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.

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.

South Korean scholar So Jin Cheol claim that Bu is not Yūryaku but Sima, who became King Muryeong of Baekje.

is: 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 ).

Sima Qian's model is based on the Mandate of Heaven.

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.

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

* 265: The Jin Dynasty is founded when the overthow of the Cao Wei Dynasty by Sima Yan.

* History of China is written by Sima Qian ( approximate date ).

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.

Unlike Sima Qian's list of Shang Dynasty kings, which is closely matched by oracle bones from late in that period, records of Xia rulers have not yet been found in archeological excavations.

He is replaced by his granduncle Sima Yu, who is installed as Jin Jianwendi.

The earliest reliable reference ( circa 100 BCE ) to Laozi is found in the Records of the Grand Historian ( Shiji ) by Chinese historian Sima Qian ( ca.

Of the elections in Afghanistan, Sima Samar, former Afghan Minister for Women's Affairs, stated, " This is not a democracy, it is a rubber stamp.

Today there is skepticism amongst some scholars about this claim as recorded by Sima Qian.

This fictional account is told through the eyes of the historian Sima Qian, who writes about Marcus Scipio after he travels from Rome to China.

The only account of the life of Zhuangzi is a brief sketch in chapter 63 of Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian, where he is described as a minor official from the town of Meng ( in modern Anhui ) in the state of Song, living in the time of King Hui of Liang and King Xuan of Qi ( late 4th century BCE ).