Penetrating the transformations from the ancient to the present: Ssu-ma Ch'ien's conception of the Kingly Way in the use of sources for the Hereditary Houses of the Shih chi

This study sheds light on the historiographical attitudes, organizational principles and redactional techniques that Ssu-ma father and son, T'an (d. 110 B.C.) and Ch'ien (145-ca. 86 B.C.), employed in approaching their monumental Shih chi. Focus is on the section of the text devoted to the Hereditary Houses of the pre-Ch'in (221 B.C.) feudal lords (Chapters 31 through 45), with scrutiny directed most intensively at Chapters 32 and 42. This focus allows collation with the earlier sources, many of which are extant and generally intact. Selection of the narratives discussed is based on the degree and types of deviations from sources and between alternate Shih chi accounts, often more clearly revealing the attitudes, themes and principles underlying the Ssu-ma's editorial activities.;The Introduction situates the Grand Scribes' and their work within the post-Axial Age intellectual climate and focuses on their perceived traditional calling obligating them to illuminate and preserve the textual and cultural development of the Kingly Way. From this perspective, the objectives, methods and characteristic features of the Shih chi---and issues germane to the composition and dating of primary source materials---are examined. Chapter One examines the ways in which earlier source narratives are utilized and altered in Chapter 32, allowing close investigation of the employment of historiographical techniques, and of methods of narrative shaping and strategies of theme-formation. Chapter Two is an annotated translation of Shih chi, Chapter 32, "T'ai-kung of Ch'i, Hereditary House 2" which includes a critical apparatus examining parallel source texts and alternate accounts in other chapters of the Shih chi. Chapter Three examines the ways in which earlier source narratives are utilized and altered in Chapter 42, allowing close investigation of the employment of historiographical techniques, and of methods of narrative shaping and strategies of theme-formation. Chapter Four is an annotated translation of Shih chi, Chapter 42, "Cheng Hereditary House 12"; the analytical focus in the critical apparatus compares the narratives therein with parallel source texts and alternate accounts in other chapters of the Shih chi. The identification of these narratives expedites close source analysis that I undertake in Chapter Three.;In the "Conclusion," I discuss the ways in which close source analysis also reveals instances of Ssu-ma Ch'ien's personal interpretation of historical events and figures, as well as instances of his indulging his historical imagination. I also discuss how Ssu-ma Ch'ien's narrative shaping permits his reader to gain an understanding of specific themes and moral principles which the narratives in the Shih chi turn upon.