Lecture 1: Historians' Masterpiece

Voiceover: More than two thousand years ago, after suffering great humiliation, a literati endured humiliation and completed a great historical work with his soul and flesh and blood. In the following thousands of years, this great work was like a shining pearl, and like a towering monument, standing in the long river of Chinese literature and history, which later generations cannot surpass and cannot reach. This person is Sima Qian, and this historical work is "Records of the Grand Historian". "Records of the Grand Historian" is the first of the twenty-four histories. It records about two thousand years from Huangdi to Emperor Wu of Han. Among the fine works of traditional Chinese studies in my country, only "Records of the Grand Historian" is an unparalleled "encyclopedia"

"The Complete Book". Mr. Lu Xun called "Records of the Grand Historian" "a masterpiece of historians, and a Li Sao without rhyme". Such a great work, Sima Qian, was originally an ordinary historian in the Western Han Dynasty. It was nothing special among the many historians in our feudal society. But why did Sima Qian later write such a great historical masterpiece like "Records of the Grand Historian"? What changed Sima Qian's life trajectory? Professor Wang Liqun of Henan University led us through thousands of years of historical time, into the inner world of the historical sage Sima Qian, and read a great general historical masterpiece, and Wang Liqun of the large-scale program of "Hundred Schools of Thoughts" reading the historian's masterpiece of "Records of the Grand Historian".

Hello everyone, from today on, we will start reading "Records of the Grand Historian". "Records of the Grand Historian" pioneered the Chinese historical literature. Before "Records of the Grand Historian", there were only two types of Chinese history books. One was chronological, which was to record history according to the age. The most famous of them were like "Spring and Autumn Annals", like "Zuo Zhuan", which was chronological; the other was national history, which recorded history on time and in the country, such as "Mandarin" and "Warring States Strategy". There was no general history of the chronological style. The so-called "Records of the Grand Historian" was the first general history of the chronological style in China. This point had a great influence on later generations, so since "Records of the Grand Historian", all the official history of China, that is, what we often say, are chronological styles. However, "Records of the Grand Historian" is the general history of the chronological style of the chronological style, and other histories are chronological and biography, which is the history of one dynasty and one dynasty.

Although "Records of the Grand Historian" and other historical books are both twenty-four histories, there are big differences.

First, "Records of the Grand Historian" is full of love and hate, which is not available to other historical books. Originally, a historian only requires objective and fair recording of history, and does not require expressing feelings. However, when "Records of the Grand Historian" records characters, it often brings the author's own strong love and hate. He especially treats some tragic figures, such as "The Book of Xiang Yu" writing about Xiang Yu and "The Biography of General Li" writing about Li Guang. The description of these characters can be said to be a tragic song written by a generous and heart-stirring song, which is very touching.

The second feature of "Records of the Grand Historian" is that it incorporates many literary techniques into the description of characters. For example, "Hongmen Banquet" and "Hongmen Banquet" have always been selected as the traditional textbook for our high school Chinese textbooks for more than half a century. "Hongmen Banquet" is simply a novel.

Third, "Records of the Grand Historian" has filled the gap in the history of many figures in the history of our Chinese nation. In other words, if there were no "Records of the Grand Historian", we would not know many great men of our Chinese nation today. For example, Confucius, the author of "The Analects of Confucius", Sima Qian, wrote a "The Family of Confucius" in the middle of "Records of the Grand Historian", which completely outlined Confucius' life for the first time. This is the first and most authoritative biography of Confucius so far. "Records of the Grand Historian" also incorporates the author's criticism of feudal emperors, which is even more unsimplified. We can give two examples. Sima Qian's criticism in "Records of the Grand Historian" is the most acute.

There are two people, one is Liu Bang, the founding emperor of the Han Dynasty, and the second is Emperor Wu of Han, who lived in Sima Qian. It is amazing that a historian dares to criticize the founding emperor and his immediate superior. He dares not write without courage. Sima Qian not only writes about his deeds when Emperor Wu of Han recruits talents and eventually achieves great achievements, but also writes about Liu Bang's narrow-mindedness, killing heroes, and vulgar language, and many bad records of him. As for the revelation of Emperor Wu of Han, there are many. This is the spirit of the recorded and critical spirit of "Records of the Grand Historian". Who completed such a great historical work? It was Sima Qian.

Sima Qian's life experience is actually not special. He was a family of historians. He traveled thousands of miles, read thousands of books, and studied with some famous teachers at that time. These were all possessed by some ordinary historians at that time. So what happened that made Sima Qian complete a great change, from an ordinary historian to a great historian? It is fate.

Voiceover: In 145 BC, Sima Qian was born in an ordinary family of historians. His father Sima Tan was a historian during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han. After Sima Tan's death, Sima Qian inherited his father's position and continued to serve as a historian in the dynasty of Emperor Wu of Han. In this case, Sima Qian read a large number of palace books, all of which were prepared for the writing of "Records of the Grand Historian". However, it is not surprising that historians with such family studies, such experiences, and such conditions were in the feudal society of China. At best, Sima Qian was just an ordinary historian. So, what incident made Sima Qian complete the transformation from an ordinary historian to a great historian?

During the reign of Emperor Wu of Han in 99 BC, due to diplomatic failure, the relationship between the Han and the Huns became tense again. The battle between the Han Dynasty and the Huns reopened. Emperor Wu of Han sent his favorite concubine, Mrs. Li, the elder brother of Mrs. Li, to lead troops to attack the Huns. However, this war with the Huns triggered a change in the fate of Sima Qian. So what happened in the battle with the Huns changed the fate of Sima Qian? This incident occurred in the second year of Tianhan of Emperor Wu of Han, that is, in 99 BC. In this year, Emperor Wu of Han sent a general named Li Guangli, who was the elder brother of Mrs. Li, one of the most favored concubines of Emperor Wu of Han. He was the elder brother of Mrs. Li, his favorite concubine, and asked Li Guangli to lead the army to attack the Huns. Of course, Emperor Wu of Han was the subjective purpose of Li Guangli to be granted a marquis through military merits. At the same time, in order to ensure the smooth success of Li Guangli's participation in the army.

Emperor Wu of Han asked a famous general at that time to ask Li Ling to provide logistics support for Li Guangli. The record in the record of the Grand Historian was called "couplets", which means to provide logistics support. However, Li Ling was unwilling to do this. Li Ling publicly proposed that he was willing to take his 5,000 infantry to go out alone to disperse the military pressure of the Huns on Li Guangli. This incident made Emperor Wu of Han very dissatisfied. Emperor Wu felt that Li Ling was too disrespectful, so he told Li Ling that I had no extra cavalry to give you. The implication was that if you want to go out, you should take your 5,000 infantry to go out. In this case, Li Ling took his 5,000 infantry to go out. Of course, Li Ling started the expedition smoothly and encountered no resistance. Moreover, Li Ling immediately sent someone back, drew a map, and came back to report the smooth progress to Emperor Wu of Han. Emperor Wu was also very happy.

But the situation changed dramatically later, because Li Ling's 5,000 infantry met the main force of the 30,000 Xiongnu led by the Great Shanyu of the Xiongnu. Li Ling was indeed very capable. Li Ling's 5,000 infantry killed thousands of people of the Great Shanyu's 30,000 army. Although the Great Shanyu's military strength was six times that of Li Ling, he could not take advantage of it. Therefore, the Xiongnu's Shanyu felt that Li Ling's infantry was not simple. He was angry because he felt that my 30,000 people could not defeat your 5,000 people, and he couldn't get over it. In an emergency, he transferred 80,000 to the left and right wise kings.

The army, plus the army of the Great Shanyu, had a total of 110,000 cavalry, and dealt with Li Ling's 5,000 infantry. In this case, Li Ling fought and retreated, and became more and more brave. In the end, the Great Shanyu, who fought to the Huns, felt that the war could not continue. The Great Shanyu was preparing to withdraw his troops, but at this moment, an unexpected emergency occurred. This incident was that Li Ling had a subordinate who was insulted by his superiors. In anger, he defected to the Xiongnu Shanyu and defected. Then, he reported to Li Ling's army two.

An important top-secret military information. First, Li Ling has no support troops, you can fight with confidence, he has no support. Second, the reason why Li Ling's infantry can fight is mainly because he has a bow and arrow that can be fired continuously, called a crossbow machine. It is an upgraded and modified version of bow and arrow. This arrow is fired with a machine and can be fired continuously, saying that his crossbow machine's arrow is about to be used up. In this way, the Xiongnu Shanyu felt hope and would not withdraw his troops, and then concentrated his army to launch a general attack on Li Ling. Moreover, Li

Ling's army was marching in the valley at that time. The Shanyu army and the Xiongnu army threw this big rock into the valley on the mountains on both sides. Therefore, the remaining 3,000 soldiers of Li Ling suffered heavy casualties. The battle could not be fought and the arrows were gone. So in this case, Li Ling felt that he could not fight and broke through. When he broke through, only 400 of his 3,000 soldiers fled back. Li Ling's deputy was killed, and Li Ling was captured and surrendered. This is the very famous Li Ling incident in history.

When the news of Li Ling's defeat and surrender reached Emperor Wu of Han, Emperor Wu of Han was furious and very angry. When the ministers saw the emperor angry, the public opinion was one-sided, and the ministers demanded severe punishment of Li Ling. It was at this time that Emperor Wu of Han saw Sima Qian beside him, because Sima Qian was going to participate when Sima Qian was the Grand Historian and the court discussed. He asked Sima Qian what he thought. Sima Qian was very angry when he saw Emperor Wu. In order to leniently upset Emperor Wu of Han, Sima Qian said three points: First, Li Ling

He is a national soldier. The national trainer is the best talent in a country and is called a national trainer. Li Ling is a national trainer. He is determined to serve the country. This is the first point. Second point, Li Ling fought with the Xiongnu Shanyu for more than ten days with 5,000 infantrymen and retreated. The enemies he killed far exceeded his 5,000 infantrymen. The contribution he made was enough to comfort the world. Third, Sima Qian believed that Sima Qian was not a real surrender, but a fake surrender. If Li Ling had the opportunity in the future, he would definitely find an opportunity to repay the Han Dynasty.

Originally, Sima Qian said these words to refute Emperor Wu of Han and also exonerate Li Ling. However, what he never expected was that the words he had just come to the ground. Emperor Wu of Han was furious and immediately put Sima Qian in prison, which was to falsely accusing the emperor. This was a very serious crime. The decision to deal with the crime of false sin, the death penalty. Sima Qian was suddenly thrown into death prison because of Li Ling's disaster and sentenced to death.

According to the regulations of the Han Dynasty, there are three choices for those sentenced to death: First, being punished by the law is to wait for execution; Second, redeeming life with money means paying 500,000 yuan to avoid death; Third, accepting castration, castration means castration of a man's reproductive organs, which is called castration. Sima Qian has been writing "Records of the Grand Historian" for a period of time. If he accepts the death penalty at this time, "Records of the Grand Historian" will be over and "Records of the Grand Historian" will not be written. In this case, Sima Qian cannot accept the death penalty, so there are two ways left to accept the death penalty. First, take money, and second, accept castration. Although Sima Qian is the Grand Historian, he is often with the emperor, he is a middle- and low-income income. Sima Qian's family has no money.

, if you can't afford 500,000, there is only one way left. You don't want to die, and you don't have money, there is one way left - castration. So Sima Qian finally accepted castration in order to complete the "Records of the Grand Historian". This incident is what we call the biggest event that influenced Sima Qian and changed Sima Qian's life - the Li Ling incident. Voiceover: Li Ling's disaster was undoubtedly a major blow to Sima Qian. Sima Qian chose castration in despair. Catastrophe was not only cruel corporal punishment, but also a rough trampling on spirit and dignity. During the Western Han Dynasty, many people were willing to die and were unwilling to accept castration. So what does choosing castration mean to Sima Qian? What changes will happen in his life? The Li Ling incident had a great impact on Sima Qian.

First, his identity is alternative. Sima Qian's original identity was originally an official of the central government. After receiving castration, he became a eunuch who was not a eunuch. This was a big blow to Sima Qian because his identity changed. First, he became an alternative to a man, he was not a man. Second, he became an alternative to a scholar and official, and he could not be accepted by the scholar and official class. Third, he became an alternative to a cultural person, that is, Sima Qian was originally a cultural person, a scholar and a scholar. But now, the group he originally belonged to fired him, did not recognize him as a man, did not recognize him as a cultural person, and did not recognize him as a scholar and official. This was a huge blow to Sima Qian, which is the first point.

The second point is lifelong humiliation. When Sima Qian talked about the pain of accepting castration, he said a few very painful words. He said that no evil is more ugly than humiliation, and no criticism is more important than castration. He said that a person’s biggest mistake in living in the world is insulting your ancestors. He said that a person’s biggest mistake in living in society is that you are accused of accepting castration. So Sima Qian later talked about his famous letter, called “The Book of Return to Ren An”, also called “The Book of Return to Ren Shaoqing”, in which he talked about the pain after receiving castration. He said

It is "the intestines are nine times a day", which says that the intestines need to rotate many times a day. "If you live, you will die. If you leave, you will not know what to do." He said that when you sit at home, you will be in a daze and don't know where to go after you go out. "Every time I think of this shame, sweat will always be wet on my back." When I think of the pain of being castrated, the cold sweat on my back immediately seeped out, soaking all his clothes and clothes on my back, so he felt that after receiving castration, this shame and his life were accompanied. So Sima Qian felt that this shame was too great, and this was the second point.

Third, talent and fate are contrary to each other. Sima Qian is a very talented person, but the fate of Li Ling's disaster caused a sharp conflict with his own life. So he said that he himself, even if he is easy-going, and if he is like Youyi, it means that I have talent like Heshi Bi and Suihouzhu. Even if I am like the ancient wise man Xu You and Boyi, such a noble nobleman, how do others think of me? He regards me as worthless. "You can't be proud of it." This principle is very simple, because humans are a social animal, and human sociality is human.

A fundamental difference from animals. As a social person, he must be recognized by society. After Sima Qian accepted the castration, the biggest point was that he was not recognized by this society. Therefore, the price of Sima Qian's preservation of his life was to pay the dignity of a person, which was a painful price. So after receiving the castration, Sima Qian, as a man, died, and Sima Qian, as a feudal scholar, also died, but the Taishi Gong, who inspired the words in "Records of the Grand Historian", was reborn. This is a historic transformation of Sima Qian.

Voiceover: During the Western Han Dynasty, castration was a cruel double punishment of the spirit and the body. The person who was punished was humiliated for life, and life was worse than death. Even Sima Qian, who is strong-willed and ambitious, would sweat and wear clothes whenever he thinks of the shame of being castrated. It can be imagined how cruel punishment it is. Sima Qian, who was receiving castration, is already forty-seven years old. The writing of "Records of the Grand Historian" has been underway for a while. So after receiving the dual torture of spirit and body, Sima Qian, who is about to enter the year of knowing destiny, has a clear understanding of life and society?

After receiving the castration, Sima Qian was forced to view people, life, and history from the lowest social identity of a society that people looked down upon. Therefore, his evaluation of historical figures and his evaluation of characters before he accepted the castration, and other historians of the Twenty-Four Histories had a fundamental change. So we can talk about this change from several aspects.

First, it changed Sima Qian's view of life and death. We all know that Sima Qian said a few very famous words, saying, "A person has death, death is heavier than Mount Tai, or less than a feather." Sima Qian's view on life and death took a fundamental change before and after the disaster of Li Ling. For example, when we look at "Records of the Grand Historian", there is an article in the middle of "Records of the Grand Historian", which describes a general under Xiang Yu's command called Ji Bu. This man was a powerful general under Xiang Yu and defeated Liu Bang many times, so Liu Bang hated him very much. After Xiang Yu committed suicide, Liu Bang kept wanting Ji Bu and ordered whoever wanted to hide Ji Bu would barbarize the three tribes. Ji Bu didn't

I had a way to join a family first, and later this family resold him to the home of a hero Guo family (that should be the Zhu family). The Guo family knew that the slave he bought was Ji Bu, and then the Guo family (Zhu family) went to the capital to find Liu Bang's most trusted servant, Xiahou Ying, and Teng Gong, the driver who drove the car for Liu Bang. Then he said something to Mr. Teng, saying that after Liu Bang became the monarch, can you kill all the ministers under Xiang Yu? It's impossible, and you just got the monarch, and you insisted on killing Ji Bu in order to avenge your own personal grudges. If you really force Ji Bu to be anxious, then

Either he fled to the north to the Xiongnu, or he ran to the south to Nanyue, wouldn’t you be using a hero to support your enemy? After saying this, Mr. Teng believed very much and believed in the words of the Guo family (Zhu family). He used this to persuade Liu Bang. After hearing this advice, he pardoned Ji Bu. Ji Bu became a doctor in Liu Bang's dynasty. When he arrived at Emperor Hui, Ji Bu became a general of Zhonghuang. When he arrived at Emperor Wen, Ji Bu became a prefect. Ji Bu later became a famous minister in the founding of the Western Han Dynasty. When Sima Qian finally talked about Ji Bu, he was very moved. Ji Bu was like a general when Xiang Yu was alive. He finally felt that Ji Bu was like a general.

He did not feel ashamed of being a slave to others because he felt that he was talented and could not be wasted in vain. So he survived with humiliation and heavy burdens. Sima Qian's understanding of Ji Bu and his evaluation of Ji Bu was actually after he experienced the disaster of Li Ling, and he could correctly evaluate Ji Bu. So when we read history books and read "Records of the Grand Historian", if we want to truly understand "Records of the Grand Historian", we must understand life and society. The deeper we understand life and society, the deeper we can understand "Records of the Grand Historian".

Another point is that there is a very important reason why Sima Qian accepted the castration because his family had no money. If he had money, Sima Qian was not ashamed. So after the Li Ling incident, Sima Qian had a new view on money. So Sima Qian felt that it is human nature to pursue wealth, and there is no fault, as long as it is taken in a proper way. Therefore, Sima Qian wrote a special article called "Biography of Merchants" in "Records of the Grand Historian". In "Biography of Merchants", he fully affirmed the legitimacy of people's pursuit of wealth. So Sima Qian gave many examples, the most famous one was a passage, saying, "The world is the best.

The bustling is all for profit; the bustling world is all for profit." Why do people in the world run around for the bustling? They are all for "profit". He said that from the princes and kings to the households, people are pursuing profit. The pursuit of profit is not wrong, but the wrong thing is just the improper means of pursuing profit. This view was summarized by Sima Qian from his own painful lessons. Therefore, Sima Qian realized more than two thousand years ago that the legitimacy of people pursuing material interests is very great. We should thank Sima Qian and "Records of the Grand Historian".

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To be continued...