史記における人間描寫

Abstract

Luckily for scholars, a portion of the sources which Ssu-ma Ch'ien used in compiling his Shih chi have been preserved. Among the surviving works are the Tso chuan and the Kuo yü, two important texts dealing with the history of the Spring and Autumn period. By comparing the accounts in these two works with that found in the Shih chi-in this case the events narrated in the Hereditary House of Chin, Shih chi 39--it is possible to determine how Ssu-ma Ch'ien selected his material from the two older works and rewrote or expanded it in an effort to achieve the most realistic and convincing portrayal of the persons involved. Such a study throws light not only upon the passive side of his work-that of selecting and arranging the accounts from earlier sources--but upon his active role in creating a new and original portrayal of the persons and events of history.