Home > Literature and the Arts > Scholars and Historians > Historians, Ancient: Biographies

Research topic:Ssu-ma Ch'ien

Find more facts and information on our topic page about Ssu-ma Ch'ien

Create a link to this page

Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:

Give this article a thumbs-up on StumbleUpon

Ssu-ma Ch'ien

From: The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition | Date: 2008 | Copyright information

Ssu-ma Ch'ien , 145?-90? BC, Chinese historian; sometimes called the Father of Chinese History. He succeeded his father, Ssu-ma T'an, as grand historian (an office then dealing with astronomy and the calendar) at the court of the Early Han emperor Wu. There he took up a project on history planned by his father and extended it into a history of China and of all regions and peoples known at that time. Incurring the emperor's displeasure, he suffered the punishment of castration. Rejecting the alternative of suicide, he chose to complete this work, the Shih chi [records of the historian]. In 130 chapters, including basic annals of dynasties or rulers, chronological tables, treatises, hereditary houses, and accounts of famous men and foreign lands and peoples, it has served as a model for subsequent Chinese dynastic histories. Its wide range, many-faceted characterizations, and vivid dialogue have won it the admiration of Asian readers for over 2,000 years.

Bibliography: See Records of the Grand Historian of China, tr. by B. Watson (2 vol., 1961, repr. 1969); study by B. Watson (1958).

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

MLA
Chicago
APA

"Ssu-ma Ch'ien." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 5 Dec. 2008 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Ssu-ma Ch'ien." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. (December 5, 2008). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-SsumaChi.html

"Ssu-ma Ch'ien." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Retrieved December 05, 2008 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-SsumaChi.html

Learn more about citation styles

Related newspaper, magazine, and trade journal articles from HighBeam Research

(Including press releases, facts, information, and biographies)

	FATHER'S: THE MOST RESPONSIBLE JOB IN THE WORLD Newspaper article from: La Prensa de San Antonio; 6/15/2003; ; 545 words ; 00-00-0000 The father who does not teach his son his duties is equally...quite the same recognition. I'm talking about our fathers, our dads and papás. This week we celebrate and honor fathers throughout the world. Father's Day began when... Read more
	Sins of he Father INTERVIEW INTERVIEW John Burnside's revealing memoir A Lie About My Father was named Scottish Book Of The Year last week. But, as Alan Taylor discovers, it was fuelled by decades of anger Newspaper article from: The Sunday Herald; 12/3/2006; ; 700+ words ; WHENEVER a child is born so too is a father; the one follows the other as surely as spring does winter. It is, by common consent, a good thing to have a father around. Children with fathers in their lives, for example, tend to do better at school... Read more
	A Good Father (On Father's Day) Newspaper article from: Armenian Reporter, The; 6/13/1998; 547 words ; Armenian Reporter, The 06-13-1998 A Good Father (On Father's Day) Father's Day is celebrated on the third Sunday in June. The idea of celebrating Father's Day was conceived by Mrs... Read more
	The Outsider: A Journey into My Father's Struggle with Madness. Magazine article from: Families, Systems & Health; 12/22/2001; ; 700+ words ; The Outsider: A Journey into My Father's Struggle with Madness By Nathaniel Lachenmeyer...Nathaniel Lachenmeyer narrates a moving account of his father's life and his personal reaction to his father's death in The Outsider. Throughout his book, Lachenmeyer... Read more
	FATHER, HERO, COWARD.(Editorial)(Column) Newspaper article from: The Cincinnati Post (Cincinnati, OH); 6/21/2004; 666 words ; Byline: Mark S. Miller My father, the war hero, abandoned his family...maiden name, Miller. I wanted to deny my father the perpetuation of his name and hoped...brothers would follow suit. As a Marine, my father had been captured at Bataan and suffered... Read more
	What happens to children without father's example? Newspaper article from: Chicago Sun-Times; 6/18/2006; ; 583 words ; My earliest memory of my father, Monroe Anderson, dates back to when...bathing the room. My last memory of my father, alive, was in 1984 at a New Year's...being cleared from the table when my father vanished, returning with a vintage shotgun... Read more
	Father's love and devotion transform sacrifice into joy. Newspaper article from: The Boston Herald; 6/20/1999; ; 665 words ; His father's life, that distant September, was bordered...apartment would ring, the son watched as his father climbed the stairs to push words like malignant...memory of that fall are two moments when his father was called to the phone to say yes to emergency... Read more
	A SON'S LOOK AT HIS FATHER'S JOURNEY.(DAILY BREAK)(Review) Newspaper article from: The Virginian Pilot; 12/5/1999; 603 words ; Byline: MATTHEW JONES THE FATHER AND THE SON MATT MURRAY Harper Collins. 260 pp. $25. WE COUNT on our fathers. They are the tethers on which we first...years old, those assumptions about his father were shaken. A reporter for The Wall Street... Read more
	Father knows best Newspaper article from: New Straits Times; 6/18/2001; ; 700+ words ; ...Ramachandran New Straits Times 06-18-2001 Father knows best Byline: Vasanthi Ramachandran...peeped under the door to see feet - my father's feet. Hardly had the shock set in when...before it had even begun. That was my father. He hardly ever scolded or raised his... Read more
	'Each father shapes the life of a son in a different way.' (interview with psychologist Samuel Osherson) Magazine article from: U.S. News & World Report; 6/16/1986; ; 700+ words ; Each father shapes the life of a son in a different way' There are many types of fathers, and each shapes the life of a son in a different way. There is the angry father whom many men carry around in their psyches well into their 30s and 40s. These... Read more

For more facts and information, see all related premium articles

Related entries from encyclopedias, dictionaries, and thesauruses

	Ssu-ma Ch'ien Encyclopedia entry from: Encyclopedia of World Biography Ssu-ma Ch'ien Ssu-ma Ch'ien (145-ca. 90 B.C.), who has been described...In his capacity as court official, Ssu-ma Ch'ien became involved in political rivalries...Earlier Histories The work produced by Ssu-ma Ch'ien ... Read more
	Ssu-ma Hsiang-ju Encyclopedia entry from: Encyclopedia of World Biography ...court at Ch'ang-an. Of six long poems attributed to Ssu-ma Hsiang-ju, two are probably not authentic. In addition...Shan on Mt. Tai in 110 B.C. His Poetry In his poetry Ssu-ma developed the tradition of the South, which was associated...Ch'u. In developing a form of poetry known as the fu, ... Read more
	Sima Qian Book article from: A Dictionary of World History Sima Qian (or Ssu-ma Ch'ien) ( c. 145–85 BC) Chinese historian, an official at the court of the HAN emperor Wudi. His Historical Records is a history... Read more
	Lao Tzu *Encyclopedia entry from: UXL Encyclopedia of World Biography* ...biography written by the historian Ssu-ma Ch'ien (145 – 86 b.c.e.) in his...Taoism were going around, and Ssu-ma Ch'ien himself was unsure of their authenticity...Way and the Power). According to Ssu-ma Ch'ien, Lao Tzu had been serving ... Read more
	Lao Tzu Book article from: The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition ...founder of Taoism . It is uncertain that Lao Tzu [Ch.,=old person or old philosopher] is historical. His biography in Ssu-ma Ch'ien 's Records of the Historian (1st cent. BC) says he was a contemporary of Confucius and served as curator of the dynastic... Read more