Sima Qian: Teacher

 

[Q85-87, 87mb]  When I first read Sima Qian’s reflections on the Qin Dynasty, I thought of it as the pithy summary by a Grand Historian using past traumatic events to critique a dynasty gone wrong, and establishing the eventual legitimacy of his own dynasty.   As the official Historian, that would have been his mission, and he certainly was not afraid of stating his opinions about the violence and machinations involved in seizure of power.  But I believe he had a greater mission: he wanted his history to be used for teaching future rulers and their advisors how to govern properly.  For me, the important statement is at the end of his reflections, when Sima Qian said, “I hope in future times there will be gentlemen who will peruse my work.” 

How could his history be used for teaching?  In this short reading, Sima Qian did not quite let Qin receive the Heaven’s Mandate; what he did say was that in Qin’s march to unification, “it was as though Heaven had aided it.”  He regretted the loss of records from the great burn, but also thought that the ancients were not the only source of learning.  I think for him, the lessons to be learnt were not all about the descent from a virtuous foundation to dynastic chaos.  Though Qin’s tenure was short, and there was violence needed in its rise to power, nevertheless Qin did accomplish much once it seized power.  It was the sort of more recent and concrete history that was worthy of study.  With Qin as a particular example, Sima Qian believed there was much to be gained from understanding not just the rise to power, but also the decline and failure of rulers.

The Grand Historian wanted “gentlemen” to peruse his work.  These gentlemen were future scholars and ministers who needed to learn about both the virtues and the realities of the past in order to govern properly.  It was a very practical mission for a man who wanted his work to be more than just a Record of events.