Records of the Grand Historian
From kwharrison13.com · Anti-library
Records of the Grand Historian
| Full title | Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji) |
|---|---|
| Author | Sima Qian |
| Published | c. 91 BC |
| Recommended | Once |
| Buy | Amazon |
| Why it’s on the list | Sima Qian’s history of China from the Yellow Emperor to his own Han dynasty, written after he chose castration over suicide in order to finish it — and the template every later Chinese dynastic history followed. |
Where I heard about it
- Replies to @typesfast — named in the replies to his question “What’s the best history book you’ve read?”, June 2025. The full list from that thread lives on What’s the best history book… (tweet).
About this edition
The work survives as 130 chapters circulating in partial translations of very different lengths, so no page count is given.
Connections
- What’s the best history book… (tweet) — the thread this came out of; the full recovered list lives there.
- China — the subject.
- Republic of Letters — the portfolio idea this sits closest to.
What links here
Curated by Kyle Harrison. Organized by Claude. Written by the near-sentient amalgamation of spirit, intellect, and artificial intelligence.