In ancient China, large canals for river transport were established as far back as the Warring States ( 481 – 221 BC ), the longest one of that period being the Hong Gou ( Canal of the Wild Geese ), which according to the ancient historian Sima Qian connected the old states of Song, Zhang, Chen, Cai, Cao, and Wei.

Sima Qian, writing in the late 2nd century BC, dated the founding of the Xia Dynasty to around 2200 BC, but this date has not been corroborated.

* Durant, Stephen W. The Cloudy Mirror: Tension and Conflict in the Writings of Sima Qian ( 1995 ),

The first systematic Chinese historical text, Shiji or Records of the Grand Historian, was written by Sima Qian.

Due to his highly praised work, Sima Qian is often regarded as the father of Chinese historiography.

* The Twenty-Four Histories, a collection of authoritative histories of China, including the Records of the Grand Historian by Sima Qian and the Book of Han by Ban Gu.

Chan 1963: 35-37 ), by Chinese historian Sima Qian ( ca.

Sima Qian ( 145-86 BC ), a Prefect of the Grand Scribes ( 太史令 ) of the Han Dynasty ( 202 BC-220 AD ), is regarded as the father of Chinese historiography because of his universal history, the Records of the Grand Historian ( 史記 ).

The Donghu are mentioned by Sima Qian as already existing in Inner Mongolia north of the state of Yan in 699-632 BC.

Sima Qian ( ca.

Sima Qian was born and grew up in Longmen, near present-day Hancheng in a family of astrologers.

Due to intensive training by his father, by the age of ten, Sima Qian was already well versed in old writings.

At the age of twenty, Sima Qian started a journey throughout the country, visiting ancient monuments, and sought for the graves of the ancient sage kings Yu in Kuaiji Mountain and Shun in Hunan.

In 110 BC, at the age of thirty-five, Sima Qian was sent westward on a military expedition against some " barbarian " tribes.

Fueled by his father's inspiration, Sima Qian started to compile Shiji in 109 BC.

Three years after the death of his father, Sima Qian became the Grand Historian.

Portrait of Sima Qian

In 99 BC, Sima Qian became embroiled in the Li Ling affair, where Li Ling and Li Guangli ( 李廣利 ), two military officers who led a campaign against the Xiongnu in the north, were defeated and taken captive.

As Sima Qian himself explained in his Letter to Ren ' an:

Sima Qian wrote eight rhapsodies ( Fu 賦 ), which are listed in the bibliographic treatise Hanshu.

Before compiling Shiji, in 104 BC, Sima Qian created Taichuli ( 太初曆, which can be translated as ' The first calendar ') on the basis of the Qin calendar.

* Sima, Qian and trans.

Herodotus and Sima Qian: The First Great Historians of Greece and China.

Polybus and Sima Qian ( in French ).

* Stephen W. Durrant ( 1995 ), The Cloudy Mirror: Tension and Conflict in the Writings of Sima Qian.

* 301 – Sima Lun, Chinese usurper of the Jin Dynasty ( b. 249 )

Sima Tan wanted to follow the Annals of Spring and Autumn-the first chronicle in the history of Chinese literature.

The Chinese historical form of dynasty history, or Jizhuanti history of dynasties, was codified in the second dynastic history by Ban Gu ’ s ( 班固 ) History of Han ( 漢書 ), but historians regard Sima ’ s work as their model, which stands as the " official format " of the history of China.

Sima also emphasised, for the first time in Chinese history, the role of individual men in affecting the historical development of China.

Sima ’ s works were influential to Chinese writing, serving as ideal models for various types of prose within the neo-classical (" renaissance " 復古 ) movement of the Tang-Song ( 唐宋 ) period.

In Ancient China, Chinese world history, that of China and the surrounding people of East Asia, was based on the dynastic cycle articulated by Sima Qian in circa 100 BC.

After 2000 years Sima Qian's model still dominates scholarship, although the dynastic cycle is no longer used for modern Chinese history.

* 1084: the enormous Chinese historical work of the Zizhi Tongjian is compiled by scholars under Chancellor Sima Guang, completed in 294 volumes and included 3 million written Chinese characters

* 1093: when the Chinese Empress Dowager Gao dies, the conservative faction that had followed Sima Guang is ousted from court, the liberal reforms of Wang Anshi reinstated, and Emperor Zhezong of Song halted all negotiations with the Tanguts of the Western Xia, resuming in armed conflict with them.

* Sima Guang, Song Chinese chancellor and court historian

* 1084 – The Zizhi Tongjian history is completed by Chinese official Sima Guang.

* Starting in the year 309 BC, the later Chinese historian Sima Qian ( 145 BC – 90 BC ) wrote that the Qin-employed engineer Bi Ling of the newly conquered State of Shu in Sichuan had the shoulder of a mountain cut through, making the ' Separated Hill ' that abated the Mo River, and excavated two canals in the plain of Chengdu.

Sima Qian, a great historian and established Chinese historiography.

* Sima Qian, Chinese historian, father of Chinese historiography

* Sima Qian, father of Chinese historiography

* Sima Guang completes the compilation of a large dictionary, an important work of Chinese lexicography.

* Chancellor Sima Guang and a group of scholars of the Chinese Song Dynasty complete the compilation of the Zizhi Tongjian, an enormous written universal history of China in 294 volumes of 3 million written Chinese characters.

* Sima Guang, Chinese historian and politician ( d. 1086 )