The Grand Scribe's Records, Volume VII

Ssu-Ma Ch'Ien

Description

This volume is part of the first complete translation (in nine volumes) of the Shih chi (The Grand Scribe's Records), one of the most important narratives in traditional China. Compiled by Ssu-ma Ch'ien (145-c. 86 B.C.), it draws upon most major early historical works and was the foremost model for style and genre in Chinese history and literature through the eleventh century A. D., and through the early twentieth century for some genres.

Volume 7, The Memoirs of Pre_Han China, translates twenty-eight Lieh-chuan or "memoirs" which depict more than a hundred men and women: sages and scholars, recluses and rhetoricians, persuaders and politicians, commandants and cutthroats of the Ch'in and earlier dynasties. Although the memoirs also begin with what is now often considered myth—an account of the renowned recluses Po Yi and Shu Ch'i—the emphasis in these texts is on the fate of various states and power centers as seen through the biographies of key individuals from the seventh to the third centuries B. C.

Dedication
Acknowledgements
Introduction
On Using This Book
A Note on Chronology
Weights and Measures
List of Abbreviations

Po Yi, Memoir
Kuan Yi-wu and Yen Ying, Memoir
Lao Tzu and Han Fei, Memoir
Marshal Jang-chu, Memoir
Sun Tzu and Wu Ch'i, Memoir
Wu Tzu Hsu, Memoir
Confiucius's Disciples, Memoir
The Lord of Shang, Memoir
Su Ch'in, Memoir
Chang Yi, Memoir
Shu-li Tzu and Kan Mao, Memoir
The Marquis of Jang, Memoir
Pai Ch'i and Wang Chien, Memoir
Meng Tzu and Excellency Hsun, Memoir
The Lord of Meng-ch'ang, Memoir
The Lord of P'ing-yuan and Excellency Yu, Memoir
The Noble Scion of Wei, Memoir
The Lord of Ch'un-shen, Memoir
Fan Sui and Ts'ai Tse, Memoir
Yueh Yi, Memoir
Lien P'o and Lin Hsiang-ju, Memoir
T'ien Tan, Memoir
Lu Chung Lien and Tsou Yang, Memoir
Ch'u Yuan and Scholar Chia, Memoir
Lu Pu-wei, Memoir
The Assassin-Retainers, Memoir
Li Ssu, Memoir
Meng T'ien, Memoir

Bibliography
Index
Maps

Sujets

• Asian Studies
• HISTORY
• Histoire
• East Asia
• Literature
• History of Asia
• Chinese
• Asian
• Asia
• Classics
• China

Informations

• Publié par: Indiana University Press
• Date de parution: 09 mars 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780253049179
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 16 Mo

Extrait

The Grand Scribe’s Records

REVISED VOLUME VII

The Memoirs of Pre-Han China




The Grand Scribe’s Records

REVISED VOLUME VII

The Memoirs of Pre-Han China

by Ssu-ma Ch’ien

William H. Nienhauser, Jr.
Editor

Yixuan Cai, Weiguo Cao, Hans van Ess, Hongyu Huang, Masha Kobzeva,
Béatrice l’Haridon, William H. Nienhauser, Jr., Marc Nürnberger, Thomas D. Noel,
Jakob Pöllath, Josiah Stork, Zheyu Su, Mei Ah Tan, Ji Wang, Christine Welch,
Guimei Wu, Zhenjun Zhang, Tingting Zhou, Yaqiong Zhuang, Xin Zou
Translators






INDIANA UNIVERSITY PRESS
NANJING UNIVERSITY PRESS

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© 1994 by William H. Nienhauser, Jr.
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Originally cataloged by the Library of Congress as First printing 2021Manufactured in the United States of America

Ssu-ma Ch’ien, ca. 145–ca. 86 BC Originally cataloged by the Library of Congress as
[Shih chi. English]
The grand scribe’s records / Ssu-ma Ch’ien ; William H. Ssu-ma Ch’ien, ca. 145–ca. 86 BC
Nienhauser, Jr., edito[Shir; Yh icxuan hi. EnglCaii s. . . [h] et al.], translators.
p. cm. The grand scribe’s records / Ssu-ma Ch’ien ; William H.
NienhausIncleudesr, Jr., e biblditoiogrr; aphiYixuan cal rCefaier . . . [ences e tan ald .], tindex.ransl ators.
Contents: v. 7. The pm. cem m oi. rs of pre-Han china
ISBN 0–253–34021–7 Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. China—HCisonttoernty—s: Tv. o 221 7. The BCm 2.em Coihi rsna of— prHeis-Htoan ry—chi Chna ’ in dynasty,
221–207 BC. 3. China—History—Han dynasty 202 BC–220 CE ISBN 0–253–34021–7
I. Nienhauser, William H. II. Cheng, Tsai Fa. III. Title. 1. China—History—To 221 BC 2. China—History—Ch’in dynasty,
221–207 BC. 3. ChinaD—S741.Histo3.rS y6813 —Han 1994dynas ty 202 BC–220 CE
I. Nienh931aus—er, Wdc20illia m H. I I. Cheng, T094sa-i F18408a. II I. Title.
DS741.3.S6813 1994 ISBN 978-0-253-03855-5
931—dc20 094-18408 1 2 3 4 5 23 22 21 20 19 18
IISBN 978-0-253-04326-9 (hdbk.)SBN 978-0- 253-03855-5
ISBN 978-0-253-04917-9 (web PDF)1 2 3 4 5 23 22 21 20 19 18


CONTENTS
Dedication vii
Note on the Newly Revised Edition ix
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction xv
On Using This Book xxiii
A Note on Chronology xxvii
Warring States Reign Periods xxxv
Weights and Measures xxxix
List of Abbreviations lv
Po Yi, Memoir 1, revised by William H. Nienhauser, Jr. 1
Kuan Chung and Yan Ying, Memoir 2, revised by William H. Nienhauser, Jr. 19
Lao-tzu and Han Fei, Memoir 3, revised by Hans van Ess 39
Marshall Jang-chü, Memoir 4, revised by Thomas Donnelly Noel 59
Sun-tzu and Wu-ch’i, Memoir 5, revised by Ji Wang 69
Wu Tzu Hsü, Memoir 6, revised by Zhenjun Zhang 91
Confucius’ Disciples, Memoir 7, revised by Zheyu Su 113
The Lord of Shang, Memoir 8, revised by Hans van Ess 155
Su Ch’in, Memoir, 9, revised by Marc Nürnberger 173
Chang Yi, Memoir 10, revised by Marc Nürnberger 219
Shu-lu Tzu and Kan Mao, Memoir 11, revised by Weiguo Cao 257
The Marquis of Jang, Memoir 12, revised by Jakob Pöllath 287
Pai Ch’i and Wang Chien, Memoir 13, revised by Tingting Zhou, Yaqiong Zhuang
and Guimei Wu 305
Mencius and Excellency Hsün, Memoir 14, revised by Hans van Ess 329
The Lord of Meng-ch’ang, Memoir 15, revised by Béatrice l’Haridon 345
The Lord of P’ing-yüan and Excellency Yü, Memoir 16, revised by Masha Kobzeva 367
The Noble Scion of Wei, Memoir 17, revised by Kevin Huang 387
The Lord of Ch’un-shen, Memoir 18, revised by Tingting Zhou 401
Fan Sui and Ts’ai Tse, Memoir 19, revised by William H. Nienhauser, Jr. 419
Yüeh Yi, Memoir 20, revised by Yixuan Cai 459
Lien P’o and Lin Hsiang-ju, Memoir 21, revised by Hongyu Huang 477
T’ien Tan, Memoir 22, revised by Mei Ah Tan 503
Lu Chung Lien and Tsou Yang, Memoir 23, revised by Hongyu Huang 519
Ch’ü Yüan and Scholar Chia, Memoir 24, revised by Christine Welch 543
Lü Pu-wei, Memoir 25, revised by Josiah J. Stork 575
The Assassin-Retainers, Memoir 26, revised by William H. Nienhauser, Jr. 593
Li Su, Memoir 27, revised by Xin Zou 631
Meng T’ien, Memoir 28, revised by Ji Wang 671
Bibliography 687
Index 695




For Elling O. Eide





NOTE ON THE NEWLY REVISED EDITION

A real translation is transparent, it does not cover the original,
does not block its light, but allow the pure language . . . to shine
upon the original all the more fully. This may be achieved,
above all, by a literal rendering of the syntax which proves
words rather than sentences to be the primary element of the
translator. For if the sentence is the wall before the language of
the original, literalness is the arcade
—Walter Benjamin, “The Task of the Translator”

In this age of plagiaristic discoveries it is a pleasure to republish one’s own work—
or rather a book of one’s colleagues and friends. Like Volume I of the Grand Scribe’s
Records, this volume was first completed and published in the early 1990s. Although
all four of the original translating group—Chao Ming Chan, Tsai-fa Cheng, Zongli Lu,
Robert Reynolds, and myself—translated and revised these chapters, more chapters
came from the work of Robert Reynolds and Chao Ming Chan than the rest of us.
Following the attempt to update and correct the texts and notes in that first volume,
twenty colleagues and I have undertaken a revision of texts, notes, and the translator’s
notes for these twenty-eight chapters. I am grateful that so many of my students, former
students, and colleagues have readily responded to the call.
Many of the chapters in this volume are centered on the history of the state of
Ch’in and those who helped to shape its history. Much of the Shih chi is about two
wars—that between the generals of Emperor Wu of the Han and the neighboring
peoples as portrayed in chapters 108–123 and that between the Ch’in and the Six States
which is depicted both in the hereditary houses 42–46 and again in many of the memoirs
herein.
The reader does not have to read far into this section of the Grand Scribe’s
Records—the lieh-chuan or “arranged traditions”–to realize that these chapters are not
biographies in the modern sense of the term. Yet when it becomes apparent that the first
chapter, “Po Yi lieh-chuan,” is more a statement of whom Ssu-ma Ch’ien would include
in these lieh-chuan, and that the second chapter, “Kuan, Yen lieh-chuan,” is an essay
on two opposing lifestyles, it would seem that our choice of “memoir” to translate
liehchuan was not misguided. The lieh-chuan are literally “arranged traditions” or
“arranged narratives,” but the key to understanding Ssu-ma Ch’ien’s intent in these
chapters is to decipher what the “arrangement” signified.
So much recent attention has been given to the text of the Shih chi, that it
sometimes seems Sima Qian remains in the shadow of his great work. Ssu-ma Ch’i