{"product_id":"sima-qians-self-conception-in-claims-tony-buchwald-9783656696032","title":"Sima Qian's Self-Conception in Claims of Legitimacy: His Postface to the Shiji and his Letter to Ren An","description":"Seminar paper from the year 2012 in the subject Orientalism \/ Sinology - Chinese \/ China, grade: 1,7, University of Heidelberg (Sinologisches Seminar), course: Beginnings of Chinese Historiography, language: English, abstract: What we know today of Sima Qian's (145 -90 BCE) life and especially of the way he saw himself is drawn mainly from two sources of Chinese historiography - the Records of the Grand Historian or Shiji, written by himself and his father Sima Tan (164 - 110 BCE), and the History of the Former Han or Han Shu, written by Ban Gu (32 - 92 CE) . Chapter 130 of the former, i.e. the author's postface, provides us with an autobiography of Sima Qian, whereas Ban Gu offers a biography of him in the Han Shu that is mostly copied from the Shiji's postface. Additionally, after the biography Ban Gu added a letter to Ren An, a friend of Sima Qian's, which was written as a response to Ren An's own letter to the Grand Historian. The two mentioned accounts of Sima Qian's life and his self-conception differ strongly from each other. Whereas his postface serves as a biography both for his father Sima Tan as well as his reasons for writing, or rather completing, the Shiji, his letter offers a great deal of insight into his situation at court and the way he perceived it. The purpose of this paper is to give some insight into Sima Qian's self-conception and especially into his ways of legitimising his life and work. Thus, I will argue that the reason for his Confucian agenda of self-legitimation can be found in his self-conception displayed in his letter to Ren An.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Tony Buchwald\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 3656696039\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9783656696032\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Grin Verlag\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 07\/14\/2014\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 24\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.13lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 10.00h x 7.00w x 0.05d","brand":"Tony Buchwald","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":44073662152959,"sku":"9783656696032","price":37.9,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_1c2b9ccb-0f9b-4cfc-98dd-5939f895f5ca.jpg?v=1685449158","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/sima-qians-self-conception-in-claims-tony-buchwald-9783656696032","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}