In the thousands of years of history of the Chinese nation, there are many famous ministers who can either save the country in times of crisis and turn the tide of the tide; or show the battlefield in the trend of decadence and turn things around; their lofty personality, great spirit, outstanding contributions, and moving stories are like brilliant stars in the long river of time, shining brightly and making countless people remember.
However, there is a person who endures humiliation that ordinary people cannot tolerate, and devotes himself to writing books, and the stories of these princes and generals have been written into China's first chronicle of the general history of the Taishi Gongshu, that is, the "Records of History" that we are familiar with.
Writing the book "History of History" is not a whim of Sima Qian, but his lifelong ideal, and he once mentioned this ideal in the "Book of Baoren An": "When he wants to investigate the times of heaven and man, the changes through ancient and modern times have become the words of a family", Sima Qian has such a lofty ideal, which is not unrelated to his living environment.
Sima Qian was a native of Longmen of the Western Han Dynasty, an official during the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and his father Sima Tan was the Taishi Ling of the Western Han Dynasty, who was knowledgeable and knowledgeable, knew astronomy, geography, and knowledge of the ancient and modern, and took the history after the revision of "Spring and Autumn" as his ambition in his lifetime, and Sima Tan's talent and ambition gradually penetrated into Sima Qian's heart and took root.
When Sima Qian was young, he studied the scriptures from the Western Han Dynasty great Confucians Dong Zhongshu, Kong Anguo and others, and ten years later he traveled the world to investigate folk historical materials and prepare for the writing of history books. However, those who have become great things in ancient times must first go through dangers and obstacles, and Sima Qian seems to be unable to escape this law, and a righteous act has caused him to encounter unbearable shame.
During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, there were many wars with the Xiongnu, and in the process of a conquest of the Xiongnu, there was a general named Li Ling, with less than 5,000 thousand infantry, who went deep into the Xiongnu region and encountered the main force of the Xiongnu. Li Ling led the army to fight with the Xiongnu for more than ten days, although he beheaded thousands of Xiongnu, but his own team was also exhausted, ran out of ammunition and food, and reinforcements were delayed.
The final result was that Li Ling surrendered to the Xiongnu, perhaps because of the lives of more than a thousand of his soldiers, or because he was captured by the Xiongnu and could not help himself, in any case, this result caused the dissatisfaction of Emperor Wu of Han. In the past, when Li Ling won the battle, the hundred officials of the court were all praising him, but when the news of Li Ling's defeat and capture came, the hundred officials fell into the well and did their best to slander him.
In the Han Dynasty, the exchanges between the Xiongnu and the Han people did not break because of the war, trade and intermarriage between the two sides abounded, and mutual surrender was also very common, and the Xiongnu prince Jin Riju later became the minister of The Han Wu Emperor, so as long as the factual reasons for Li Ling's defeat, this matter may be a big deal, but the slander of the court villains may affect Li Ling's family.
Therefore, Sima Qian stood up decisively, but the timing and way of Speaking that Sima Taishigong stood up were not appropriate. He said to Emperor Wu of Han: "Li Ling went deep into the hinterland of the Xiongnu with five thousand pawns, killed the enemy excessively, and promoted the prestige of our country, which shows that he is not a small man who is greedy for life and afraid of death, and he may have had to suffer when he surrendered." In the eyes of the enraged Emperor Wu of Han, Sima Qian was defending Li Ling and accusing him of fainting, so Emperor Wu of Han executed Li Ling's entire family and sentenced Sima Qian to palace punishment.
Palace punishment, a very humiliating punishment, is not a capital offense, and it is a crime for words, Sima Qian has complete room for activity, because in the Han Dynasty, it is possible to reduce the crime by paying money, that is, "redemption", this word often appeared in the feudal era, that is, as long as Sima Qian can pay some money, he can reduce the guilt, even if it is only a first-class reduction, he can avoid palace punishment.
In ancient China, when he was an official, the most important thing may be money, but Sima Qian is different, he is a clean official, his sleeves are clean, there is no money, although he was born in a family of officials and eunuchs, and there is no money to atone for his sins, in the "Book of Baoren An", Sima Qian wrote: "The family is poor, the property is not enough to redeem themselves, and relatives and friends have not reached out to help..." From his tone, we can read his regret about this matter, but Sima Qian did not sink because of this, he did not give up his ambition.
In the eyes of the society at that time, the palace punishment was the most inferior, the most humiliating kind of punishment, Sima Qian also thought about it, but the ancient rich and famous people are innumerable, the "History" failed to be expressed in the future generations, Sima Qian felt more regretful, he secretly said: "People are inherently dead, or heavier than Taishan, or lighter than Hong Mao", so he wrote a book in anger, endured humiliation and burden, snared the world's old news, examined the four seas, summarized the rise and fall of the dynasties, starting from the Xuanyuan Yellow Emperor, all the way to the han wudi period, and finally completed the "great song of historians" "The Great Song of Historians" History", Sima Tai Shi Gong, had to make people sigh!