Sima Qian: The Sacred Duty of the Historian by IainDavie Lyrics
Sima Qian: The Sacred Duty of the Historian
Background
Sima Qian was born and grew up in Longmen, near present-day Hancheng in a family of astrologers. His father, Sima Tan, served as the Court Astrologer, a versatile technical position trained in various matters.His main responsibilities were managing the imperial library and maintaining or reforming the calendar. Due to intensive training by his father, by the age of ten, Sima Qian was already well versed in old writings. He was a student of the famous Confucians Kong Anguo and Dong Zhongshu. At the age of twenty, Sima Qian started a journey throughout the country, visiting ancient monuments, and sought for the graves of the ancient sage kings Yu in Kuaiji Mountain and Shun in Hunan.Places he visited include Shandong, Yunnan, Hebei, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, and Hunan.
After his travels, Sima was chosen to be a Palace Attendant in the government, whose duties were to inspect different parts of the country with Emperor Wu. In 110 BC, at the age of thirty-five, Sima Qian was sent westward on a military expedition against some "barbarian" tribes. That year, his father fell ill and could not attend the Imperial Feng Sacrifice. Suspecting his time was running out, he summoned his son back home to complete the historical work he had begun. Sima Tan wanted to follow the Annals of Spring and Autumn - the first chronicle in the history of Chinese literature. Fueled by his father's inspiration, Sima Qian started to compile Shiji, which became known in English as the Records of the Grand Historian, in 109 BC. Three years after the death of his father, Sima Qian assumed his father's previous position as Court Astrologer. In 105 BC, Sima was among the scholars chosen to reform the calendar. As a senior imperial official, Sima was also in the position to offer counsel to the emperor on general affairs of state.
The Li Ling affair
In 99 BC, Sima Qian became embroiled in the Li Ling affair, where Li Ling and Li Guangli (李广利), two military officers who led a campaign against the Xiongnu in the north, were defeated and taken captive. Emperor Wu attributed the defeat to Li Ling, with all government officials subsequently condemning him for it. Sima was the only person to defend Li Ling, who had never been his friend but whom he respected. Emperor Wu interpreted Sima's defense of Li Ling as an attack on his brother-in-law, who had also fought against the Xiongnu without much success, and sentenced Sima to death. At that time, execution could be commuted either by money or castration. Since Sima did not have enough money to atone his "crime", he chose the latter and was then thrown into prison, where he endured three years. He described his pain thus: "When you see the jailer you abjectly touch the ground with your forehead. At the mere sight of his underlings you are seized with terror... Such ignominy can never be wiped away." In 96 BC, on his release from prison, Sima chose to live on as a palace eunuch to complete his histories, rather than commit suicide as was expected of a gentleman-scholar.
Matters concerning court politics in the Li Ling Affair
This seems simple to answer. Despite strong silent opposition within government to blame being allotted to Li Ling, no party in government is willing to speak out, with the sole exception of Sima Qian.
This must surely tell us that government or the rule of government was effectively autocratic. That despite "subsequent' opposition no party other than Sima Qian spoke out.
One imagines that such was a symptom of a much larger problem. Specifically one does not speak out against the ruler.
The institutional conflict
The sole party to speak out was Sima Qian. Despite no personal friendship with Li Ling, Sima Qian seems motivated by moral obligation and mutual respect, in what can only be described as a personal humanitarian drive at truth and justice, despite what he must have known to be the likely highly adverse reactions he would incur from the ruler.
Sima Qian, becomes himself an institution [for we read him today, and his voice, is clear, crisp and uplifting, well reasoned and measured, in fact refreshing and motivational knowing the context of his circumstances], as he takes a high personal risk, for a worthy purpose, whilst facing death.
Importantly, which is very important in fact, he finds the means to escape death, which is and was essential for human development to prosper. Thus this must be close to kleos in Greek thinking, where his life is not lost, but importantly his seed [through castration] is lost, a loss of his potential perpetuity. He remains focused on his sense of purpose, and in light of a larger picture, having a motivation to preserve despite the current adversity of the times. Perhaps "perpetuating the cultivation of intelligence until it illuminates the four corners of the earth" as Confucius instructed, in ensuring accuracy, relevance and precision in his work and its completion so that others could learn from it in the future.
The fact that he had to endure a heavy penalty, by way of a sacrifice to achieving such, is in part what makes the story admirable. This is also a value equation, the compound of the sacrifice, and the need to execute the ultimate plan; adversity, and good conduct, with a foresight of a future community for which his input was he thought most necessary. Such was his perception towards his loyalty to humanity, earlier proven in his morality toward Li Ling, not even his friend.
Within our common humanity we see a person, willing to sacrifice, to fight against injustice, and to illuminate truth, and reasoned measure. Such indeed tells a consistent story from the nature of the monarchical court, and their latent bias, self serving and often delusional needs. The submissive court officials that seek to maintain position as preference to thinking for themselves and the betterment of society are, in protecting their own self serving needs, seeking to maintain their positions. [A weakness in government in many cases that exists to this day in many places].
However what is convincing within our common humanity, is that where there is injustice, where there is mistreatment, where there at times seems little hope, the correct attitude and the correct actions, even by just one person, can create significant long term benefits for the society they are in, or for our common humanity.
Conclusions
Thus history gives us an opportunity to understand the past so we can ensure we do not make the same mistakes again. However, for some the selective and edited use of history is merely a means to maintaining the status quo, through a refusal to precisely cite the entire story, as opposed to the story that suits the political needs of the time, and can thus be used to indoctrinate the populous.
Thus, when we consider history we must really ask is this the whole truth, or a partial selective truth, with a political agenda. In many cases the latter often seems to be the case. All the more so when an autocratic leader is around, and where symptoms such as burning books and executing innocent people is taking place.
Thus the role and importance of freedom of information, freedom of association, freedom of speech, combined with accurate information and professional historians provides an opportunity to set the stage for the future, and the basis of understanding what went wrong in the past.
History is abused when used selectively out of the entirety of its context, paired with a specific agenda. However for some that is considered acceptable, where the majority of the population are indoctrinated into the beliefs of a regime.
In practical reality today, in the west, by and large, despite numerous democracies and republics, many people live under the auspices of a celestial monarchy, where the belief system, and its requirement to submission to authority is what the political systems also attempt to encompass, where effectively ideology, institution of government and the rule of law are fused together.
Over time many people have failed to distinguish between the component parts, their merits and validity; and have further failed to consider viable alternatives, as for many, an institutional [celestial] monarchy rules their lives today, and in many cases its focus is not on our common collective humanity, but rather sectarian in line with the political leadership of the country or region in which such operates.
What this lesson teaches us, is that perhaps monarchy, celestial or otherwise is not necessarily the best option, unless we seek a submissive form of humanity, where we live under the auspices of some form of superior entity, that we are inferior to.
Sima Qian, certainly went to great lengths to point such out.
Background
Sima Qian was born and grew up in Longmen, near present-day Hancheng in a family of astrologers. His father, Sima Tan, served as the Court Astrologer, a versatile technical position trained in various matters.His main responsibilities were managing the imperial library and maintaining or reforming the calendar. Due to intensive training by his father, by the age of ten, Sima Qian was already well versed in old writings. He was a student of the famous Confucians Kong Anguo and Dong Zhongshu. At the age of twenty, Sima Qian started a journey throughout the country, visiting ancient monuments, and sought for the graves of the ancient sage kings Yu in Kuaiji Mountain and Shun in Hunan.Places he visited include Shandong, Yunnan, Hebei, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, and Hunan.
After his travels, Sima was chosen to be a Palace Attendant in the government, whose duties were to inspect different parts of the country with Emperor Wu. In 110 BC, at the age of thirty-five, Sima Qian was sent westward on a military expedition against some "barbarian" tribes. That year, his father fell ill and could not attend the Imperial Feng Sacrifice. Suspecting his time was running out, he summoned his son back home to complete the historical work he had begun. Sima Tan wanted to follow the Annals of Spring and Autumn - the first chronicle in the history of Chinese literature. Fueled by his father's inspiration, Sima Qian started to compile Shiji, which became known in English as the Records of the Grand Historian, in 109 BC. Three years after the death of his father, Sima Qian assumed his father's previous position as Court Astrologer. In 105 BC, Sima was among the scholars chosen to reform the calendar. As a senior imperial official, Sima was also in the position to offer counsel to the emperor on general affairs of state.
The Li Ling affair
In 99 BC, Sima Qian became embroiled in the Li Ling affair, where Li Ling and Li Guangli (李广利), two military officers who led a campaign against the Xiongnu in the north, were defeated and taken captive. Emperor Wu attributed the defeat to Li Ling, with all government officials subsequently condemning him for it. Sima was the only person to defend Li Ling, who had never been his friend but whom he respected. Emperor Wu interpreted Sima's defense of Li Ling as an attack on his brother-in-law, who had also fought against the Xiongnu without much success, and sentenced Sima to death. At that time, execution could be commuted either by money or castration. Since Sima did not have enough money to atone his "crime", he chose the latter and was then thrown into prison, where he endured three years. He described his pain thus: "When you see the jailer you abjectly touch the ground with your forehead. At the mere sight of his underlings you are seized with terror... Such ignominy can never be wiped away." In 96 BC, on his release from prison, Sima chose to live on as a palace eunuch to complete his histories, rather than commit suicide as was expected of a gentleman-scholar.
Matters concerning court politics in the Li Ling Affair
This seems simple to answer. Despite strong silent opposition within government to blame being allotted to Li Ling, no party in government is willing to speak out, with the sole exception of Sima Qian.
This must surely tell us that government or the rule of government was effectively autocratic. That despite "subsequent' opposition no party other than Sima Qian spoke out.
One imagines that such was a symptom of a much larger problem. Specifically one does not speak out against the ruler.
The institutional conflict
The sole party to speak out was Sima Qian. Despite no personal friendship with Li Ling, Sima Qian seems motivated by moral obligation and mutual respect, in what can only be described as a personal humanitarian drive at truth and justice, despite what he must have known to be the likely highly adverse reactions he would incur from the ruler.
Sima Qian, becomes himself an institution [for we read him today, and his voice, is clear, crisp and uplifting, well reasoned and measured, in fact refreshing and motivational knowing the context of his circumstances], as he takes a high personal risk, for a worthy purpose, whilst facing death.
Importantly, which is very important in fact, he finds the means to escape death, which is and was essential for human development to prosper. Thus this must be close to kleos in Greek thinking, where his life is not lost, but importantly his seed [through castration] is lost, a loss of his potential perpetuity. He remains focused on his sense of purpose, and in light of a larger picture, having a motivation to preserve despite the current adversity of the times. Perhaps "perpetuating the cultivation of intelligence until it illuminates the four corners of the earth" as Confucius instructed, in ensuring accuracy, relevance and precision in his work and its completion so that others could learn from it in the future.
The fact that he had to endure a heavy penalty, by way of a sacrifice to achieving such, is in part what makes the story admirable. This is also a value equation, the compound of the sacrifice, and the need to execute the ultimate plan; adversity, and good conduct, with a foresight of a future community for which his input was he thought most necessary. Such was his perception towards his loyalty to humanity, earlier proven in his morality toward Li Ling, not even his friend.
Within our common humanity we see a person, willing to sacrifice, to fight against injustice, and to illuminate truth, and reasoned measure. Such indeed tells a consistent story from the nature of the monarchical court, and their latent bias, self serving and often delusional needs. The submissive court officials that seek to maintain position as preference to thinking for themselves and the betterment of society are, in protecting their own self serving needs, seeking to maintain their positions. [A weakness in government in many cases that exists to this day in many places].
However what is convincing within our common humanity, is that where there is injustice, where there is mistreatment, where there at times seems little hope, the correct attitude and the correct actions, even by just one person, can create significant long term benefits for the society they are in, or for our common humanity.
Conclusions
Thus history gives us an opportunity to understand the past so we can ensure we do not make the same mistakes again. However, for some the selective and edited use of history is merely a means to maintaining the status quo, through a refusal to precisely cite the entire story, as opposed to the story that suits the political needs of the time, and can thus be used to indoctrinate the populous.
Thus, when we consider history we must really ask is this the whole truth, or a partial selective truth, with a political agenda. In many cases the latter often seems to be the case. All the more so when an autocratic leader is around, and where symptoms such as burning books and executing innocent people is taking place.
Thus the role and importance of freedom of information, freedom of association, freedom of speech, combined with accurate information and professional historians provides an opportunity to set the stage for the future, and the basis of understanding what went wrong in the past.
History is abused when used selectively out of the entirety of its context, paired with a specific agenda. However for some that is considered acceptable, where the majority of the population are indoctrinated into the beliefs of a regime.
In practical reality today, in the west, by and large, despite numerous democracies and republics, many people live under the auspices of a celestial monarchy, where the belief system, and its requirement to submission to authority is what the political systems also attempt to encompass, where effectively ideology, institution of government and the rule of law are fused together.
Over time many people have failed to distinguish between the component parts, their merits and validity; and have further failed to consider viable alternatives, as for many, an institutional [celestial] monarchy rules their lives today, and in many cases its focus is not on our common collective humanity, but rather sectarian in line with the political leadership of the country or region in which such operates.
What this lesson teaches us, is that perhaps monarchy, celestial or otherwise is not necessarily the best option, unless we seek a submissive form of humanity, where we live under the auspices of some form of superior entity, that we are inferior to.
Sima Qian, certainly went to great lengths to point such out.