The book, presents a broad and simple overview about the life of Si Ma Qian (¿¿¿), the Grand Historian (¿¿) from the imperial court of China's Han Dynasty (¿¿), the second (and longest) imperial dynasty of China. Si Ma Qian's acclaimed book, Records of the Grand Historian ¿¿¿¿is a very important piece of literary work. As such, the treatise presents a monumental history of ancient China.
Si Ma Qian (139 BC - 86 BC) was a Chinese historian and essayist of the Western Han Dynasty (¿¿). He is widely regarded as the father of Chinese historiography for his acclaimed treatise Records of the Grand Historian¿¿¿¿. Si Ma Qian was the son of Si Ma Tan (¿¿¿), the grand historian (¿¿¿) in the Han imperial court. In his early years, Si Ma Qian travelled across China to learn about the ancient customs and traditions. He was a bright student and could read the ancient scriptures by the age of 10. Later, he inherited his father's occupation (¿¿¿) and wrote the history. In the later years, Si Ma Qian was sentenced for his defense of Li Ling's defeat against the northern barbarian tribe, the Xiongnu (¿¿). Si Ma Qian was castrated and imprisoned. After serving the sentence, he served as a clerk in the imperial court. Subsequently, he worked diligently to continue to complete the Records of the Grand Historian, the first historical biography of the Chronicles in China. The treatise, made of 130 Chapters, describes the historical events starting from the ancient legend of the Yellow Emperor period until his present time in the Han Dynasty. No wonder, Si Ma Qian is also known as the father of history.

The book, Chinese History 6, a Chinese reading practice book, presents a broad and simple overview about the life and legacies of Si Ma Qian. The volume, 16th in the Mandarin Chinese Reading Series, includes both the Chinese text (simplified characters) and pinyin. With about 900 unique Chinese characters, the volume would be suitable for the beginners, lower intermediate and advanced level Chinese language learners (HSK 1-6). Overall, the Mandarin Chinese Reading Series offers you a variety of elementary level books (Level 1/2/3) to learn Chinese culture as well as practice Chinese reading fast.


The book has 10 chapters in the following order:
Chapter 1: Basic facts about Si Ma Qian (¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿)
Chapter 2: Summary of Si Ma Qian's Life (¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿)
Chapter 3: Young Si Ma Qian (¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿)
Chapter 4: The Grand Historian (¿¿¿¿¿¿)
Chapter 5: The Unfortunate Li Ling Incident (¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿)
Chapter 6: The Death of Si Ma Qian (¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿)
Chapter 7: Descendants of Si Ma Qian (¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿)
Chapter 8: Records of the Grand Historian: Si Ma Qian's Historical Biographical Work (¿¿¿¿¿¿: ¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿)
Chapter 9: Si Ma Qian's Writing Style (¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿)
Chapter 10: A Great Literary Figure (¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿)