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.

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.

A star catalogue is featured in one of the chapters of the late 2nd-century-BC history work Records of the Grand Historian by Sima Qian ( 145-86 BC ) and contains the " schools " of Shi Shen and Gan De's work ( i. e. the different constellations they allegedly focused on for astrological purposes ).

The Xia Dynasty of China ( from c. 2100 to c. 1600 BC ) is the first dynasty to be described in ancient historical records such as Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian and Bamboo Annals.

In 105 BC, Sima was among the scholars chosen to reform the calendar.

In 96 BC, on his release from prison, Sima chose to live on as a palace eunuch to complete his histories, rather than commit suicide as was expected of a gentleman-scholar.

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.

Zhang read many of the great works of history in his day and claimed he had found ten instances where the Records of the Grand Historian by Sima Qian ( 145 – 90 BC ) and the Book of Han by Ban Gu ( AD 32 – 92 ) differed from other ancient texts that were available to him.

* 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.

Chapter 123 of the Shiji ( whose author, Sima Qian, died c. 90 BC ) reports:

The reports of Zhang Qian were put in writing in the Shiji (" Records of the Grand Historian ") by Sima Qian in the 1st century BC.

The historian Sima Qian ( 145 – 90 BC ) dated it much earlier than the 4th century BC, attributing it to the work of Yu the Great ; modern scholars now consider it to belong to the 6th century BC ..

** Sima Xiangru, Chinese statesman, poet, and musician ( d. 117 BC )

* Sima Qian, Chinese historian ( b. 145 BC )

Three mountain chains — Sima, Nioumakele, and Jimilime — emanate from a central peak, Mtingui ( 1, 575 m ), giving the island its distinctive shape.

This claim was made by Jiao Yu in his Huolongjing Quanzhi ( Fire-drake Manual in One Complete Volume ), his preface written in 1412 AD ( although the book was originally published in the mid 14th century ), and that Zhuge had used not only " fire weapons " but land mines in the Battle of Hulugu Valley against the forces of Sima Yi and his son Sima Zhao of the Wei Kingdom.

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.

In another volume of Records of the Grand Historian, Youxia ( 游俠列傳 ), Sima Qian detailed several embryonic features of xia culture from his period.

The political reformers at court, called the New Policies Group ( 新法, Xin Fa ), were led by Emperor Shenzong of Song and the Chancellors Fan Zhongyan and Wang Anshi, while the political conservatives were led by Chancellor Sima Guang and Empress Dowager Gao, regent of the young Emperor Zhezong of Song.

* Sima Yan ( Jin Wudi ), first emperor of the Jin Dynasty ( d. 290 )

The Records of the Grand Historian by Sima Tan ( d. 110 BCE ) and his son Sima Qian ( 145 – 86 BCE ) established the standard model for all of imperial China's Standard Histories, such as the Book of Han written by Ban Biao ( 3 – 54 CE ), his son Ban Gu ( 32 – 92 CE ), and his daughter Ban Zhao ( 45 – 116 CE ).

Sima Qian calls both the dynasty and its final capital by the name Yīn ( 殷 ), a popular term that has been synonymous with the Shang throughout history, and is often used specifically to describe the later half of the Shang dynasty.

The Xia Dynasty was described in classic texts such as the Classic of History ( Shujing ), the Bamboo Annals, and the Records of the Grand Historian ( Shiji ) by Sima Qian.

* May 17 – Sima Yan ( Jin Wudi ), first emperor of the Jin Dynasty ( b. 236 )