The Records of the Grand Historian: A Timeless Classic on Humanity and Power, a Treasure Trove of Human Studies

Professor Kim Won-joong's 『The Records of the Grand Historian』, a representative humanities bestseller that has been reprinted and loved by many readers, has been included in Minumsa's World Literature Collection.
The first official Chinese history, "Records of the Grand Historian," was written by Sima Qian, who endured the humiliation of castration and inherited the will of his father, a historian. It is a treasure trove of human studies that contains 2,000 years of ancient Chinese history and the myriad aspects of human affairs, and is the origin of numerous idioms such as "wasin sangdam" (a person who is in a state of shock and despair), "tosagupeng" (a person who is in a state of shock and despair), and "sa myeon chuga" (a person who is in a state of shock and despair).
Among them, the 70 biographies, which account for more than half of the 130 chapters of the Records of the Grand Historian, mainly contain biographies of people who worked for emperors and feudal lords, and sometimes feature extraordinary figures who transcend class.
Sima Qian's historical consciousness is best revealed in his descriptions and evaluations of the lives of people from all walks of life and the events related to them.
There are many masterpieces that highlight the achievements of countless talented individuals, and they offer insight into the fundamental question of how to live life, thus giving readers a greater sense of impact.
Lu Xun, the greatest Chinese writer, evaluated the biographies not only for their value as historical texts, but also as a kind of Peanut literature comparable to the Li Xiao, the first lyric literature.


The World Literature Collection 『Records of the Grand Historian』 was published in four volumes (collections 407-410). Professor Kim Won-joong, an expert in Eastern classics who translated the entire 『Records of the Grand Historian』 for the first time as an individual in 2011, translated it while simultaneously considering the environment of Sima Qian's time and the linguistic environment of modern readers, thereby transcending the space and time of 2,000 years and securing the closest bridge between the author and the readers.


“The biographies are a treasure trove of anthropology that transcends time and space, and at the same time, they show the unity of literature and history. The renowned literary historian Lu Xun praised them as a literary work that is not only outstanding as a historical book but also comparable to the Li Sao, the first lyric literature, saying, ‘It is a historian’s excellent song, a rhymeless Li Sao (史家之絶唱, 無韻之離騷)’.” - From the translator’s preface