The Grand Scribe's Records, Vol. 1: The Basic Annals of Pre-Han China (Volume I) [Hardcover]

Ssu-Ma Ch'ien (Author), William H. Nienhauser Jr. (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0253340217 | ISBN-13: 978-0253340214 | Publication Date: January 22, 1995

"... an essential source for the study of events in early China, a guide to the moral philosophy of the gentlemen of Han, and a splendid work of literature which may be read for the pleasure of its style and the power of its narrative.... This work makes Shi ji and its scholarship accessible to any reader of English, and it is a model for any work in this field and style." —Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, Oxford Journals

"Through such work as this, the scholary and literary community of the West will learn more of the splendour and romance of early China, and may better appreciate the lessons in humanity presented by its great historian." —Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies

"... 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

This project will result in the first complete translation (in nine volumes) of the Shih chi (The Grand Scribe's Records), one of the most important narratives in traditional China. Ssu-ma Ch'ien (145-c.86 B.C.), who compiled the work, is known as the Herodotus of China.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

SSU-MA CHIEN was a major official in the Western Han dynasty (145–86 B. C.) and overcame tragedy to complete these fundamental volumes. WILLIAM H. NIENHAUSER, JR., is Professor of Chinese Language and literature at the University of Wisconsin. In 1979 he helped found the journal Chinese Literature, Essays, Articles, Reviews (CLEAR). He was the Editor-in-Chief and Compiler of The Indiana Companion to Traditional Chinese Literature, a monumental and indispensable reference work published in 1986. He has authored numerous influential scholarly papers and articles. TSIA-FA CHENG, Professor of Chinese at the Unviersity of Wisconsin and a Research Fellow at Academia Sinica, is a graduate of National Taiwan University and the University of Wisconsin and a noted specialist in Chinese historical linguistics. LU ZONGLI, former Associate Professor and Director of Warring States, Qin and Han Studies of the Institue of History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, is a Ph.D. candidate and lecturer at the Unviersity of Wisconsin. ROBERT REYNOLDS took his bachelors and masters degrees at National Taiwan University and is now a Ph.D. candidate and lecturer at the University of Wisconsin.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Indiana University Press (January 22, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0253340217
• ISBN-13: 978-0253340214
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,787,344 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

William H. Nienhauser, Jr. was born in St. Louis in 1943. After a year of Chinese at the Army Language School in Monterey, California, Nienhauser became enamoured with Chinese culture, taking his Ph.D. at Indiana University under Professor Wu-chi Liu in 1972. During his early years at the University of Wisconsin (where he is Jay C. & Ruth Halls-Bascom Professor of Classical Literature) his interests focused on Chinese biographies, both historical and fictional. Readings in Comparative Literature led him to study narrative theory and develop an interest in the evolution of Chinese narrative. Beginning with Tang-dynasty biographies and tales, Nienhauser worked his back to the great Han-dynasty "national narrative," the Shiji (The Grand Scribe's Records, ca. 100 BCE), written by Sima Qian and his father Sima Tan. Since 1989 he has directed an evolving team of scholars who translate and annotate this massive text. Among numerous awards are the Humboldt Prize (2003). At present (December 2010) he is reading Hillary Mantel's Wolf Hall and recalling an earlier interest in fourteenth-sixteenth century English history.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Shih Chi (The Grand Scriber's Records, Vol. 1 and VII., August 19, 2011

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This review is from: The Grand Scribe's Records, Vol. 1: The Basic Annals of Pre-Han China (Volume I) (Hardcover)

Better than Chavannes translation (in French) and also of Burton Watson's partial transaltions. Easy to read and satisfactory notes. Great accomplishment for the various scholars participating in the project. I appreaciate the easy reading since I am not a Chinese scholar except as an old amateur.