Ssu-ma Ch'ien (145-ca. 86 B.C.) was a major official in the Western Han dynasty. China's greatest historian, he overcame tragedy to complete this work, compiling the history of his culture from its beginnings through the end of the second century B.C.William H. Nienhauser, Jr. is Halls-Bascom Professor of Classical Chinese Literature at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His books include The Indiana Companion to Traditional Chinese Literature (two volumes, IUP, 1985; 1998) and (as translator) Chinese Literature, Ancient and Classical by André Levy (IUP, 2000). He was a founding editor of the journal Chinese Literature, Essays, Articles, Reviews (CLEAR).

"[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"These volumes are most welcome. . . . The English translation has been done meticulously, with full scholarly apparatus. . . . These volumes are essential library additions."—Choice

• AcknowledgmentsIntroduction (William H. Nienhauser, Jr.)On Using this BookA Note on TermsWeights and Measures (Lu Zongli)List of AbbreviationsHereditary House 1 (Zhi Chen and William H. Nienhauser, Jr., translators)Hereditary House 2 (Bruce Knickerbocker, translator)Hereditary House 3 (Weiguo Cao, translator)Hereditary House 4 (Hongyu Huang, translator)Hereditary House 5 (William H. Nienhauser, Jr., translator)Hereditary House 6 (Wang Jing, translator)Hereditary House 7 (Scott Cook, translator)Hereditary House 8 (Zhenjun Zhang, translator)Hereditary House 9 (Zhao Hua and William H. Nienhauser, Jr., translators)Hereditary House 10 (Weiguo Cao, translator)Frequently Mentioned CommentatorsBiographical Sketches of Shih chi Commentators (Juri Kroll)Selected Recent Studies of the Shih chiIndexMaps

Ssu-ma Ch'ien (145-ca. 86 B.C.) was a major official in the Western Han dynasty. China's greatest historian, he overcame tragedy to complete this work, compiling the history of his culture from its beginnings through the end of the second century B.C.William H. Nienhauser, Jr. is Halls-Bascom Professor of Classical Chinese Literature at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His books include The Indiana Companion to Traditional Chinese Literature (two volumes, IUP, 1985; 1998) and (as translator) Chinese Literature, Ancient and Classical by André Levy (IUP, 2000). He was a founding editor of the journal Chinese Literature, Essays, Articles, Reviews (CLEAR).

"[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"These volumes are most welcome. . . . The English translation has been done meticulously, with full scholarly apparatus. . . . These volumes are essential library additions."—Choice

• AcknowledgmentsIntroduction (William H. Nienhauser, Jr.)On Using this BookA Note on TermsWeights and Measures (Lu Zongli)List of AbbreviationsHereditary House 1 (Zhi Chen and William H. Nienhauser, Jr., translators)Hereditary House 2 (Bruce Knickerbocker, translator)Hereditary House 3 (Weiguo Cao, translator)Hereditary House 4 (Hongyu Huang, translator)Hereditary House 5 (William H. Nienhauser, Jr., translator)Hereditary House 6 (Wang Jing, translator)Hereditary House 7 (Scott Cook, translator)Hereditary House 8 (Zhenjun Zhang, translator)Hereditary House 9 (Zhao Hua and William H. Nienhauser, Jr., translators)Hereditary House 10 (Weiguo Cao, translator)Frequently Mentioned CommentatorsBiographical Sketches of Shih chi Commentators (Juri Kroll)Selected Recent Studies of the Shih chiIndexMaps

Ssu-ma Ch'ien (145-ca. 86 B.C.) was a major official in the Western Han dynasty. China's greatest historian, he overcame tragedy to complete this work, compiling the history of his culture from its beginnings through the end of the second century B.C.William H. Nienhauser, Jr. is Halls-Bascom Professor of Classical Chinese Literature at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His books include The Indiana Companion to Traditional Chinese Literature (two volumes, IUP, 1985; 1998) and (as translator) Chinese Literature, Ancient and Classical by André Levy (IUP, 2000). He was a founding editor of the journal Chinese Literature, Essays, Articles, Reviews (CLEAR).

"[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"These volumes are most welcome. . . . The English translation has been done meticulously, with full scholarly apparatus. . . . These volumes are essential library additions."—Choice

• AcknowledgmentsIntroduction (William H. Nienhauser, Jr.)On Using this BookA Note on TermsWeights and Measures (Lu Zongli)List of AbbreviationsHereditary House 1 (Zhi Chen and William H. Nienhauser, Jr., translators)Hereditary House 2 (Bruce Knickerbocker, translator)Hereditary House 3 (Weiguo Cao, translator)Hereditary House 4 (Hongyu Huang, translator)Hereditary House 5 (William H. Nienhauser, Jr., translator)Hereditary House 6 (Wang Jing, translator)Hereditary House 7 (Scott Cook, translator)Hereditary House 8 (Zhenjun Zhang, translator)Hereditary House 9 (Zhao Hua and William H. Nienhauser, Jr., translators)Hereditary House 10 (Weiguo Cao, translator)Frequently Mentioned CommentatorsBiographical Sketches of Shih chi Commentators (Juri Kroll)Selected Recent Studies of the Shih chiIndexMaps