Herodotus and Sima Qian: the First Great Historians of Greece and China: A Brief History with Documents
In this accessible volume, Thomas R. Martin compares the writings of Herodotus in ancient Greece with those of Sima Qian in ancient China to demonstrate the hallmarks of early history writing. While these authors lived in different centuries and were not aware of each other’s works, Martin shows the similar struggles that each grappled with in preparing their historical accounts and how their efforts helped invent modern notions of history writing and the job of the historian. The...
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In this accessible volume, Thomas R. Martin compares the writings of Herodotus in ancient Greece with those of Sima Qian in ancient China to demonstrate the hallmarks of early history writing. While these authors lived in different centuries and were not aware of each other’s works, Martin shows the similar struggles that each grappled with in preparing their historical accounts and how their efforts helped invent modern notions of history writing and the job of the historian. The introduction’s cross-cultural analysis includes a biography of each author, illustrating the setting and times in which he worked, as well as a discussion of how each man introduced interpretation and moral judgment into his writing. The accompanying documents include excerpts from Herodotus’ The Histories and Sima Qian’s Shiji, which illustrate their approach to history writing and their understanding of their own cultures. Also featured are maps and illustrations, a chronology, questions to consider, and a selected bibliography.
ForewordPrefaceList of Illustrations PART ONE. INTRODUCTION: Inventing History Writing in Greece and ChinaThe Life of Herodotus (ca. 484-ca. 414 BCE)Herodotus’ Historical Work, The Histories Greek History Writing Before Herodotus The Form and Content of Herodotus’ Historical Work Length and Complexity of the Narrative Objectivity of Evidence and Subjectivity of InterpretationThe Life of Sima Qian (ca. 145-ca. 86 BCE)Sima Qian’s Historical Work, The Records of the Historian Chinese History Writing Before Sima Qian The Form and Content of Sima Qian’s Historical Work Five-Part Structure of the Narrative Moral JudgmentsConclusions: Comparing Why Herodotus and Sima Qian Wrote History PART TWO. THE DOCUMENTSTranslated selections from Herodotus, The Histories 1. How Asia and Europe Became Enemies: The Story of Croesus (sixth century BCE) 2. How Others Live: The Customs of the Persians, the Egyptians, the Massagetai, and the Scythians 3. Roping Asia to Europe: The Persian Invasion of Greece (480 BCE) 4. Death Before Dishonor: The Battle of Thermopylae and the Story of the 300 (480 BCE) 5. Retribution and Justice: Artemisia’s Advice and Hermotimus’ Revenge (480 BCE) 6. Ending Stories: Cruelty and Revenge on Both Sides (479 BCE) Translated selections from Sima Qian, Shiji 7. Castration as the Price of Writing History: Sima Qian’s Autobiographical Letter to Ren An 8. The First Emperor of China (259-210 BCE): The Basic Annals of the Qin Dynasty 9. Born from a Dragon: The Origins of Gaozu, founder of the Former Han Dynasty (206 BCE-9 CE) 10. A Woman in Power: Empress Lü (ruled 188-180 BCE) 11. Heroic Hermits: The Biographies of Bo Yi and Shu Qi 12. Arts of War: The Biographies of Sun Zi Wu and Sun Bin 13. Imperial Assassin: The Biography of Jing Ke 14. How Others Live: The Customs of the Xiongnu Appendixes Chronologies of the Lives and Works of Herodotus and Sima Qian Questions for Consideration Selected BibliographyIndex
