Sima Qian (first century BCE), the author of Record of the Historian (Shiji), is China’s earliest and best-known historian, and his “Letter to Ren An” is the most famous letter in Chinese history. In the letter, Sima Qian explains his decision to finish his life’s work, the first comprehensive history of China, instead of honorably committing suicide following his castration for “deceiving the emperor.” In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, some scholars have queried the authenticity of the letter. Is it a genuine piece of writing by Sima Qian or an early work of literary impersonation? The Letter to Ren An and Sima Qian’s Legacy provides a full translation of the letter and uses different methods to explore issues in textual history. It also shows how ideas about friendship, loyalty, factionalism, and authorship encoded in the letter have far-reaching implications for the study of China.
Inhoudsopgave
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Chronology of Dynasties
Maps
Introduction
Zuo Tradition / Zuozhuan
Volume One
Lord Yin
Lord Huan
Lord Zhuang
Lord Min
Lord Xi
Lord Wen
Lord Xuan
Volume Two
Lord Cheng
Lord Xiang
Volume Three
Lord Zhao
Lord Ding
Lord Ai
Bibliography
Place-Name Index
Personal Name Index
Over de auteur
Hans van Ess is professor of sinology at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. He is the author of Die 101 wichtigsten Fragen. China [The 101 most important questions: China] (C. H. Beck, 2008), Hu Hong. Worte Kennen. Zhiyan [Hu Hong, knowing words – Zhiyan] (Verlag der Weltreligionen, 2009), and Der Daoismus. Von Laozi bis heute [Taoism: From Laozi to today] (C. H. Beck 2011); coauthor of The Letter to Ren An and Sima Qian’s Legacy (University of Washington Press, 2016); and cotranslator of The Grand Scribe’s Records by Sima Qian, vol. 8 (Indiana University Press, 2008).
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