Sima Qian (first century BCE), the author ofRecord of the Historian (Shiji), is Chinas earliest and best-known historian, and his Letter to Ren An is the most famous letter in Chinese history. In the letter, Sima Qian explains his decision to finish his lifes work, the first comprehensive history of China, instead of honorably committing suicide following his castration for deceiving the emperor. In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, some scholars have queried the authenticity of the letter. Is it a genuine piece of writing by Sima Qian or an early work of literary impersonation?The Letter to Ren An and Sima Qians Legacy provides a full translation of the letter and uses different methods to explore issues in textual history. It also shows how ideas about friendship, loyalty, factionalism, and authorship encoded in the letter have far-reaching implications for the study of China.
Stephen Durrant is professor of Chinese language and literature at the University of Oregon; Wai-yee Li is professor of Chinese literature at Harvard University; Michael Nylan is professor of history at University of California, Berkeley; and Hans van Ess is professor of sinology at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munchen.
