太史公自序（上）

Long ago, in the time of Zhuanxu, the Southern Director Chong was appointed to govern the heavens, and the Northern Director Li was appointed to govern the earth. In the age of Yao and Shun, the successors of Chong and Li were commissioned to continue these duties, and through the Xia and Shang dynasties the Chong-Li clan maintained the celestial and terrestrial records in sequence. In the Zhou dynasty, the Duke of Cheng, Xiufu, was their descendant. During King Xuan of Zhou’s reign, the family lost its hereditary office and took the surname Sima. The Sima clan served as hereditary historians of Zhou. Between Kings Hui and Xiang, the Sima family left Zhou and went to Jin. When the Jin Central Army leader Sui Hui fled to Qin, the Sima family entered Shaoliang.

After the Sima family left Zhou for Jin, they scattered — some went to Wei, some to Zhao, some to Qin. Those in Wei served as ministers of Zhongshan. Those in Zhao became famous for their transmission of swordsmanship — Kuai Kui was their descendant. The one in Qin was named Cuo. He debated with Zhang Yi, and King Hui sent Cuo to lead an expedition against Shu, which he conquered and then governed. ... Xi fathered Tan, and Tan became Grand Historian.

The Grand Historian [Sima Tan] studied celestial phenomena under Tang Du, received instruction in the Changes from Yang He, and studied Daoist philosophy under Master Huang. He served during the Jianyuan and Yuanfeng periods. Grieved that scholars failed to comprehend the essential meanings and went astray following false teachers, he composed his essay on the essential principles of the Six Schools:

“The Great Commentary of the Changes says: ‘All-Under-Heaven arrives at the same destination by a hundred different paths of thought; it reaches unity through diverse routes.’ The Yin-Yang school, the Confucians, the Mohists, the Logicians, the Legalists, and the Daoists — all seek to achieve good governance. They simply differ in the paths they take, with varying degrees of insight. ... The Daoist school causes a man to concentrate his spirit and become one, to move in harmony with the formless, and to sustain all things. Its method takes the grand patterns of Yin and Yang, selects the best of Confucianism and Mohism, distills the essentials of the Logicians and Legalists, shifts with the times, adapts to changes in things, and establishes customs and manages affairs with universal applicability. Its principles are concise and easy to follow; its demands are few and its achievements great.”

The Grand Historian [Sima Tan] held the office of Celestial Observer and did not govern the people. He had a son named Qian.

Qian was born at Longmen. He herded cattle and farmed on the sunny side of the hills along the Yellow River. At ten he was already reciting the ancient texts. At twenty he traveled south to the Yangtze and Huai rivers, climbed Mount Kuaiji, explored the Cave of Yu, and peered into the Nine Doubts. He sailed the Yuan and Xiang rivers. Northward he crossed the Wen and Si, studied in the capitals of Qi and Lu, observed the surviving customs of Confucius, and practiced archery ceremonies at Zou and Yi. He suffered hardship at Po, Xue, and Pengcheng, and traveled through Liang and Chu before returning home. He then entered service as a Gentleman of the Interior and was sent west to Ba and Shu and south to Qiong, Zuo, and Kunming, before reporting back.

That year the Emperor first performed the Feng sacrifice of the Han dynasty, but the Grand Historian was detained in the south and unable to participate. He was stricken with grief and on the point of death. His son Qian, returning from a mission, met his father between the Yellow River and the Luo. The Grand Historian took Qian’s hand and wept: “Our ancestors were Grand Historians of the Zhou royal house. From the earliest ages they won distinction in the time of Yu and Xia, maintaining the records of heaven. In later generations the family declined — will it end with me? If you become Grand Historian after me, you will continue what our ancestors began. Now the Emperor carries on a tradition of a thousand years and performs the Feng sacrifice at Mount Tai, yet I could not accompany him. This is fate! This is fate! When I die, you must become Grand Historian. As Grand Historian, do not forget what I wished to set down in writing. ...” Qian bowed his head, weeping: “Your unworthy son lacks talent, but I beg to set forth in full the records our ancestors compiled. I shall not dare to leave gaps.”

The Grand Historian said: “My late father used to say: ‘Five hundred years after the Duke of Zhou died, Confucius appeared. Five hundred years after Confucius died, will there be one who can illuminate our age, correct the tradition of the Changes, continue the Spring and Autumn Annals, and ground it in the Odes, Documents, Ritual, and Music?’ He meant this as my charge! He meant this as my charge! How dare I, a mere son, refuse?”

... The Senior Grand Master Hu Sui asked: “In Confucius’s time there was no enlightened sovereign above, and below he could not gain employment. Therefore he composed the Spring and Autumn Annals, bequeathing an empty text to adjudicate ritual and right, as the standard of a true king. Now you serve an enlightened Son of Heaven above and hold your hereditary office below. All things are properly arranged — what do you intend to illuminate with your work?”

The Grand Historian replied: “... Moreover, I once held this office. To fail to record the brilliant virtue of a sage and glorious sovereign, to neglect to transmit the deeds of meritorious ministers, hereditary houses, and worthy statesmen, to let fall what my father wished to say — no crime could be greater. What I call ‘recounting past events and arranging their transmission’ is not what is called ‘creating’ — and for you to compare it to the Spring and Autumn Annals is mistaken.”

And so he began ordering and arranging his text. In the seventh year, the Grand Historian suffered the calamity of the Li Ling affair and was confined in prison. He sighed deeply and said: “This is my punishment! This is my punishment! My body is ruined and I am of no further use.” He withdrew into deep reflection and said: “The reason the Odes and Documents are written with hidden and compressed meaning is that their authors wished to work out the fullness of their thought through their anguish. Long ago, the Lord of the West was imprisoned at Youli and expanded the Zhou Changes. Confucius was besieged between Chen and Cai, and he composed the Spring and Autumn Annals. Qu Yuan was exiled and wrote the Encountering Sorrow. Zuo Qiu lost his sight, and only then produced the Discourses of the States. Sun Bin had his feet cut off, and only then set down the Art of War. Lü Buwei was banished to Shu, and his Collected Surveys was transmitted to later ages. Han Feizi was imprisoned in Qin, and he wrote ‘The Difficulties of Persuasion’ and ‘The Solitary Man’s Indignation.’ The three hundred poems of the Book of Odes were, broadly speaking, all written by sages and worthies working through their anguish. All these men had something knotted in their hearts that they could not resolve. Unable to achieve their Way, they recounted the past and thought of those who would come after.” And so he completed his account from the age of Tao-Tang down to the capture of the unicorn, beginning with the Yellow Emperor.