"The Biography of Sima Qian" is an epic biography with "spiritual growth" as its core. It breaks through the constraints of linear time and adopts a montage structure of "theme aggregation and time and space interweaving". With a grand length of 750,000 words in five volumes and forty chapters, the work transforms Sima Qian's life into a dialogue spanning two thousand years.
The whole book uses Sima Qian's life moments as the anchor point, radiating his thoughts, creations and historical echoes, forming a trio of "personality-era-eternity". From the birth of Longmen, studying in Chang'an, and grand tours around the world, to joining the imperial court, serving as an envoy to the southwest, and inheriting his father's ambition; from the purgatory test of Li Ling's disaster, the life and death decision of being tortured in the silkworm room, to writing books with determination, and making history with blood and tears; finally tracing the history of the thousands of years of dissemination of "Historical Records" from banned books to classics, from personal writings to the soul of the nation.
The work uses delicate characterization techniques, profound philosophical and historical criticism, and rare ideological sharpness. It uses three narrative voices (the Omniscient, Sima Qian's inner monologue, and commentators from past generations), as well as rich and textured details and textual reflections to recreate the political struggle, scientific and technological civilization, and daily life of the Han Dynasty. Each chapter is set up with "eyes and torture" and "thousand-year echoes" to launch eternal questioning in the depth of history.
This is not only a history of personal suffering and glory, but also a history of the emergence of Chinese historical thought. It is also an eternal revelation about historical writing, the spirit of scholars and the value of civilization.
