Sima Qian (ca. 145 or 135 BC – 86 BC) (Wade-Giles spelling: Szu-ma Chien) was a Prefect of the Grand Scribes (Chinese: 太史公; taishigong or tai-shih-kung) of the Han Dynasty. He is the father of Chinese historiography for his work, Records of the Grand Historian, a "Jizhuanti"-style general history of China, covering more than two thousand years from the Yellow Emperor to Emperor Wu of Han. His work laid the foundation for later Chinese historiography.
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