Chapter 8 Sima Qian II

Maoling is only a few tens of miles away from Chang'an, which means it is at the feet of the emperor.One of the obvious intentions of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to drive the rich here was to strengthen the imperial power so that these people would not cause trouble everywhere.Because there are many rich people, a prosperous small city was quickly built.Sima Qian did not feel that he was poor when he was among the poor, but now it is different. The streets are full of luxurious houses and beautiful houses, tall cars and horses, and there are groups of noble ladies and noble sons.It is impossible for Sima Qian not to be stimulated at all. He will not lose his impression of what the neighborhood children eat and play.He missed his friends who herded cattle and sheep in his hometown, and thus established his strong grassroots awareness.He wants his son to inherit his father's career, and he worships his father.His mind is full of stories, modern ones, ancient ones, all kinds. This is obviously an extraordinary wealth. The children in the neighborhood can only look at him longingly, hoping to listen to him every day.If his father opened a teahouse to tell stories, the business would be booming, and people from Chang'an would come to listen to them by car.There was no such thing at the time.Even if there was, Sima Tan wouldn't do it.None of the ancestors in the ancestral hall will agree, and it is also good to cultivate and study.During the Warring States Period, there was a Sima Cuo who was a senior staff member in the Qin State. His ability to control the King of Qin was better than that of the famous strategist Su Qin. He was the glory of the Sima family.Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty recruited talents based on the strategy of unification, and Sima Tan hoped that his son would become a weapon and be better than him in the future.

Sima Qian himself said that he "recited ancient prose at the age of ten".The gaze of this genius boy included almost everything that could be recorded in words at that time, such as "Book of Changes", "Shangshu", "Spring and Autumn", "Zuo Zhuan", "Guoyu", "Warring States Policy", and writings of philosophers, etc. Needless to say, he also studied astronomy, geography, art of war, commerce, foreign scenery... Think about how high the bamboo slips are piled up in his study.Ordinary people have long been overwhelmed by the vast sea of ​​books, but Sima Qian can play in the water and even ride the waves. It seems that it is not enough to say that he is a genius, he is simply a fairy.There is a word: pedantic heaven and man.Sima Qian is such a person.Today's scholars may spend their whole life working hard on one book alone.

From the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period to the Former Han Dynasty, about 600 years, China has no shortage of people with broad knowledge of the past and present, and Sima Qian is just one of them.Qin Shihuang launched a book-burning campaign, and Emperor Wu of the Han came to respect Confucianism again. The avenue of thought gradually became a small way, and the fertile soil for the birth of thought became increasingly barren.Original geniuses are almost extinct, but they have attracted successive generations of commentators.In Western countries, this is clearly not the case.The characteristic of Westerners is that when something grows stronger, the power to counter it will grow at the same time.In other words, they are highly reflective and understand that everything has two sides.

Qin Huang Han Wu ruled the world, from the vast territory to the rich ideas, all must be brought into the control of the imperial power.I think this is far more than a major topic for historians. Sima Qian lived in Maoling for seven or eight years, until he was twenty years old and began to travel thousands of miles.Boy geniuses work very hard, but not very hard.If he learns physically and mentally exhausted, like middle school students today, then most of the knowledge he learns is false knowledge, which is a stepping stone that he intends to forget in the future when he learns.Only when you have mastered the knowledge, can draw inferences about other cases from one instance, and gain intellectual pleasure from it, can that be called learning.Sima Qian also wandered around in his free time, Xiao Maoling, Da Chang'an, his eyes were full of surprises.The external world is no less attractive to him than books, and the two complement each other.Some people say that life is a big book, which is only half true.If you don't open your eyes through books, life is a little book, and you can't see many things.Living by experience alone, the scope of mind expansion is too limited.The little experience of animals is nothing but a continuation of instinct. Animals can only survive, not live.In any case, people should not look up to animals.

The ancients seem to be wiser than us in understanding all aspects of life.If you don't believe it, then you might as well spend a few years to carefully look at what we Chinese thought and did in the hundreds of years from the Spring and Autumn Period to the Former Han Dynasty. Going back to history is to win today. And to bear the weight of history, we must have the ability to win easily.It's not pretending to be relaxed, and it's not a smiley, nonsensical relaxedness. Sima Qian has grown into a young man, with a slender figure, and he is very attractive in Hanfu.His father didn't arrange marriage for him, so he didn't know what was going on.Is it because of poverty?Or do you think about career first?His mother has passed away, and he didn't say what year she died.My father stayed in Chang'an most of the time. He studied with his teacher in Maoling and ate simple meals when he returned home.The neighbor is big fish and big meat, he just smells the aroma.Due to the rule of Wenjing, the first half of Emperor Wu's era was relatively wealthy. There were more than 20 million people in the country, and it was not a problem for ordinary people to eat meat.The war with the Xiongnu emptied the treasury, the emperor extended his hand to the people, and newborn children had to pay taxes.Sima Qian was not particularly poor either. He saved up all the money his father gave him. He had a grand plan, not to beg for a wife, but to travel all over the country.The teacher noticed that he had a disheveled face and asked him to eat, so he took the opportunity to satisfy his hunger.Kong Anguo is a proud scholar with a much better family background than him.On the day he learned to go out, the teacher not only gave him funding, but also wrote letters to friends and students from other places to help him.In short, Sima Qian made sufficient preparations for the trip.

A successful student at the age of twenty, he already has a pair of eyes that can look at history and reality.What he learned from those concise and concise bamboo slips is much better than several postdoctoral fellows today. Of course, with thousands of years of Chinese history, there are not many learned people like Sima Qian.He spent his whole life with books, traveling thousands of miles, reading while walking.Some literati who are also well-learned have a lot of time to be busy doing other things, such as the great Su Dongpo. Everything is ready, the departure date is imminent.Sima Qian was as excited as he was about to ask for a wife. "I see how charming the green hills are, and the green hills are so charming when I see them." (Xin Qiji's words) Green hills and green waters are his beautiful and beautiful wife.He bought a sword and looked at it with a light at night.The scholar took to the street with a sword, very proud.He boarded a restaurant and shouted to the shopkeeper: "One leg of lamb and five catties of wine!" He ate so much that the diners at the next table were amazed.He still looks like a scholar, he is clearly a ranger.

Sima Qian admired rangers since he was a child, and was fascinated by listening to stories.Not long after moving from his hometown to Maoling, he also saw the hero Guo Xie with his own eyes, and was very surprised to find that Guo Xie was short and capable.He originally thought that Guo Daxia was born like Xiang Yu who could carry a tripod.As everyone knows, the short Guo Xie has a great reputation. As a commoner, he immediately caused a sensation when he arrived in Maoling. The rich and powerful competed to curry favor. If he wanted to invite him to a meal, he had to send an invitation half a month in advance.When he went to the street, he was surrounded by tall and mighty men lined up on the left and right, but he himself seemed peaceful, as if he was a real person.We will talk about this person later.Sima Qian's writing about rangers, especially Guo Xie, has a strong subjective color, which is related to his childhood imagination, and I personally don't completely agree with it.In my opinion, such things as chivalry are mostly for show, superficially leading to "righteousness", secretly colluding with powerful people, and killing people like hemp.This kind of person who acts by experience and intuition is often very smart. He must raise the banner of rebellion when he grows his power.And the more powerful he is, the more humble he is, pointing to Zhang Yang everywhere, making people admire him involuntarily.Extending this example, we will find that the current popular martial arts is based on killing, and it is a psychological compensation in a peaceful environment.And layer after layer of gaudy superficial articles, pull up the banner of culture, and disguise the murderous nature.Actually, why pretend?There is a market for martial arts, which is not necessarily a bad thing.

Before Sima Qian started his Long March, he also met Zhang Qian, who had just returned from the Western Regions. This veritable explorer, wise and courageous emissary of the Han Dynasty, told Sima Qian in detail about the population, appearance, customs, products, geographical location and characteristics of the countries in the Western Regions. military power.Sima Qian was like a treasure, and later he wrote "Biography of Dawan" based on the information provided by Zhang Qian.Some experts said that in the following two thousand years, no scholar's research on the Western Regions went beyond the scope of "Biography of Dawan".

This year was also the year when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty made outstanding martial arts. The army led by Wei Qing severely damaged the Xiongnu and drove them deep into the Mongolian grassland.The city of Chang'an, which had been under threat for decades, breathed a sigh of relief. Sima Qian embarked on the journey amidst a series of excitement.He took the official post car to deliver official documents, and every thirty miles was a stop.Since his father and teacher were both court officials, he received preferential treatment and saved a lot of trouble.He brought a lot of things, in addition to simple daily necessities, more bamboo slips, silk and brushes for records.At that time, Hanli became popular and replaced the complicated seal script.Sima Qian must have written beautiful official script, right?It is a pity that it has been lost now, and there is not a single piece of bamboo. "Historical Records" was completed, with a total of 526,000 characters, and his drafts and notes are probably ten times this number?

After more than 2,000 years, I saw a refreshed Sima Qian on the road facing the rising sun in an official car.He also takes water, which is also very convenient.Due to the needs of governance and military affairs, the water and land transportation in the era of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was extremely developed. Sima Qian left for seven years.