Sima Qian

Sima Qian (?145–?86 bce ), the grand historian of the Han dynasty (202 bce –220 ce ), is the founding father of Chinese historiography. He wrote Shiji ( Records of the Grand Historian ), the first universal history of China and the greater world known to him. This monumental book recounts events from the origins of Chinese civilization to the reign of the Han dynasty's Emperor Wu (r. 141–87 bce ), covering some 2500 years in a total of 526,500 Chinese characters. What Herodotus was to the historical tradition of the Greco‐Roman world, Sima Qian has been to that of China, Japan, and Korea. Today, this great work is still affectionately and widely read in Asia and many other parts of the world, both within and outside of academia.