Sima Qian

Sima Qian inherited an impossible ambition: his father, Sima Tan, had sketched the outline for a complete history of China but died before he could write it. As court historian under Emperor Wu of Han, Sima set out to finish it, producing a sweeping chronicle from the Yellow Emperor through his own time — more than two millennia compressed into one work. In 99 BC he spoke up for a disgraced general in the Li Ling affair and was given a choice: death or castration. He accepted the latter to keep writing. The finished Shiji became the model for every official dynastic history across East Asia un…