author
Qian Sima
A pioneering historian of early Han China, he wrote a sweeping account of the past that shaped how Chinese history would be told for centuries. His work blends politics, biography, and storytelling in a way that still feels vivid today.
1 Audiobook
史記
by Qian Sima
About the author
Born around 145 BCE and active during the Han dynasty, Sima Qian is widely remembered as one of the foundational figures of Chinese historical writing. He followed his father, Sima Tan, into court service and later took on the role of Grand Historian, giving him access to records, traditions, and the intellectual life of the imperial court.
His great work, the Shiji—often translated as Records of the Grand Historian—covers more than two thousand years of Chinese history, from legendary rulers to his own time. Rather than writing only a list of events, he organized the book in a rich, flexible way that included biographies, chronicles, and thematic sections, helping turn history into something both informative and deeply human.
Sima Qian's life was marked by hardship as well as achievement, and that struggle is part of what gives his writing its force. Today he is often called the father of Chinese historiography because the Shiji became a model for later historians and remains one of the most influential books in the Chinese tradition.