Selections from the Records of the Historian (Chinese-English edition) (Chinese Edition) [Paperback]

Szuma Chien (Author), Qian Sima (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2002

The Records of the Historian was written by Sima Qian (145-90 BC), a great historian of the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-25 AD) who dedicated his whole life to the book. China's first historical work centering on people rather than events, it presents a general Chinese history of some 3,000 years, from the legendary Yellow Emperor to 122 BC - the first year of the Yuanshou reign of Han Emperor Wu.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: New World Press (January 2002)
• Language: Chinese
• ISBN-10: 780005652X
• ISBN-13: 978-7800056529
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,695,963 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good translation of a fascinating text., December 4, 2000

By 

bryan12603 (Poughkeepsie, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Selections from Records of the Historian (Paperback)

This book has also been published by The Commercial Press under the name, _Records of the the Historian_. It is a translation, by Hsien-yi Yang and Gladys Yang, of selections from one of the great, classic works of Chinese history.

Szuma Chien's _Records of the Historian_ is a huge work. The selections in this translation are biographical accounts of famous figures in early Chinese history, including Confucius. All of the figures whose biographies are included lived very interesting lives. So, although not every story is breathtaking, this usually makes for pretty good reading.

I think both the general reader and the scholar will enjoy this work. (For broader selections from the _Records of the Historian_, see the translations by Burton Watson. For more on Szuma Chien, who lived a tragic life, see Durrant's _The Cloudy Mirror_.)