adversity, emperor wu, friendship, ren an, sima qian

Friends That Stand by You in Adversity Are Worth Knowing

An old Chinese proverb says: “Friends show their love in times of trouble, not in happiness.” This held true for Sima Qian and his friend Ren An. Sima Qian (145-86 B.C.) served as the governor of Yizhou (in modern Sichuan) after inheriting his father Sima Tan’s official position as the royal historian. He was working on ...

September 3, 2021

Helen London

The Great Chinese Historian Sima Qian

The legacy of Sima Qian’s book Shiji has a deep impact, with passion for his country and a determination to fulfill his mission to keep an accurate record of history. Sima Qian went through humiliation and torture to write the famous historic book Shiji. It is as important as the Encyclopaedia Britannica. Sima Qian (135-86 B.C.), alias Zichang, was ...

August 13, 2021

Max Lu