Sima Guang

Chinese statesman, historian, and poet

• Born: November 17, 1019
• Birthplace: Xia, Hunan Province, China
• Died: 1086
• Place of death: Bian Lian, Hunan Province, China

Sima Guang was a scholar, statesman, and poet who compiled the Zizhi tongjian, one of the outstanding works in Chinese historiography. He was also a significant political figure in the Northern Song Dynasty.

Early Life

Sima Guang (suh-mah gwahng) was intensively educated in the Confucian classics and influenced by the historical writings of Gao Jun (Kao Chün) and the commentaries of the Zuozhuan (fifth century b.c.e.; Tso chuen, 1872). Early in his life, he developed a passion for historical studies that motivated him to read widely. He completed his education in 1038, passed the civil service examinations, and moved rapidly into public office.

From 1038 to 1060, Sima Guang established a distinguished and productive record in a variety of high positions. An excellent writer and speaker, he built a reputation as a fiscal conservative, opposing high taxes and extravagance in public office. He was firmly committed to the Confucian emphasis on the correct understanding of the past as a guide to proper life and preparation for service to the state, and, as a consequence, he served to promote the growth of schools and academies in Song China. Sima Guang is frequently represented as a hero in Chinese children’s books. This reputation stems from his having saved a young friend from drowning by breaking the water tank into which the child had fallen.

Life’s Work

It is as one of China’s greatest historians that Sima Guang is most remembered. In 1064, he presented to Emperor Yingzong (Yang-tsung; r. 1064-1067) a chronological table of Chinese history from its origins to the beginnings of the Song Dynasty. His purpose was to organize the scattered records and existing information into a convenient and manageable form. Two years later, he presented the emperor with a chronicle of the history of the Warring States (475-221 b.c.e.), which he titled the Tongzhi (comprehensive record). The emperor was so impressed with this work that he gave Sima Guang a mandate to compile the records of all the emperors, rulers, and ministers before the Song Dynasty. Two distinguished scholars were appointed to assist in the work.

In 1067, Sima Guang was directed to read his work in the emperor’s presence. The emperor titled it Zizhi tongjian (1084; comprehensive mirror for aid in government) and wrote a preface that would later be included with the completed work.

At approximately the time Sima Guang began his historical project, the celebrated reformer Wang Anshi rose to power as literary councillor, vice grand councillor, and, in 1070, grand councillor. The two acquaintances were philosophically opposed to each other and had vigorously debated their differences on national policies. When Wang Anshi’s reform program received imperial support from 1070 to 1085, Sima Guang emerged as the leader of the opposition to Wang’s sweeping reforms. His vigorous opposition forced Sima out of government during this period. He retired to Luoyang with a comfortable sinecure and dedicated himself to his historical endeavor.

Between 1070 and 1084, Sima Guang directed the collection and writing of his great history. He began with a chronological outline of the 1,362 years of Chinese history preceding the Song Dynasty. Next, he had all available sources, family records, biographies, anecdotes, document collections, inscriptions, dynastic histories, and literary works reviewed and cited in the outline in the appropriate places. From this outline he created what he called the “long draft.” If the cited accounts all agreed, the draft was so written; if there were varying interpretations, the most logical explanation was used with the conflicting accounts noted and an explanation offered as to the inclusion or exclusion of the account.

Sima Guang then began the process of summarizing and reducing the text to the most essential details. He reduced the long draft (originally several hundred manuscript rolls) to 294 rolls. As each phase of the project was finished, it was presented to the emperor. In 1084 the final work, along with a thirty-roll outline and a thirty-roll examination of the differences between the sources, was completed. This work was the first of its kind in the discipline of historiography and one of the most significant efforts in world history.

The inherent disadvantages of the chronicle nature of the project were overcome, in large measure, by subsequent works. In the twelfth century, a scholar, Yuan Shu (Yüan Shu), rewrote the history by tracing 239 topics from beginning to end, creating the first topical history in the Chinese experience. Also in the twelfth century, the philosopher Zhu Xi completed a digest of the Zizhi tongjian, selecting the most significant historical events included and developing them in narrative fashion so as to convey the moral lessons of history from the Confucian perspective. According to many historians, it is unfortunate that it was Zhu Xi’s version of the history that became the most widely used in China, resulting in a moralism that stifled intellectual life for some time.

Sima Guang’s work brought a new emphasis to Chinese dynastic history, fitting it into the cyclical idea of history that had emerged with Sima Qian in the Han Dynasty. Sima Guang interpreted the rise and fall of dynasties as a part of an established rhythm but was of the opinion that wise leaders could learn from past cycles and make moral choices that would extend the life of the dynasty. This perspective led Sima Guang to assume the leadership of the conservative opposition to Grand Councillor Wang Anshi and his reform program. The fierce power struggle between these two brilliant scholars developed into one of the most famous political conflicts in Chinese history.

The reign of Emperor Shenzong (Shen-tsung; r. 1068-1085) coincided with Wang Anshi’s reform program and Sima Guang’s writing of the Zizhi tongjian. It had been the emperor’s support for Wang that had driven Sima Guang to his scholarly efforts. In the third month of 1085, however, the emperor died and was succeeded by his ten-year-old son, Zhezong (Che-tsung; r. 1086-1101). The young emperor’s grandmother, Xuan Ren (Hsuan Jen), was appointed to act as his regent. Opposed to many of Wang’s reforms and impressed with the Zizhi tongjian, she immediately called Sima Guang to the capital. In the fourth month of 1085, the famous historian made a triumphant return to power. He was determined to eliminate all Wang’s programs, which were, in his view, the result of wrong ideas. Within a year, Sima Guang had rescinded every one of Wang’s reform measures. Boards and agencies were abolished, supporters of Wang were transferred out of the capital, and laws were canceled. Nearly every trace of Wang’s reforms was removed. Wang Anshi was a southerner and a reformist; Sima Guang was a northerner and a conservative: The struggle was both philosophical and political.

Wang Anshi lived until 1086, long enough to see his reform program destroyed. Five months later, Sima Guang, having achieved his desire to rescind Wang’s program, died in Bian Lian. From every account, his funeral was a national event. The emperor and empress dowager attended, all routine business in the capital city was suspended for the day, and memorial services were conducted in all parts of the country.

Although the two factional leaders were gone, the struggle continued long after their deaths. With every subsequent change of leadership, the battle lines were redrawn. Liberal forces would restore Wang Anshi’s reforms, then conservatives would call up the image and history of Sima Guang and rescind them again. For years, the two men and their supporters were alternately defamed and restored. This inability to maintain a steady course may have significantly weakened the Song Dynasty and contributed to its decline.

Significance

Sima Guang was one of the outstanding historians of China. He is important because of the critical intelligence used in the examination and evaluation of sources, the understanding and development he contributed to the historical process, the great skill he demonstrated in narration, the preservation and organization of early Chinese records that he accomplished, and the enormous scope of Zizhi tongjian, which many consider the finest single historical work in Chinese history. Sima Guang sought to develop history as a means of understanding the present. He is deserving of a prominent place in the history of China and in the writing of history in general.

Bibliography

De Bary, William Theodore, Irene Bloom, and Wing-tsit Chan, comps. Sources of Chinese Tradition. 2d ed. New York: Columbia University Press, 1999-2000. Contains several passages from the writings of Sima Guang with editorial analysis of not only his work but also that of other historians and political leaders of the Song Dynasty.

De Crespigny, Rafe, trans. To Establish Peace: Being the Chronicle of Late Han for the Years 189-220 A.D. as recorded in chapters 59 to 69 of the “Zizhi tongjian” of Sima Guang. Canberra, Australia: Faculty of Asian Studies, Australian National University, 1996. A partial translation of Sima Guang’s major work.

Hymes, Robert P., and Conrad Schirokauer, eds. Ordering the World: Approaches to State and Society in Sung Dynasty China. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993. A collection of papers on the state and society in China during the Sung Dynasty. Bibliography and index.

Liu, James T. C. Reform in Sung China: Wang An-shih (1021-1086) and His New Policies. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1959. A careful analysis of the reform program of Wang Anshi with reference to the philosophical differences between Wang and his antagonist Sima Guang.

Meskill, John Thomas. Wang An-shih: Practical Reformer? 1963. Reprint. Boston: Heath, 1967. A study of Wang Anshi and his reform program.

Williamson, H. R. Wang An-shih: A Chinese Statesman and Educationalist of the Sung Dynasty. 2 vols. 1935-1937. Westport, Conn: Hyperion, 1973. A detailed biography of Wang Anshi. Places great emphasis on Sima Guang. Williamson effectively develops the power struggle between the two and includes quotations from their correspondence and debate.