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Abstract
The Shiji (史記 Records of the Grand Historian) is a pathbreaking monument of Chinese history. Its author Sima Qian 司馬遷 created a genre of biography centered around individuals that was continually used in dynastic histories from the Han dynasty onward. Sima Qian's composition of the Shiji not only respected historical facts and directly portrayed them as they occurred, but also paid attention to featuring polished language and beautiful writing. He organically integrated different styles of narrative, expressions, and reasoning and achieved a high degree of uniformity of thought and art, providing a model for later generations of literature and history. The Shiji was not only a pioneer in the genre of Chinese biographical history, but also had a far-reaching impact on later prose, fiction, and drama. It was also soon transmitted overseas and had a large effect on countries in the Chinese cultural sphere. With the introduction of the Shiji to Korea, Korean intellectuals particularly showed interest in and reverence for the work, and it was highly valued in the Korean academic world. By the mid-1960s, with the development of the national economy, all of South Korean society entered a new period of history that not only saw fundamental changes in the nation's appearance, but also saw academic and cultural affairs return to the right track, and at that time South Korean academics renewed their high degree of interest in learning about and researching Chinese academics and culture. It was on this foundation that South Korean intellectuals made great advances in translating and studying the Shiji and made positive contributions to its transmission, spread, and popularization. After briefly reviewing the transmission of the Shiji in Korea, this paper reviews the state of translation and study of the Shiji in South Korea from the nearly four decades from 1971 to 2010 and offers an objective evaluation of some shortcomings and gaps in this research.
Disclosure Statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1 In 108 BCE, after Emperor Wu of Han defeated Wiman's grandson King Ugeo, he established the four commanderies of Lelang, Xuantu, Zhenfan, and Lintun and appointed governors to oversee government affairs. He also required that the four commanderies trade with the Han, which further strengthened the ties and exchanges between ancient Korea and the Han dynasty.
2 The first history from ancient Korea in the style of annals and biographies written in 1145 by Kim Bu-sik (1075–1151), a Confucian scholar appointed by King Injong of Goryeo.
3 A method for using Hanja pronunciation and meaning markings with Old Korean.
4 Educating the people on correct sounds, also called “vernacular script,” was created in the Joseon dynasty Sejong 25th year (1443) and announced to the world in the Sejong 28th year (1446). Shizong yuzhi xunmin zhengyin: xu (Sejong's creation of educating people on correct sounds: preface) states, “Our state's language differs from that of China, and our scripts do not communicate with one another. Therefore, the people are confused, and many people have something to say, but cannot find a way to express themselves. Taking pity on them, we have created twenty-eight characters that are easily learned by the people for ease in everyday use.”
5 Zheng Qiao, Tongzhi (Comprehensive Records) (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1987).
6 Lu Xun, Lu Xun quanji (Complete Works of Lu Xun) (Beijing: Renmin chubanshe, 1981).
7 Han Zhaoqi, Shiji tonglun (A General Survey of the Shiji) (Beijing: Beijing shifan daxue chubanshe, 1990).
8 Seo Kyung-ho, Hanguo Zhongguo yuwenxue yanjiu lunzhu mulu (1945–1999) (Catalog of South Korean studies on Chinese Philology (1945–1999)) (Seoul: Cheng-il Publishing co., 1991).
9 Seo Kyung-ho, Hanguo Zhongguo yuwenxue yanjiu lunzhu mulu (1945–1999) (Seoul: Sol Publishing co., 2001).
10 Min Tu-ki, Zhongguo de lishi renshi (Historical understandings of China) (Seoul: Creation & Criticism Publishing co., 1985).
11 Lee Seong, Lucheng Cui Wanzhi xiansheng songshou lunwenji (Seoul: Hakgobang Publishing co., 1991).
12 Yin Menglun, “Shilun Sima Qian ‘Shiji' zhong de yuyan,” Wenshizhe (Literature, History, and Philosophy) 1956(1).
13 Originally in Wenshizhe 955 no. 2.
14 Originally in Zhongguo sixiang tongzhi (A complete history of Chinese thought), vol. 2, chapter 4.
15 Originally in Zhongguo zhexue shi (A history of Chinese philosophy), vol. 2, chapter 7.
16 Originally in Wenxue yichan zengkan (Literary heritage supplement) 1956 no. 4.
17 Iwamura Shinobu, Sima Qian yu “Shiji” (Sima Qian and the Shiji) (Tokyo: Shincho Publishing co., 1974).
18 Burton Watson, Ssu-ma Ch'ien: Grand Historian of China (Columbia: Columbia University Press, 1958).
19 Han Zhaoqi, Shiji xindu (New readings of the Shiji) (Beijing: Beijing yanshan chubanshe, 2007).
20 In this regard, Lee Sung-kyu (professor in the Seoul National University History Department) has compiled many sources on Joseon scholar officials' understanding of the Shiji. He examined roughly 1,200 writing collections left by Joseon literati from the late sixteenth century onward, and finally confirmed that 105 collections include accounts of Sima Qian and the Shiji, totaling more than 500 documents. He divided these 500 into four categories: 364 were on structure and writing, 26 were on style and wording, 26 were on evidentiary scholarship and annotation, and 100 were on criticism and value. (See “Chaoxian houqi shidafu dui ‘shiji' de lijie,” Zhentan xuebao, 1992) From this we can surmise that there have been centuries of Korean research on the Shiji.