Literary Figure
Sima's Shiji is respected as a model of biographical literature with high literary value and still stands as a "textbook" for the study of classical Chinese. Sima’s works were influential to Chinese writing, serving as ideal models for various types of prose within the neo-classical ("renaissance" 復古) movement of the Tang-Song (唐宋) period. The great use of characterisation and plotting also influenced fiction writing, including the classical short stories of the middle and late medieval period (Tang-Ming) as well as the vernacular novel of the late imperial period.
His influence was derived primarily from the following elements of his writing: his skillful depiction of historical characters using details of their speech, conversations, and actions; his innovative use of informal, humorous, and varied language (even Lu Xun (魯迅) regarded Shiji as "the historians' most perfect song, a "Li Sao" without the rhyme" (史家之絕唱，無韻之離騷) in his Hanwenxueshi Gangyao (《漢文學史綱要》); and the simplicity and conciseness of his style.
Read more about this topic: Sima Qian
Famous quotes containing the words literary and/or figure:
“There was a literary gentleman present who who had dramatised in his time two hundred and forty-seven novels as fast as they had come out—and who was a literary gentleman in consequence.”
—Charles Dickens (1812–1870)
“Frankly, I adore your catchy slogan, “Adoption, not Abortion,” although no one has been able to figure out, even with expert counseling, how to use adoption as a method of birth control, or at what time of the month it is most effective.”
—Barbara Ehrenreich (b. 1941)