Sima Qian was a historian, essayist and son of Sima Tan in the Western Han Dynasty. He was imprisoned for defending Li Ling's defeat and surrender, and later served as the secretary of the secretariat. He worked hard to complete his own historical records, and was called Shi Qian, Tai Shigong and the father of history by later Buddha.
Sima Qian studied under Kong Anguo and Dong Zhongshu in his early years, roaming around, learning about customs and collecting rumors. As a first-time doctor, he served in the southwest. In the third year of Yuanfeng (108), he was appointed as the Taishiling, inherited his father's business and wrote history.
He created China's first biographical history-Historical Records with his historical knowledge of "studying the relationship between man and nature and understanding the changes of ancient and modern times", which is recognized as a model of China's historical books. This book records the history of more than 3,000 years from the legendary Huangdi period to the first year of the founding of Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty. It is the first of the "Twenty-five History" and is praised by Lu Xun as "the swan song of historians"
Extended data
suggestion
In the second year of Tianhan (99 BC), Sima Qian, while writing historical records wholeheartedly, encountered unexpected troubles, namely the Liling incident.
This summer, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent his favorite younger brother, General Li Guang of the Second Division, to crusade against Xiongnu, and another sent Li Guang's grandson Li Ling to accompany Li Guangli to escort the trench. Li Guang led five thousand foot soldiers out of Juyan, and went deep into Jishan alone, suffering from Khan. Xiongnu besieged Li Ling with 80,000 cavalry. After eight days and nights of fighting, Li Ling killed more than 10,000 Huns, but because he could not get the support of the main force, he ran out of ammunition and was unfortunately captured.
After the news of Li Ling's defeat reached Chang 'an, Emperor Wu hoped that he could die. Later, when I heard that he surrendered, I was furious. The civil and military officials of the Qing Dynasty watched and listened. A few days ago, he praised Li Ling's bravery, and now he echoes Emperor Wu and accuses Li Ling of sin. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty asked the Taishi for Sima Qian's advice. On the one hand, Sima Qian comforted Emperor Wu, on the other hand, he hated those ministers in have it both ways and tried his best to defend Li Ling.
He believes that Li Ling is filial to his mother, loyal to his friends, courteous to people, loyal to soldiers, and always desperate for the country's urgent needs, and has the demeanor of a national scholar. Sima Qian hated ministers who only knew how to protect themselves and their families. Now they see that Li Ling's invasion is unfavorable, so they blindly hit people when they are down and exaggerate the charges.
He said to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty: "Li Ling led only 5,000 infantry, went deep into the Huns, fought alone, and killed many enemies, which made great contributions. Even ancient famous soldiers fought bravely to kill the enemy without reinforcements, exhausted ammunition and no way out. Although Li Ling himself failed, he killed many Huns, which is famous all over the world. The reason why he did not die, but surrendered to the Huns, must be to find a suitable opportunity to repay the Han family. "
Sima Qian seems to mean that Li Guangli, the general of the Second Normal University, failed to fulfill his responsibilities. His outspoken remarks angered Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, who thought he was defending Li Ling, belittled Li Guangli, the younger brother of Li Furen, who returned from the failed expedition, and ordered Sima Qian to be put in prison.
After Sima Qian went to prison, the case fell into the hands of Du Zhou, a notorious cruel official at that time. Du Zhou tortured Sima Qian, and Sima Qian endured all kinds of cruel physical and mental torture. In the face of cruel officials, he never gave in or confessed. Sima Qian kept asking himself in prison: Is this my sin? Is this my sin? I'm a courtier, so I can't express my opinion?
Soon, it was rumored that Li Ling led Xiongnu soldiers to attack the Han Dynasty. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty believed it and killed Li Ling's mother, wife and son in a hurry. Sima Qian was also sentenced to death for this incident. According to the provisions of the criminal law of the Han Dynasty, there are two ways to reduce the death penalty: one is to make amends with 500,000 yuan, and the other is to punish the crime of corruption. Sima Qian's official family was poor, and of course he couldn't afford so much money to atone for it. Corruption not only cruelly destroyed people's body and spirit, but also greatly insulted their personality. Sima Qian certainly didn't want to endure such punishment. He even thought of suicide in grief.
But then he thought that people always die, but "death is heavier than Mount Tai or lighter than a feather", and the meaning of death is different. He felt that if he "died before the law" in this way, it would be as worthless as a hair missing from a cow. He thought of Confucius, Qu Yuan, Zuo Qiuming and Sun Bin, their humiliation and their impressive achievements.
Sima Qian suddenly felt full of strength, and he resolutely chose corruption. In the face of the most cruel punishment, Sima Qian suffered to the extreme, but at this time he had no resentment and fear. He only had one belief, that is, he must live and complete the historical records, so he endured humiliation and lived.
Baidu Encyclopedia-Sima Qian