THE FIRST EMPEROR
SIMA QIAN’S Historical Records (Shiji), from which this selection is taken, is the most famous Chinese historical work, which not only established a pattern for later Chinese historical writing, but was also much admired for its literary qualities, not only in China, but also in Japan, where it became available as early as the eighth century AD. The work is vast and complex, and to appreciate its nature it is necessary to make a selection of passages concerning a particular period. To this end the short-lived Qin Dynasty, which unified China in the late third century BC, has been chosen for this translation as a key historical period which well illustrates Sima’s method. Sima himself lived from 145 BC to about 86 BC. He inherited the post of Grand Historiographer from his father, and was so determined to complete his work that he suffered the penalty of castration rather than the more honourable alternative of death when he fell foul of the Emperor.
RAYMOND DAWSON was an Emeritus Fellow of Wadham College, Oxford. He was Editor of The Legacy of China (1964) and his other publications include The Chinese Chameleon: An Analysis of European Conceptions of Chinese Civilization (1967), Imperial China (1972), The Chinese Experience (1978), Confucius (1982), A New Introduction to Classical Chinese (1984), and the Analects (Oxford World’s Classics, 1993).
K. E. BRASHIER is Associate Professor of Religion (Chinese) and Humanities (Chinese) at Reed College.