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Sima Guang

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{{cleanup-date|August 2005}} '''Sima Guang''' (Pinyin py. '''Sīmǎ Guāng''', Wade-Giles wg. '''Ssuma Kuang''', traditional Chinese character t. '''司馬光''', simplified Chinese character s. '''司马光''') (1019-1086) was a Chinese historian and statesman during the Song Dynasty (960-1279) Song Dynasty. Zizhi tongjian "The Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government" was compiled by Sima Guang between the years 1067 and 1084, and was first printed at Hangzhou in 1086. The whole work comprises 294 chapters (juan ), and it covers the period from 403 BC to 959 AD. Sima Guang, scholar and statesman of the Northern Song dynasty, was born in 1019 in present-day Shanxi province. His family was wealthy, and he obtained early success as a scholar and official. He passed the examination for the jinshi degree, highest in the empire, when he was barely twenty, and he spent the next several years in official positions. In 1064, Sima Guang presented to Emperor Yingzong a book of five chapters, entitled Linian tu "Chronicle Table," a summary of events from 403 BC to 959 AD, which may be regarded as a first advertisement and request for sponsorship of his major project. The starting point was chosen from the year that the King of Zhou acknowledged the division of the ancient hereditary state of Jin between three great families, a recognition of usurpers which marked the beginning of the desperate and decisive wars that brought the end of Zhou and the establishment of the new-style empire of Qin. And the history was halted a hundred years before Sima Guang's own time, at the very beginning of the Northern Song dynasty which he served. Two years later, in 1066, Sima Guang presented a further and more detailed work, comprising eight chapters chronicling the period from 403 to 207 BC, and at this time an edict was issued for the work to be continued.3 Sima Guang was granted full access to the imperial libraries, while the emperor undertook to cover all the costs of paper, writing brushes and other equipment required for the compilation. He also allocated funds for research assistants, including the experienced historians Liu Shu (1032-1078) and Zhao Junxi. Early in the following year, 1067, Emperor Yingzong died, and in the tenth Chinese month Sima Guang attended a seminar at the palace to introduce the work in progress to Emperor Shenzong. The new ruler not only confirmed the interest his father had shown, but proclaimed the favour by a preface which changed the title from Tong zhi "Comprehensive Record" to the more ornamental and impressive Zizhi tongjian .4 As several scholars have observed, the character jian "mirror" may be understood in this context as indicating a work of reference and guidance; so the emperor accepted Sima Guang as his mentor in the science of history and its application to government, and for the seventeen years of his reign he maintained his support for the work. Such loyalty is notable, for Sima Guang soon became a leader of the conservative faction at court, resolutely opposed to the reforming policies of Shenzong's minister Wang Anshi. He presented increasingly bitter memorials of criticism, and in 1070 he refused further appointment and withdrew from the court. In 1071 he took up residence in Luoyang, where he remained with an official sinecure, ample leisure and sufficient resources to continue the work. Indeed, though Sima Guang and his imperial master were in complete disagreement on policies for the present day, the enforced retirement proved essential for the historian to complete the project in full and final form. He is remembered for his work ''Zizhi Tongjian'' (è³‡æ²»é€šé‘‘/èµ„æ²»é€šé‰´) and his rivalry with contemporary statesman Wang Anshi (çŽ‹å®‰çŸ³). {{start box}} {{succession box | before = Wang Anshi.html">Chancellor of China years = 1085–1086 | after = Zhang Dun}} {{end box}} -Rafe de Crespigny, Internet edition, 1991 [http://www.anu.edu.au/asianstudies/decrespigny/HuanLing_part1.pdf Emperor Huan and Emperor Ling - Extract from the Zizhi Tongjian] Category:History of China Category:Chinese historians Category:Chinese writers Category:1019 births Category:1086 deaths {{historian-stub}} ja:å?¸é¦¬å…‰ no:Sima Guang ru:Ð¡Ñ‹Ð¼Ð° Ð“ÑƒÐ°Ð½ zh:å?¸é©¬å…‰

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