Letter to Ren An and Sima Qian’s Legacy

Sima Qian (first century BCE), the author of Record of the Historian (Shiji), is China’s earliest and best-known historian, and his “Letter to Ren An” is the most famous letter in Chinese history. In the letter, Sima Qian explains his decision to finish his life’s work, the first comprehensive history of China, instead of honorably committing suicide following his castration for “deceiving the emperor.” In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, some scholars have queried the authenticity of the letter. Is it a genuine piece of writing by Sima Qian or an early work of literary impersonation? The Letter to Ren An and Sima Qian’s Legacy provides a full translation of the letter and uses different methods to explore issues in textual history. It also shows how ideas about friendship, loyalty, factionalism, and authorship encoded in the letter have far-reaching implications for the study of China.

Essential., Sima Qian’s famous Letter to Ren An. . . has often been seen as a key to understanding the historian’s frame of mind as he labored to complete his monumental Shiji. Questions linger, however, about its provenance, dating, and reliability. . . . This compact volume offers a timely engagement with these and other issues. . . . The polished, richly annotated translation, a collective effort involving all four authors, testifies to the collegial spirit with which this inquiry was conducted., Questioning the received understanding of the Letter’s nature, authorship, and its relation with the Shiji, this volume, based on solid scholarship and scrupulously referenced, will become a must-read for anyone interested in the study of Sima Qian and the Shiji. It also serves as a most welcome reminder of the necessity to periodically re-evaluate well-established perceptions of literary traditions with a critical eye.

Stephen Durrant is professor of Chinese language and literature at the University of Oregon; Wai-yee Li is professor of Chinese literature at Harvard University; Michael Nylan is professor of history at University of California, Berkeley; and Hans van Ess is professor of sinology at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munchen.