Sima Qian (145?-90? BC) was the first major Chinese historian. His Shi Ji, or Records of the Grand Historian, documents the history of China and its neighboring countries from the ancient past to his own time.
Sima Qian set these aims for himself, to separate fact from legend, to be accurate in geographical details, and to give as full an account as possible of historical events and the lives of those concerned. His achievement is a landmark in Chinese History that has maintained its eminent position for more than 2,000 years. Chinese, Japanese , and Korean scholars have never ceased to read, admire, and love the Shi Ji.
This second volume of the history of the Han dynasty consists of chapters dealing principally with the reign of Emperor Wu, one of the most energetic and strong-willed of China's rulers. Here the historian is chronicling events he has witnessed and writing of the men he personally knows or has known. In Nagano Hozan's 1783-1837) words, "He makes us see in our minds the character of the men of the time, and this is why he is a great historian,"