How did Sima Qian work hard to write?

Sima Qian adheres to the heart of a historian, dares to disobey the dragon's face, writes down the past facts with the pen of justice, although he is punished, but his pride is eternal, he does not stick to one pattern and writes the annals of history, regardless of day and night, travels in the long river of history, examines the traces of the past, and discovers the true knowledge of history. The cold comes and the summer comes, the dripping water pierces the stone, and the love silk is gorgeous, and it finally becomes a swan song.

He began to read ancient books at the age of 10, studied very seriously and diligently, and when he encountered difficult problems, he always thought about them repeatedly until he understood them. At the age of 20, Sima Qian set out from Chang'an and traveled to various places. Later, he returned to Chang'an and became Langzhong.

He traveled with Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty several times and visited many places. At the age of 35, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent him as an envoy to Yunnan, Sichuan, Guizhou and other places. He learned about the customs of some of the ethnic minorities there.

After the death of his father Sima Tan, in 108 BC (the third year of Yuan Feng), Sima Qian succeeded him as Taishi Ling. In 104 B.C. (the first year of Taichu), he and astronomer Tang Du and others made the "Taichu Calendar". In the same year, he began to compile the "Historical Records".

In 99 BC (the second year of the Tianhan Dynasty), Li Ling attacked the Xiongnu, was defeated and surrendered, and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was furious. Sima Qian defended Li Ling, angered Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and was convicted**. He paid money to atone for his sins in accordance with the provisions of the Han Dynasty decree and was "corrupted".

In 96 BC (the first year of Taishi), he was pardoned and released from prison, made a Chinese book order, and mastered the emperor's documents. He wrote the book with great enthusiasm and devoted himself to writing the "Records of the Historians", and finally completed the writing and revision of the whole book at the age of about 55.

Turn your anger into strength in prison.

Sima Pin's point of view in writing the "Records of the Historians" is that history is the mirror of mankind, and through the study and recording of history, people can better understand themselves, understand the past, and guide the future.

He believes that history is a mirror, and the problems and difficulties encountered by people in history may also appear today, so we need to draw experience and lessons from history and continue to make progress and development.

He also emphasized the rigor and scientific nature of historiography, advocated the objectivity, truthfulness, and comprehensiveness of history, and opposed the fictional and one-sided nature of history.

Sima Qian wrote a historical record with anger:

Sima Qian was born in Longmen, on the banks of the Yellow River. Since he was a child, he watched the rolling Yellow River roaring away from under the Dragon Gate, and listened to the stories of ancient heroes told by his father and fellow villagers, and his heart was very excited.

His father, Sima Tan, was the first person in charge of the Han Dynasty, and he was determined to compile a history book to record the history of the 2,600 years from the Yellow Emperor to the Wu Emperor of the Han Dynasty. Influenced by his father, Sima Qian studied hard and greatly enriched his knowledge of history. He also traveled far and wide, making friends and accumulating a large amount of historical materials.

When Sima Tan was dying, he tearfully took his son's hand and said: "After I die, the court will let you succeed me as an official, you must not forget the history books I want to complete in my life!" ”

Sima Qian kept in mind his father's entrustment, and was busy studying historical documents every day, sorting out the historical materials left by his father and the materials he collected from all over the country in his early years. Just as he was concentrating on writing the "Historical Records", a flying disaster suddenly befell him. It turned out that Sima Qian offended Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty for defending a general, and was imprisoned and tortured.

Sima Qian was full of grief and anger, and wanted to splash blood on the wall several times, and he lost his life. But thinking that the "Historical Records" had not yet been completed, he dispelled this idea.

He thought: "People always have to die, some are heavier than Mount Tai, and some are lighter than feathers. If I die like this, won't I be lighter than a feather? I must live! I must finish this history book! ”

Thinking of this, he tried his best to restrain himself, buried all his personal shame and pain in his heart, spread out the beam again and quietly smooth bamboo slips, and wrote a line of neat characters on it. In this way, Sima Qian wrote angrily, and it took him 18 years, and when he was 60 years old, he finally completed a 520,000-word brilliant masterpiece - "Historical Records". This unprecedented work, which almost exhausted his life's work, was written by him with his life.

The Records of the Historians is a structural framework formed by the complementarity of the five genres, connecting the heavens and the people, connecting the ancient and the modern, and is quite ingenious in its design, and at the same time, it also makes its narrative range extensive, showing a magnificent picture of social life. The 12 books account the rise and fall of each dynasty in the order of the emperor's generation, the 10 tables arrange the major events between the emperors and princes, and the 8 books are special treatises on the economy, culture, astronomy, calendar, etc., the family is mainly the history of the aristocratic family, and the biography is the biography of different classes and different types of people. "Records of the Historians," a general history work in the form of a chronicle, breaks through the limitations of previous historical essays in terms of style, and is able to incorporate more content into it, thus reflecting the overall outlook of social life in a more comprehensive way.

The most literary value of the book "Historical Records" is the biography of the characters. Sima Qian's superb skill in arranging the biography of his characters made it vividly embody the unity of history and logic, forming his own unique narrative line.

The narrative of the "Historical Records" is divided into details, and under normal circumstances, Sima Qian often writes in detail about the causes of the development of events; And the end result of this kind of reason is often abbreviated.