In: Asiatische Studien - Études Asiatiques, 75 (2021), Nr. 4. pp. 901-946. ISSN 0004-4717 (Druck-Ausg.), 2235-5871 (Online-Ausg.)
Preview |
PDF, English
- main document
Download (1MB) | Terms of use |
Abstract
This paper explores the relationship between the Shiji’s authors and their sources by examining how they constructed the historical narrative of the fall of the Qin Empire. While Sima Qian and his father Sima Tan have been traditionally credited as the authors of the Shiji, their authorial voice was recently challenged by scholars. In response to the revisionist view, this paper discerns that the Shiji maintains a consistent narrative of the Qin collapse, which is generated through rigorous source redactions whereby Sima Qian and/or Sima Tan were able to incorporate their ideological agenda and personal opinions in subtle ways that are almost invisible to the reader. With such anonymity, the historiographers succeeded in establishing the authority of their historical narratives. Rather than simply juxtaposing the narratives of their sources, the Simas indeed authored their “patterned past” of the Qin collapse. However, the past constructed in the Shiji comprises various independent narratives whose plausibility is contingent upon the respective epistemic quality of their evidence rather than a harmonious discourse.
Document type: | Article |
---|---|
Journal or Publication Title: | Asiatische Studien - Études Asiatiques |
Volume: | 75 |
Number: | 4 |
Publisher: | De Gruyter |
Place of Publication: | Boston, Mass. ; Berlin |
Edition: | Zweitveröffentlichung |
Date Deposited: | 21 Dec 2022 10:07 |
Date: | 2021 |
ISSN: | 0004-4717 (Druck-Ausg.), 2235-5871 (Online-Ausg.) |
Page Range: | pp. 901-946 |
Faculties / Institutes: | Philosophische Fakultät > Institut für Sinologie |
DDC-classification: | 890 Literatures of other languages 950 General history of Asia Far East |
Uncontrolled Keywords: | authorship, collapse of the Qin Empire, narrative production, redaction, Shiji |
Additional Information: | Dieser Beitrag ist aufgrund einer (DFG-geförderten) Allianz bzw. Nationallizenz frei zugänglich. *** This publication is freely accessible due to an Alliance licence and a national licence (funded by the DFG, German Research Foundation) respectively. |