Literature and History in the Shi ji of Sima Qian

This volume is a translated and edited collection of studies on the Shi ji (Records of the historian) by Sima Qian, authored by the prestigious Japanese sinologist Miyazaki Ichisada. Providing a pathbreaking analysis of the structure and formation of the Shi ji, it serves not only as an excellent introduction to Sima Qian’s masterpiece but also offers historiographical and methodological insights that will stimulate further debate and research.

In this volume, Miyazaki presents fascinating evidence of the influence of narrative fiction and drama in Sima Qian’s recreation of the entire length and breadth of Chinese history right up to his own time. By establishing a foundational model for writing comprehensive histories in China, Sima Qian’s work is essential for understanding the subsequent tradition of historical writing. This volume offers readers valuable insights into how Sima Qian constructed his seminal work.

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A monument of Japanese scholarship on the Shi ji, Prof. Miyazaki Ichisada’s work is the result of decades of meticulous research and original analysis by one of the giants of modern Japanese Sinology. Presented for the first time to readers of English through Prof. Joshua A. Fogel’s fine and learned translation, the essays collected in this book not only provide compelling testimony to the groundbreaking quality of modern Japanese scholarship on the Shi ji but also offer a magisterial contribution to the growing body of new studies in English on Sima Qian’s work as both history and literature.

This translation of Prof. Miyazaki Ichisada’s essays on the Shi ji is one of the most important studies of that history, while also providing insights into Japanese Sinology of the late 20th century. He goes beyond modern Chinese and Western approaches to the Shi ji under the aegis of his theories about the rise of city states and the appearance of free men, arguing as that for Sima Qian the idea of a free man who dared to express himself regardless of the consequences was a personal ideal that shaped his view of his predecessors and their history.

Miyazaki Ichisada, a required reading in graduate school, is a pleasure to meet again through his enlightening essays on the Shi ji, which draws attention to several neglected features of China’s greatest history: its innovative format, its likely inspiration from oral traditions of urban performance, and its cross-cultural significance. This translation of Miyazaki’s work is bound to intrigue those new to the China field as well as seasoned professionals.