Ssu-ma Ch'ien (145-ca. 86 B.C.), China's greatest historian and an important official in the Han dynasty, compiled the history of his culture from its beginnings through the end of the second century B.C.William H. Nienhauser, Jr., editor and co-translator, is Halls-Bascom Professor of Classical Chinese Literature at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. In 1979 he helped found the journal Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews (CLEAR) and has edited it since. He has published a number of articles and books on traditional Chinese literature, including The Indiana Companion to Traditional Chinese Literature (two volumes, Indiana University Press, 1985; 1998)

"These volumes are most welcome. . . . The English translation has been done meticulously, with full scholarly apparatus. . . . These volumes are essential library additions."—Choice"[T]he Grand Scribe's Records volume 8 is a remarkable achievement and an interesting experiment in combining something resembling a traditional Chinese commentarial style with a Western scholarly context. . . . And, as with previous volumes, the intrepid beginner or the careful specialist will find volume 8 to be ahelpful aid to research on the Shiji."—China Review International"Nienhauser's new translation is scrupulously scholarly . . . the design of this series is nearly flawless. . . the translation itself is very precise."—Chinese Literature, Essays, Articles, Reviews

• ContentsAcknowledgementsIntroductionOn Using This BookWeights and MeasuresList of AbbreviationsThe Exalted Emperor, Basic Annals 8Empress Dowager Lü, Basic Annals 9The Filial and Cultured [Emperor], Basic Annals 10The Filial and Luminous [Emperor], Basic Annals 11The Filial and Martial [Emperor], Basic Annals 12Frequently Mentioned CommentatorsBiographical Sketches of Shih chi CommentatorsGlossaryShih chi Chi-chieh PrefaceSsu-k'u ch'üan-shu Resumes on Shih chi and Shih chi Chi-chiehRecent Studies of the Shi chiIndexMaps

Ssu-ma Ch'ien (145-ca. 86 B.C.), China's greatest historian and an important official in the Han dynasty, compiled the history of his culture from its beginnings through the end of the second century B.C.William H. Nienhauser, Jr., editor and co-translator, is Halls-Bascom Professor of Classical Chinese Literature at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. In 1979 he helped found the journal Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews (CLEAR) and has edited it since. He has published a number of articles and books on traditional Chinese literature, including The Indiana Companion to Traditional Chinese Literature (two volumes, Indiana University Press, 1985; 1998)

"These volumes are most welcome. . . . The English translation has been done meticulously, with full scholarly apparatus. . . . These volumes are essential library additions."—Choice"[T]he Grand Scribe's Records volume 8 is a remarkable achievement and an interesting experiment in combining something resembling a traditional Chinese commentarial style with a Western scholarly context. . . . And, as with previous volumes, the intrepid beginner or the careful specialist will find volume 8 to be ahelpful aid to research on the Shiji."—China Review International"Nienhauser's new translation is scrupulously scholarly . . . the design of this series is nearly flawless. . . the translation itself is very precise."—Chinese Literature, Essays, Articles, Reviews

• ContentsAcknowledgementsIntroductionOn Using This BookWeights and MeasuresList of AbbreviationsThe Exalted Emperor, Basic Annals 8Empress Dowager Lü, Basic Annals 9The Filial and Cultured [Emperor], Basic Annals 10The Filial and Luminous [Emperor], Basic Annals 11The Filial and Martial [Emperor], Basic Annals 12Frequently Mentioned CommentatorsBiographical Sketches of Shih chi CommentatorsGlossaryShih chi Chi-chieh PrefaceSsu-k'u ch'üan-shu Resumes on Shih chi and Shih chi Chi-chiehRecent Studies of the Shi chiIndexMaps

Ssu-ma Ch'ien (145-ca. 86 B.C.), China's greatest historian and an important official in the Han dynasty, compiled the history of his culture from its beginnings through the end of the second century B.C.William H. Nienhauser, Jr., editor and co-translator, is Halls-Bascom Professor of Classical Chinese Literature at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. In 1979 he helped found the journal Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews (CLEAR) and has edited it since. He has published a number of articles and books on traditional Chinese literature, including The Indiana Companion to Traditional Chinese Literature (two volumes, Indiana University Press, 1985; 1998)

"These volumes are most welcome. . . . The English translation has been done meticulously, with full scholarly apparatus. . . . These volumes are essential library additions."—Choice"[T]he Grand Scribe's Records volume 8 is a remarkable achievement and an interesting experiment in combining something resembling a traditional Chinese commentarial style with a Western scholarly context. . . . And, as with previous volumes, the intrepid beginner or the careful specialist will find volume 8 to be ahelpful aid to research on the Shiji."—China Review International"Nienhauser's new translation is scrupulously scholarly . . . the design of this series is nearly flawless. . . the translation itself is very precise."—Chinese Literature, Essays, Articles, Reviews

• ContentsAcknowledgementsIntroductionOn Using This BookWeights and MeasuresList of AbbreviationsThe Exalted Emperor, Basic Annals 8Empress Dowager Lü, Basic Annals 9The Filial and Cultured [Emperor], Basic Annals 10The Filial and Luminous [Emperor], Basic Annals 11The Filial and Martial [Emperor], Basic Annals 12Frequently Mentioned CommentatorsBiographical Sketches of Shih chi CommentatorsGlossaryShih chi Chi-chieh PrefaceSsu-k'u ch'üan-shu Resumes on Shih chi and Shih chi Chi-chiehRecent Studies of the Shi chiIndexMaps