Letter to Ren an and Sima Qian's Legacy

Inbunden, Engelska, 2016

Av Stephen Durrant, Wai-yee Li, Michael Nylan, Hans van Ess, Wai-Yee Li, Hans Van Ess

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Sima Qian (first century BCE), the author of Record of the Historian (Shiji), is China's earliest and best-known historian, and his "Letter to Ren An" is the most famous letter in Chinese history. In the letter, Sima Qian explains his decision to finish his life's work, the first comprehensive history of China, instead of honorably committing suicide following his castration for "deceiving the emperor." In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, some scholars have queried the authenticity of the letter. Is it a genuine piece of writing by Sima Qian or an early work of literary impersonation? The Letter to Ren An and Sima Qian's Legacy provides a full translation of the letter and uses different methods to explore issues in textual history. It also shows how ideas about friendship, loyalty, factionalism, and authorship encoded in the letter have far-reaching implications for the study of China.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2016-04-01
Mått152 x 229 x 24 mm
Vikt454 g
FormatInbunden
SpråkEngelska
SerieLetter to Ren an and Sima Qian's Legacy
Antal sidor277
FörlagUniversity of Washington Press
ISBN9780295995441

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Asiens historia inom Historia och arkeologi

"Essential."(Choice) "Sima Qian's famous Letter to Ren An. . . has often been seen as a key to understanding the historian's frame of mind as he labored to complete his monumental Shiji. Questions linger, however, about its provenance, dating, and reliability. . . . This compact volume offers a timely engagement with these and other issues. . . . The polished, richly annotated translation, a collective effort involving all four authors, testifies to the collegial spirit with which this inquiry was conducted."(China Review International: A Journal of Reviews of Scholarly Literature in Chinese Studies) "Questioning the received understanding of the Letter's nature, authorship, and its relation with the Shiji, this volume, based on solid scholarship and scrupulously referenced, will become a must-read for anyone interested in the study of Sima Qian and the Shiji. It also serves as a most welcome reminder of the necessity to periodically re-evaluate well-established perceptions of literary traditions with a critical eye."- Yangruxin Liu (Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies)