"Historical Records" Literature

Shiji is among the most brilliant masterpieces in Chinese history. As one of the most outstanding historical literatures, it is regarded as a standardized model by historians as well as writers. Despite numerous studies that have already been done in the search of treasures in Shiji, the study of it should never stop since there is still abundant things that require further exploration. Some problems are still left unsolved or lack a thorough study. Therefore, this paper, based on the above considerations, is a study of Shiji in terms of discourse analysis.This paper consists of an introduction and five other chapters.The first chapter is a brief introduction of the aesthetic ideology of Sima Qian, the author of Shiji and the Western Han Dynasty, the time when the author lived. The characteristics of Western Han Dynasty culture are given a full play in Shiji by Sima Qian. The cultural integration oriented from the Sanfu area, the highly united social trend, the contradiction and combination of simplicity and pageantry, the lofty pursuit of scholars are all impeccably interpreted in the great work. In the meantime, the oppression from the governing class at that time deprived scholars of official honors, which put these people in a status of mental depression. The conflict between the pursuit of a great dream and the cruel reality that deprived his right to realize the dream is the ultimate reason for Sima Qian’s profound personality and thought, which contributes greatly to the vigorous, elegant, profound and forceful style of Shiji.The second chapter is a discussion of the relationship between Sima Qian and Mencius, which aims at tracing the origin of Sima Qian’s thought. Sima Qian was free of the influence of flattering trend in early Western Han Dynasty. With the influence of Warring States Period and the pre-Qin scholars, Sima Qian was independent, highly characteristic and pursuing scholarly honor of official rank. He was also influenced by the highly united and all-inclusive social trend of Western Han Dynasty, which, together with the influence of pre-Qin ideology, formed the unique style of Sima Qian, whose thought is quite similar to that of Mencius. They both value loyalty and justice. Sima Qian would rather die for the sake of loyalty and justice while Mencius also held similar thoughts. Sima Qian gave a full display of his idea in Shiji by expressing his profound understanding and appreciation of "dying for the sake of loyalty and justice". In Shiji, opting to live or to die is only superficial. The ultimate significance of life is how one dies. If it is for loyalty and justice and for realizing one’s dream, it is of great worth. Therefore, Shiji highly praises those who made sacrifice for justice, like Qu Yuan and Wu Zixu, and deeply condemns those who stray away from justice in the pursuit of personal interest. Sima Qian’s courageous criticism against the Han emperors and the politics is a concrete interpretation of Mencius’advocacies of "if governors treat people bad, people might rebel" and "the governing class and the people are all equal". Therefore, Shiji is an extension of Mencius’ideology in terms of loyalty and justice.Chapter three is an analysis of the structure of Shiji. From a macro perspective, the structure of Shiji is a unified entity of the five different parts coordinating with each other. The arrangement of each part is highly logical and clearly organized. The first and last texts of each part are of profound connotation, some revealing the spirit of "modesty" and "justice", some criticizing and satirizing, which successfully make the whole work an impeccable entity. The structural significance of Shiji is more than a mere combination of the five parts. It is a complete and exact network of vigorous language. The cultural connotation of the numbers of texts in each of the five parts is the essence of the structure of Shiji. The numbers entail abundant deep meanings which concrete words cannot express. They not only contribute to the beauty of form, but also lead to the realization of its literary significance. The numbers can serve as an invisible tool to achieve the perfect fusion of the five styles and the harmony of the entire structure, as well as a carrier of Sima Qian’s emotion, spirit and curiosity. The highly modeled structure of Shiji carries profound meaning that cannot be fully interpreted by mere words. The structure of each text is also diversified and strictly organized. Each biography is a representation of a group of people with similar spirit and mental status. Biographies of two or more people and affiliated biographies are all scrupulously organized and deserve extensive study. The structure of Shiji, besides its formal function, is a bridge between form and content.The fourth chapter discusses the art of narration in Shiji. In terms of content, Sima Qian employs simple and plain words to tell exciting and fickle stories, which enables readers to enjoy the happiness of reading and understand the profound meaning in the stories. The unique style and emotions in the stories affiliated in the end of each text can always leave readers with endless appeal. Each word in the work is the result of profound consideration. In terms of ways of narration, the arrangement of each event and each sentence has been made with scrupulous consideration, which is of great function and significance and consists of subtle meanings. In narrating similar events or describing similar people, various expressions are used to avoid repetition. The narration and highlighting of a single event are of various functions, explicitly outlining the main point of an event as well as expressing emotions. The clear and vivid narration with detailed description, as well as the perfect coordination of fiction and reality, generalized and detailed narration, and seriousness and witness plays a marvelous narrative symphony of Shiji.The fifth chapter discusses the language features of Shiji. The employment of rhetoric devices such as superposition, alliteration and metaphor greatly enhances the power of words in Shiji. Shiji uses simple words with deep meaning. Each word is chosen with careful consideration. The language used by characters in the stories of Shiji either praises or criticizes the people or events at their time and reveals the social features then. The dialogues between characters are either humorous or metaphoric. The structural words, though without concrete meanings, serve as a tool of expressing the emotion and implying deeper meanings like satire. All these characteristics compose the strong, elegant, vigorous, profound and magnificent style of Shiji.In a word, Shiji, as a historic work, becomes a masterpiece in literature since it can provoke emotions among readers, especially because it inherits the spirit of Mencius, which speaks highly of justice and criticism. Sima Qian combined literature with history in Shiji and poured his love and appreciation of life into the structure and narration of Shiji, which makes Shiji a vigorous and fabulous work that will last forever.