Chinese Characters

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Factual: Life Stories

Factual: History

Series of essays exploring Chinese history through the life stories of key personalities.

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Chinese Characters: Sima Qian: Grand Historian

Sima Qian: Grand Historian

BBC Radio 4 - Chinese Characters, Sima Qian: Grand Historian

The historian who spoke the truth to the emperor and suffered for it.

The historian whose objectivity got him into big trouble at court. When he confronted the emperor, he was subjected to a horrific and humiliating punishment.

He wasn't quite the man who invented history in China, but he certainly shaped it for thousands of years. Author of the Shi Ji (Records of the Grand Historian), Sima Qian told the history of China in the 2nd century BC in way nobody had done before; interviewing participants, influencing views on who was good and bad. History has always been political in China, and Sima Qian was one of the first writers to show how that politics worked, whether the powerful liked it or not. His objectivity got him into big trouble at court - when he confronted the emperor, he was subjected to a horrific and humiliating punishment. For Sima Qian, writing history came at a price.
Presenter: Rana Mitter
Producer: Ben Crighton
Researcher: Elizabeth Smith Rosser.

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