A Journal of My Misgivings

A Journal of My Misgivings about the Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji zhiyi 史記志疑), written by Liang Yusheng 梁玉繩 (1745–1819), is a detailed analysis and critique of the Shiji 史記 of Sima Qian 司馬遷 (b. 145 BCE). Sima Qian had composed a masterful survey of the ancient dynasties and ruling houses from legendary times until the second century BCE, and filled it with anecdotes, short biographies, lineages, legends, and learned treatises as well as his own observations and opinions.  Because the scope of Liang’s Journal is as broad and complex as the Shiji, Jeffrey Riegel’s study of it focuses on Liang’s critiques of those parts of the Grand Historian’s Records relating to the slow rise and precipitous fall of Qin, weaving Liang’s scholarship into a revision of Sima Qian’s narration of the five-hundred-year transformation of Qin from marginal state to hegemonic power. Riegel first provides an account of Liang’s life in Qing dynasty Hangzhou and a study of his methodology and sources before turning to revisions of what the Shiji says about Qin’s origins, the state’s ruling lineage, and its later kings and emperors, as well as the geography of the Qin state and empire, and the almost countless battles from which Qin emerged as ultimate victor in 221 BCE. The foundation of Riegel’s revisions to Qin history is the Shiji zhiyi, but on occasion Riegel supplements, corrects, and updates Liang’s scholarship by referring to the numerous archaeological discoveries that have dramatically altered our understanding of what happened in the history of early China. An appendix to the volume summarizes Liang’s valuable studies of early Chinese chronology. Other appendixes (that appear in an online supplement) provide further details on Liang’s corrections to Sima Qian’s text and include a Finding List of the relevant Shiji passages on the Qin, Liang’s scholarship, and other commentaries and translations.