Sima Qian and Bias

GCSE Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)

Vora

EALC 110

Professor Hayden

Michael Day

May 1, 2008

Records of the Grand Historian: Sima Qian and Bias

The fact that history contains errors will not come as news to someone who has reflected on the topic. What is more disturbing however is that our history may be wrong and that there are great gaps in it. Maybe we have failed to record and gather the events that make up the fabric of history. It is little events, strung together and accumulated over time, which account for our place in history. This leads to the issue of an unbiased history, which is of utmost value. However, there is no such thing as an unbiased history. These biases may be blatant and as such are willful distortions of the past, resonating the inevitable fact that history is the propaganda of the winners. Beyond that, there are the cultural biases in history. A definition of “bias” is crucial to further understanding this issue. The usual implication of the term "bias" is that one is either deliberately or involuntarily ignoring some of the relevant facts. In this way, a historian can influence how the readers perceive a given period of history by what he or she has chosen to include and omit. Thus, a record of history not only provides information of the past, but it also serves as a reflection of the historian’s own perceptions. This is not just a modern phenomenon, but has been a part of the history recording process for nearly as long as people have been recording history. In fact, the ancient Chinese historians selectively included and carefully organized portions of history as a strategic method to bring about a specific point or message. As such many accounts of Chinese history also provide insight to the historian’s own perceptions of the past, as well as the influences received by the historian from their own time and culture. Some of the greatest examples of this phenomenon can be found in the works of one of the most prominent Chinese historians, Sima Qian. Sima Qian’s compilation of Chinese history – the “Records of the Grand Historian,” or “Shiji,” – represent more than just ideologies of his own time. Qian’s records offer insights through his role as a historian and his attempt to resolve a life changing experience he discerned in his own life through a method that would seem objective, but one that is, nonetheless, bolstered with biases. In order to understand how Qian’s life experiences motivated his assemblage of the “Records,” it is necessary to analyze the history and events happening around Qian.

Sima Qian was born in 145 B.C. during the Han dynasty of China (De Bary 369). The Qin dynasty had ruled China immediately before the Han, relying on a legalist doctrine that stressed military power and established the emperor as an all-powerful position that did not require legitimization through support of the people. However, the Han established an empire that would last longer than that of the Qin. The Qin was used as an example of how not to rule, and the ultimate result was the formation of a different philosophy, which was in many ways a complete opposite to the Qin’s ideologies. Essentially, the Han instigated the belief of a “Universal Order” in which Heaven, Earth, and humankind were to be ordered in order to complete all processes (De Bary 283-5). The Confucian ideologies then became especially important to the Han, as they provided for better understanding of metaphysics and cosmic processes. Confucian principles also became important to the Han due to their stress on the importance of music and rites, and their focus to provide ways in which to harmonize people and ensure the Mandate of Heaven, the idea that Heaven would displace the government authorities if they did not carry out the will of Heaven (De Bary 43). Qian’s personal bias against the Qin dynasty, and legalism, is blatant obvious throughout the “Records.” Qian favors Confucianism because it seems to him to be a more preventative way to keep peace amongst the peasantry: if the rulers are fair, just, and moral, the peasantry will be fair, just, and moral. Thus, peace will be obtained. This is opposite legalist views where peace is created and preserved through a tyrannical government that disarms, enslaves, and mistreats the peasantry, nobles, and ministers. Qian consistently depicted the Legalist state of the Qin, the dynasty before the Han, as a sort of evil empire that deserved to fall. When appropriate, Qian made it a point to show that Legalist ideals that were commonplace in the Qin dynasty did not work out for the benefit of anyone, unlike Confucian ideals that did (Sima Qian 172, 273). It is evident that the history of ancient China was convoluted and eventful; as a result, the need for historians became increasingly important.

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Qian lived a life marked by filial piety, rightness, and dedication to a cause; however, he still felt worthless. In a letter to his friend, Jen An, he explains why he is unable to recommend anybody to the imperial service. Qian proceeds to explain how he had disgraced himself in front of the king because he had defended a close friend, General Li Ling. With no money or connections to relieve him of his punishment, he was forced to undergo castration. He sates in the letter, “Even a miserable slave-girl is capable of putting an end to herself; could you expect less of me, when I had so little choice?” (Birch 100). Here, Qian rhetorically asks what would stop him from committing suicide in order to avoid such a shameful life. He immediately answers, “it was because I could not bear to leave unfinished my deeply cherished project, because I rejected the idea of dying without leaving to posterity my literary work” (Birch 101). He consoles himself in the letter by providing examples of individuals who had encountered similar hardship. Qian hopes that his life will take a similar course; that by him continuing his work, his name will remain a fixture in history as he states, “though I should suffer a thousand mutilations, what regret would I have?” (De Bary 372). Qian attempts to resolve his dilemma through the “Records,” and thus provides insight into the emergence of an additional role of the historian – to compensate for the omissions made by both Heaven and the ruler.

The “Records of the Grand Historian” is best described as a compilation made from previous sources and some original writing from Sima Qian (De Bary 368). On the approach of history, the main strength of the work is its encyclopedic nature, and the fact that it approaches most events from various angles. The “Record’s” inherent weakness, however, is the difficulty it creates for one to obtain a synthetic vision of events. Some may see this weakness as a sign of neutrality because Qian uses many different sources to “balance” the biases, making the whole work more objective. It is here that one must differentiate between the “Records” and Qian the person, as he does not write all of the Shiji. In fact, the “Records” is by no means a “primary source,” as most of the events it tells happened centuries before it was written, and the authenticity of chapters dealing with the most recent events was the most contested. Thus, the “job” of the historian to “select the most pertinent documents and arrange them in a way best calculated to demonstrate the cause and effect of events” (De Bary 368). Although Qian did include some of his own commentary, he still relied on the organization as a means to carry out the requirements of the historian, as well as to infer his own personal interpretations. Through such a technique, Qian was able to selectively insert pieces of history that he felt he had a personal connection with through experiences. One example of this manipulation occurs in the last section of the “Records.”

Qian’s traumatic life experience that occurred with his castration may have directly influenced the formation of his last, and longest section of the “Records,” the “Memoirs.” This section is made of biographies that were strategically organized and selected to implicitly bring forth a particular message. A common theme runs through nearly every biography present in the “Memoirs;” that of people who followed their morals and virtues, but were ultimately seen as failures in the eyes of the government. However, since these individuals were devoted to their cause, they emerged victors. Nearly every biography tells the story of a person who espoused Confucian morals and was dedicated to a cause, yet suffered great misfortune in their lives. For example, he includes the story of the brothers Po Yi and Shu Ch’i, who vowed not to recognize the Zhou dynasty after their violent rebellion. As a result, the brothers refused to be apart of the dynasty and therefore declined to eat the grains produced under the Zhou. Ultimately, the brothers starved to death in their protest. These biographies are somewhere in between textbook history and novelized history such as stories of persons, usually with a moral content.

Another of Qian’s most famous biographies is that of General Li Kuang. Qian outlines the life of a Han general for whom he had great respect for. Qian describes Li Kuang as brave, loyal, and generous: When he was leading his troops through a barren region and they came to water, he would not go near it until all his men had finished drinking. Similarly, he would not eat until every one of his men had been fed. He was very lenient with his men and did nothing to vex them” (Birch 129). Yet, Qian noted that Li Kuang’s life was filled with misfortunes as the Han government often mistreated him. Eventually, Li Kuang had gotten lost on a mission and was court marshaled for his disobedience. Rather than bearing the shame of facing the charges in court, Li Kuang committed suicide by cutting his own throat and thereby restoring his honor. It is acceptable to say that Qian does show some objectivity in these biographies; however, Qian is ultimately a produce of his time. For example, women almost never appear in his stories and Qian certainly projects some moral ideas typical of his era on his characters. Ultimately, the moral agenda of the biographies, which are like a “gallery of portraits,” chosen for their psychological and historical interest, imply some kind of bias. The interest of these biographies lies more in the moral and psychological perspective Qian provides than in the detailed account of events, which happened several centuries before he was born.

It is apparent that Qian saw these stories as reflections of his own life experience. The question to ask then is why Qian would deliberately include these stories. He does provide some commentary to the stories, which provides a clue. In the story of Po Yi and Shu Ch’i, Qian remarks concerning moral individuals, “in numbers too great to be reckoned, they meet with misfortune and disaster. I find myself in much perplexity. Is this so-called ‘Way of Heaven’ right or wrong?” (Birch 104-5). In addition, following the story of General Li Kuang, Qian writes, “if he is an upright person, he will act whether he is order to or not; if he is not upright, he will not obey even when ordered. It refers no doubt, to men like General Li” (Birch 133). Essentially, Qian noted the anomaly that in fact he (as well as the others mentioned) attempted to live moral lives lead by Confucian values, yet neither Heaven nor the government rewarded them. Qian may have believed that if Heaven had not directly rewarded these people, it had laid the responsibility on the ruler. In turn, by not rewarding these people, then, the ruler was in a position to lose his Mandate of Heaven. Thus, the goal of Qian’s inclusion of the biographies was because he saw himself as an individual who possessed Confucian virtues and was betrayed by the government as well. Since part of the role of the historian at the time was to provide historical examples for the current ruler to learn from, Qian may have specifically focused on times in the past when the rulers failed to recognize the dedicated and virtuous, thus allowing future rulers to learn from past mistakes.

Sima Qian’s formation of history served as much more than a simple retelling of events of the past. The manner in which he organized his record of history was done in a way to fulfill what the Han expected of the historian, as well as attempt to resolve an anomaly noted in his own life. Qian may be perceived as an artist as he designed the “Records” in a skillful way that serves a multitude of purposes. There is an inherent bias within the “Records,” mainly because it is not a primary source. For certain chapters, the biases are not Qian’s own but the biases of the sources he used. The second main type of bias that is represented in the “Records” is attributed through Qian’s own personal life. However, it may be beneficial to reconstruct the term “bias” and view it as a strategic method rather than deliberate manipulation of the works. Qian’s intentions were wholesome and not deceptive. His main purpose was the help unify the people of China, reinstate rites and music, provide further insight into the universe, and remind people of the importance of morals and virtues that were sometimes overlooked by not only rulers, but also by Heaven.

Works Cited

Birch, Cyril, ed. Anthology of Chinese Literature. Vol. One: From Early Times To The Fourteenth Century. Grove Press: New York, NY, 1965.

De Bary, Wm. Theodore, and Irene Bloom, comps. Sources of Chinese Tradition. 2nd ed. Vol. 1. New York: Columbia UP, 1999.

Qian, Sima. Records of the Grand Historian: Han Dynasty I. Trans. Burton Watson. Columbia UP, 1961.