Thinkers Timeline

Sima Qian was a Chinese historian and writer. He lived from around 145 BCE to about 86 BCE, during the Western Han dynasty. He is often called the father of Chinese history. His great work, the Shiji or Records of the Grand Historian, set the model for how history was written in China for the next 2,000 years. He was born in a small town in what is now Shaanxi province, in central China. His father, Sima Tan, was a court historian and astronomer at the imperial court of Emperor Wu. Sima Qian was educated as a scholar and travelled widely across the Han empire as a young man. He visited important historical sites and gathered materials for what would become his great work. When his father died in 110 BCE, Sima Qian inherited the position of grand historian. In 99 BCE, his life took a terrible turn. A Han general named Li Ling had surrendered to the Xiongnu, a nomadic enemy people. Sima Qian defended Li Ling at court. The emperor was furious. Sima Qian was sentenced to death. He could escape death only by paying a fine he could not afford or by accepting castration. Most men of his class would have chosen suicide. Sima Qian chose castration. He explained later that he had to live to finish his history. The choice was deeply shameful in his society but allowed him to complete the Shiji. He finished the work around 91 BCE and died a few years later. The Shiji has been read continuously ever since.

Ban Zhao was a Chinese historian, poet, and teacher of the Eastern Han dynasty. She is the first known woman historian of China. She was born around 45 CE in Anling, near modern Xianyang in Shaanxi province. Her family was a famous scholarly household. Her father Ban Biao was a respected scholar and historian. Her two older twin brothers, Ban Gu and Ban Chao, would also become important figures. She was educated at home by both her parents. This was unusual for a girl, even in a scholarly family. By her teens she was widely read in Chinese classics. At fourteen she married Cao Shishu, a local man. They had several children. Her husband died young. She did not remarry, which was already considered virtuous in her culture. Her father had been writing a major history of the Western Han dynasty (206 BCE to 23 CE). After his death, her brother Ban Gu took over the project. In 92 CE, Ban Gu was imprisoned because of court politics and died in prison. Around 97 CE, the emperor summoned Ban Zhao to the capital to finish her brother's work. She was given access to the Imperial Library, an extraordinary privilege for any scholar of her time. She completed the Book of Han (Han shu), one of the most important histories ever written in China. She also wrote Lessons for Women (Nüjie) and many other works. She tutored the empress and other women of the court. She died around 117 CE, aged about 70.