Table of Contents
What did Sima Tan do?
165–110 BCE) was a Chinese astrologer and historian during the Western Han dynasty. His work Records of the Grand Historian was completed by his son Sima Qian, who is considered the founder of Chinese historiography.
What major cities did Zhang Qian travel through?
In 119 B.C., with 300 men, 10,000 sheep, extra mounts and quantities of gold and silk, Zhang Qian set off on his second trip. Attempted to seek alliance with Wu-sun people, Zhang Qian traveled Dunhuang, Loulan, Kucha, then the capital of Wu-sun kingdom in the Ili River.
What is true of the terra-cotta figures found in the emperor’s tomb?
What is true of the terra-cotta figures found in the emperors tomb? More than 6,000 figures were found. After the emperor of Qin died? Rebellions broke out.
What is Sima Qian’s approach to writing history?
Sima Qian did not attempt to compose “objective” history but rather belonged unmistakably to the didactic Chinese tradition of history. He makes moral judgments on his characters. He also attempts to characterize them in types, recording an individual’s exemplary deeds in one chapter and his misdeeds elsewhere.
Did Sima Qian prefer the Laozi to the Confucian classics?
Note also that Fayan, 7.19, and HS 62.2738 both accuse Sima Qian of preferring the Laozi to the “Confucian” classics. 7. According to HS 62.2732, Emperor Wu kept Sima Qian’s father “for sport and amusement, treating him the same as the musicians and jesters.”
What is Sima Qian famous for?
Sima Qian, Wade-Giles romanization Ssu-ma Ch’ien, (born c. 145 bce, Longmen, Xiayang [now Hancheng, Shaanxi province], China—died c. 87 bce ), astronomer, calendar expert, and the first great Chinese historian.
Is Chunqiu the work of Confucius?
One such work, the Chunqiu (“Spring and Autumn [Annals]”) of the petty state of Lu, was said to have been the work of Confucius. It had achieved status as a canonical book largely because of its ethical judgments on the events that it recounts. Sima Qian denied that his work was in any way comparable to this great Classic.