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Sbiba Sen (Ssu-ma Ch'ien). By Okazaki Fumio . Tokyo: Kōbundō, 1947. 125. - Sbiba Sen. By Takeda Taijun . Tokyo: 1st edition, Nihon Hyōronsha, 1943. 2nd edition, Sōgensha, 1952. 198.

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Sbiba Sen(Ssu-ma Ch'ien). By Okazaki Fumio . Tokyo: Kōbundō, 1947. 125.
Sbiba Sen. By Takeda Taijun . Tokyo: 1st edition, Nihon Hyōronsha, 1943. 2nd edition, Sōgensha, 1952. 198.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 March 2011

Burton Watson
Burton Watson
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Kyoto University
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The Journal of Asian Studies , Volume 14 , Issue 3 , May 1955 , pp. 402 - 406
Copyright
Copyright © The Association for Asian Studies, Inc. 1955

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References

1 According to the generally accepted theory of Wang Kuo-wei in his T aisbib-kung bsi-nien k'ao-lüeb chapter 11 of his Kuan-t'ang chi-lin (see Paul Pelliot, “L'édition collective des œuvres de Wang Kouo-wei,” TP 26 “1928” 119).

2 Kametarō, Takigawa. Shiki kaichū kōshō (Tokyo, 1934) 130Google Scholar “= vol. 10].18–19 and 130.26–27.

3 Hsien-ch'ie, Wang, Han-shu pu-chu (Changsha, 1900) 62.24a–b.Google Scholar

4 On the Shib-chi as a work of literature and its importance in the history of Chinese literature, see two short essays by the same title, “Shiden no bungaku” (The Literature of historical biography), one by Shigeki, Kaizuka in Chūgoku kodai no kokoro (The Mind of ancient China) (Tokyo, 1951) 110–126Google Scholar, the other by Kōjirō, Yoshikawa in Chūgoku e no kyōshū (Nostalgia for China) (Tokyo, 1951) 50–55.Google Scholar Ssu-ma Ch'ien himself seems to have had one general theory of the motivation and purpose of literature which he applied equally to history, philosophy and poetry. His own work has been admired and read by his countrymen not as a chore to inform themselves of the past but as a source of keen literary enjoyment. I wonder, incidentally, if anyone has ever considered whether the late development of the novel in China and its relatively early appearance in Japan is related in any way to the liveliness of early Chinese histories and the fantastic and dull nature of early Japanese ones.

5 At the end of the book he has a convenient chronological table of the life of the historian according to the dates given by four leading scholars.

6 Shiki kaichū kōshō 130.7–14.

7 Wang Ming-sheng , Shih-ch'i shih shang-ch'ūeh 6.8b, in the edition of the Kuang-ya ts'ung-sbu

8 It is interesting to note that there are fewer evidences of pre-conceived concepts of the evolution of history in the Shih-chi than in the Han-shu, which was written in a purely Confucian spirit. Both Pan Piao and Pan Ku at least publicly expressed belief in the “inevitable” downfall of the Ch'in and the “inevitable” rise of the Han under the Liu family.

9 Yü-fu, Chin, Chung-kuo shih-hsūeh (Shanghai, 1936) 48.Google Scholar

10 A notable exception seems to be the “Basic Annals of Empress Lū,” which contains the full account of her many lurid crimes. Perhaps Ssu-ma Ch'ien considered her too bad to be worth bothering with. Pan Ku reconsidered the dignity of the royal family and sorted out the scandalous parts, relegating them to another section of his history.