historian, 太史公書
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“If my work may be handed down to men who will appreciate it, then though I should suffer a thousand mutilations, what regret should I have?”
from Shiji, Records of the Grand Historian, 太史公書
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“The skillful employer will employ the wise, the brave, the covetous, and the stupid because the wise delight in establishing merit, the brave in showing their courage in action, the covetous in seizing advantages, and the stupid in having no fear of death.”
from Shiji, Records of the Grand Historian, 太史公書
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“Though bitter, good medicine cures illness. Though it may hurt, loyal criticism will have beneficial effects.”
from Shiji, Records of the Grand Historian, 太史公書
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“If we may find anything that approaches permanence in the midst of change, it is the lasting power of goodness. Evil destroys the doer, but good endures.”
from Shiji, Records of the Grand Historian, 太史公書
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“It is the function of the historian to prolong the memory of goodness by preserving its record for all ages to see.”
from Shiji, Records of the Grand Historian, 太史公書
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“As for the ceremonies of bowing and giving way, people still observed them, yet how contrary to them were all their actions!”
from Shiji, Records of the Grand Historian, 太史公書
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“He who exposes the faults of others endangers himself.”
from Shiji, Records of the Grand Historian, 太史公書
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“The world has known innumerable princes and worthies who enjoyed fame and honor in their day but were forgotten after death, while Confucius, a commoner, has been looked up to by scholars for ten generations and more. From the emperor, princes and barons downwards, all in China who study the Six Arts take the master as their final authority. Well is he called the Supreme Sage!”
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“This is in The Art of War, however, you gentlemen did not notice it. Doesn’t The Art of War say ‘They will survive after being trapped in a fatal situation and will live on after being placed in a hopeless position?' Furthermore, I do not have well-trained officers. The circumstances were that I had to put them in a fatal situation and made every person fight for his life. If I had put them in a safe situation, they would have had already run away. How could they have been held and employed?”
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“There is no fixed road to wealth, and money has no permanent master.”
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“Sun Tzu said, 'The king only loves the words, he cannot make use of the reality.' After this, Ho-lu knew that Sun Tzu could command troops and in the end appointed him commander.”
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Quotes about Sima Qian (2 quotes)
“Ssu-ma Ch'ien's many-volumed history of China established the frame within which Chinese history continued to be written almost to the present day. Ssu-ma Ch'ien accepted and made canonical the theory that each dynasty began with an especially virtuous ruler and then gradually dissipated that virtue until Heaven lost patience and substituted a new dynasty in its place.”
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“[Sim Qian] authored along with his father—Sima Tan—the first comprehensive history of China. His biography of Lao Tzu constitutes the earliest known record of the Taoist patriarch.”
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