Michael Beers History 106-01 Mr. Horlor July 12‚ 2013 The Life and Works of Herodotus and Sima Qian A Research-Based Commentary Thesis In the book Herodotus and Sima Qian (2010)‚ Thomas R. Martin contests of the Greek Historian and the Chinese Historian Sima Qian. Martin displays that though the historians’ politics‚ cultures‚ and time periods were different‚ both historians had the innate desire to record their subjective view of history as objectively as possible. Though they were not
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Writing Assignment #1 Essay #1 Sima Qian writes of Emperor Qin Shi Huang‚ the First Emperor of the Qin dynasty in Shi Ji six. He records his life’s details and accomplishments from when he comes to the throne at the age of 13‚ and far past the days of his death. Sima describes an Emperor that rules with a strict iron fist‚ as one who was spiritual and superstitious (believed in the 5 powers‚ immortality‚ gods interceding in human affairs etc.)‚ and as one who is the self-proclaimed champion of
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In both Herodotus’ The Histories and Sima Qian’s Records of the Grand Historian‚ there is a great deal of attention paid to the non-Greek and non-Chinese foreigners encountered by both historians. Herodotus’ work arises from his extensive travels and interest in other peoples‚ while Sima Qian’s “The Account of Dayuan” serves a strictly strategic purpose to facilitate the Han emperor’s rule. However‚ both works do share a common theme of ethnocentric superiority. Herodotus and Sima Qian imply the
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Discuss‚ with reference to at least TWO historians. One of these must be Commager. This statement is true‚ and is supported by a range of information‚ particularly shown in ‘The Records of the Historian’ of Sima Qian and ‘The Nature and Study of History’ by Commager. Commager and Sima Qian provide evidence for how history is based on a theory and how it is eventually selected‚ filtered and understood. Historians have different ideologies and judgements‚ which make up unique theoretical bases
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Sima Qian was a very important man in Chinese history. He was born in 145 BC in Longmen‚ Xiayang(Current day Hancheng‚ Shaanxi province) during the Han Dynasty. He was the Grand Astrologer in the Imperial Court of Emperor Wu. Through this position‚ he had access to the Imperial Archives‚ so he started collecting fragments of history‚ and piece them together creating a better‚ more organized‚ and understood records of China’s past. This made him the father of Chinese Historiography‚ but this didn’t
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completely unbiased depiction of their times. What is curious is how historians are able to carry similarities in their portraits of a nation when they had no relation at all in time or culuture. This phenomenon in present in Tacitus’ Germania and Sima Qian’s Account of the Xiongnu. The former a senator and historian of the early Roman Empire‚ and the latter the “father of Chinese historiography” during the Han dynasty. Although there are obvious differences in style‚ these two historians
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Herodotus c.484 B.C-c.429/425 B.C. Greek historian. INTRODUCTION Called the "father of history" by the Roman philosopher Marcus Tullius Cicero‚ Herodotus is best known for his long and compelling prose account of life in Greece‚ Asia Minor‚ and Egypt which focuses on the causes and events of the Greco-Persian Wars. For Herodotus‚ history (historiai) meant "inquiry‚" and his attentions in the History are devoted not just to epic moments in the past‚ but also to geography‚ ethnology‚ and myth
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Herodotus was born in 485 BC in the Greek City of Halicarnassus and is known as the pioneer of history. His series of books‚ The Histories was the first piece of literature that described historical events. No writer had ever attempted to analyze events in history before Herodotus‚ he catalyzed the study of history and allowed scholars to have a deeper understanding of events in the world. The Histories was an account of the Greco-Persian wars‚ which was a series of wars between the Persian Empire
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The accounts of Scythia in Herodotus’ The Histories are organized in concurrence with the timeline of the Persian invasion of Scythia‚ led by King Darius‚ where as the invasion progresses Herodotus repeatedly digresses about the history of Scythia until the Persians and Scythians meet‚ at which point the apparent essence of the accounts of Scythia in The Histories‚ the Persian invasion‚ is concluded. Although Herodotus’ description of Scythia seems to be a byproduct of the accounts of King Darius
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the city for a quieter life is a common one in literature all over the world. Tao Qian and Xie Lingyun both wrote about leaving politics and the city‚ but neither was doing so to become a solitary loner. This can be seen when comparing Tao Qian’s poem Returning to Dwell in Gardens and Fields I and Xie Lingyun’s poem Visiting the Southern Pavilion. Both of the poets were unhappy in city and political life. Tao Qian describes his life in the city as falling “in the snares of dust” (Owen‚ 316)‚ and
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