Shiji

Shiji

1982 printed edition by the Zhonghua Book Company
Author	Sima Qian
Language	Classical Chinese
Subject	History
Publication date	c. 91 BC
Publication place	China
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	史記
Simplified Chinese	史记
Hanyu Pinyin	Shǐjì
Literal meaning	"Scribal Records"
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Shǐjì Wade–Giles Shih3-chi4 IPA [ʂɻ̩̀.tɕî] Wu Romanization Sy-ci Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Sí-gei Jyutping Si2-gei3 IPA [si˧˥ kej˧] Southern Min Hokkien POJ Sú-kì Middle Chinese Middle Chinese ʂí-kì Old Chinese Baxter–Sagart (2014) s-rəʔ C.krəʔ-s
Alternative Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	太史公書
Hanyu Pinyin	Tàishǐgōng shū
Literal meaning	"Book of the Grand Historian"
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Tàishǐgōng shū Wade–Giles T'ai4-shih3-kung1 shu1 IPA [tʰâɪ.ʂɻ̩̀.kʊ́ŋ ʂú] Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Taisígōng syū Jyutping Tai3-si2-gong1 syu1 Southern Min Hokkien POJ Thài-sú-kong su Middle Chinese Middle Chinese Tʰài ʂí kuwng sho Old Chinese Baxter–Sagart (2014) *l̥ˤat-s s-rəʔ C.qˤung s-ta
Korean name
Hangul	사기
Transcriptions Revised Romanization Sagi
Japanese name
Kanji	史記
Transcriptions Romanization Shiki

The Shiji is an official work of Chinese history published in the 1st century BC, and the first entry in the canonical Twenty-Four Histories. Its title is commonly translated as Records of the Grand Historian or The Grand Scribe's Records. The Shiji was written during the late 2nd and early 1st centuries BC by the historian Sima Qian, whose father Sima Tan had begun it several decades earlier. The work covers a 2,500-year period from the age of the legendary Yellow Emperor to the reign of Emperor Wu of Han in the author's own time, and describes the world as it was known to the Chinese of the Western Han dynasty.^[1]

The Shiji has been called a "foundational text in Chinese civilization".^[2] After Confucius and Qin Shi Huang, "Sima Qian was one of the creators of Imperial China, not least because by providing definitive biographies, he virtually created the two earlier figures."^[3] The Shiji set the model for all subsequent dynastic histories of China. In contrast to Western historiographical conventions, the Shiji does not treat history as "a continuous, sweeping narrative", but rather breaks it up into smaller, overlapping units dealing with famous leaders, individuals, and major topics of significance.^[4]