论《史记》对汉初最高统治者的贬斥
摘要
Ssu-ma Ch'ien is the great historian and litterateur in China, noted for his authorship of the magnum opus Shih chi which is considered as the most important history records of China. Being practical and critical and having the spirit of seeking truth from facts, Ssu-ma Ch'ien, on the principle of being critical of emperors and officials, has finished the historic book Shih-chi which had a dramatic fate. The sensitive insight into the potential crisis in Han dynasty has helped Ssu-ma Ch'ien bitterly denounce the incontinent and cruel lives of the imperators, the intrigues against each other in the court and the decline of morality. His criticism even directed to the Emperor Hanwu Di. It is Shih-chi that has toppled down the kingcraft, and it is only Ssu-ma Ch'ien who has had the very courage to criticize the emperor.