The Letter to Ren An and Sima Qian's Legacy - Hardcover

Durrant, Stephen; Li, Wai-yee; Nylan, Michael; Van Ess, Hans

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0295995440 ISBN 13: 9780295995441

Publisher: University of Washington Press, 2016

Synopsis

Sima Qian (first century BCE), the author of Record of the Historian (Shiji), is China's earliest and best-known historian, and his "Letter to Ren An" is the most famous letter in Chinese history. In the letter, Sima Qian explains his decision to finish his life's work, the first comprehensive history of China, instead of honorably committing suicide following his castration for "deceiving the emperor." In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, some scholars have queried the authenticity of the letter. Is it a genuine piece of writing by Sima Qian or an early work of literary impersonation? The Letter to Ren An and Sima Qian's Legacy provides a full translation of the letter and uses different methods to explore issues in textual history. It also shows how ideas about friendship, loyalty, factionalism, and authorship encoded in the letter have far-reaching implications for the study of China.

About this title

Book Description:

The Letter to Ren An and Sima Qian?s Legacy provides a full translation of this famous letter and uses different methods to explore issues in textual history.

About the Author:

Stephen Durrant is professor of Chinese language and literature at the University of Oregon; Wai-yee Li is professor of Chinese literature at Harvard University; Michael Nylan is professor of history at University of California, Berkeley; and Hans van Ess is professor of sinology at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munchen.

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Washington Press
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 0295995440
• ISBN 13: 9780295995441
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 190