司马迁与《史记》

　　《史记》的作者司马迁(前145年～？)，生于陕西。受父亲影响，他少年时就阅读古人的书籍。20岁时，他到各处去游历，搜集了很多古代名人的资料。后来，他被任命为郎中，可以常随皇帝出游。这些游历，为他以后写《史记》作了准备。

　　父亲死后不久，司马迁接替他的职务做了太史令，有机会翻阅了很多图书，做了大量笔记。公元前104年，他正式开始写作《史记》。他在写作过程中，因为得罪了皇帝，被判重刑。司马迁因此想到了自杀，但想到自己的书还没有写完，就忍受痛苦，发愤编写，终于完成了《史记》。

　　《史记》全书130篇，从传说中的黄帝，写到汉武帝时代，跨越了3,000年的历史。这是中国第一部纪传体通史，内容涉及到了政治、经济、文化、军事等各个方面。其文字简洁通俗，生动传神，既是一部有价值的史学著作，也是一部杰出的文学著作。

　　Sima Qian and His Records of the Historian

　　The author of Records of the Historian is Sima Qian (145 BC-?), who was born in what is now Shaanxi Province. Encouraged by his father, he began to read ancient books when he was still very young. At the age of 20 he started to travel extensively, and gathered a great deal of material on ancient celebrities. Later, he was appointed to an official post, and often went on tours with the emperor.

　　Not long after his father's death, Sima Qian succeeded to his position as the official in charge of historical records. Thus he had the opportunity to read many books and made a great many notes. In 104 BC, Sima Qian commenced his Records of the Historian. Falling foul of the emperor, he was punished and dismissed from office. From that time on, he devoted all his time to his life's work.

　　Records of the Historian is composed of 130 chapters. It starts from the legendary Yellow Emperor (Huangdi), and ends with the reign of Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty, spanning 3,000 years. It was the first comprehensive biographical history book to appear in China. It covers a wide range of subjects, political, economic, cultural, military, etc. Its language is terse and lively, and easy to understand. Records of the Historian is not only a valuable historical work, but also an outstanding work of literature.