Sima Qian's guest appearances

Sima Qian

China: As History Is My Witness

Chinese Characters

The History of China

The Global Novel: a literature podcast

Kublai Khan

Deng Xiaoping

Emperor Wu

Robert Hart

Li Bai

Matteo Ricci

Li Qingzhao

Liu Bei

Wang Anshi

Soong Meiling

Mao Zedong

Qin Shi Huangdi

OwlTail

With Emperor Wu and Sima Qian both gone, this episode dives into the prolific historian himself. Furthermore, we put Buddhism on our radar and end with a look into the beginnings of standardized testing. All that and more on this week's episode.

With Emperor Wu and Sima Qian both gone, this episode dives into the prolific historian himself. Furthermore, we put Buddhism on our radar and end with a look into the beginnings of standardized testing. All that and more on this week's episode.

036 - Sima Qian, Buddhism, and Standardized Tests

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 MitterProducer: Ben CrightonResearcher: Elizabeth Smith Rosser.

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.

Sima Qian: Grand Historian

Free speech has long had a high price in China. Here Sima Qian ponders his privates - and posterity - in a tale that still resonates after more than 2,000 years.

Sima Qian: China's Great Historian