Sima Tan

Sima Tan (zh-cw|c=司馬談|w=Ssu-ma T'an, c. 165–110 BC) was an early Chinese historian who worked under the Western Han. He was the father of Sima Qian, who upon the death of Sima Tan, took up his father's work and completed the 130 volume "Records of the Grand Historian".

An essay by him has survived within the "Records of the Grand Historian". It is an assessment of the six major philosophical traditions ("schools") of his day: Confucianism, Daoism, Legalism, Mohism, Terminalism and Naturalism. Sima Tan himself was a follower of Huang Lao, an early Han form of Daoism.

Sima Qian also gives a few other details about his father's life. He studied astronomy with Tang Du, the "I Ching" under Yang He and Daoism under Master Huang. He held the position of Grand Historian between 140-110 BC.

References

* Sima Qian (1993), "Records of the Grand Historian of China. Qin Dynasty". Translated by Burton Watson (Hong Kong: The Research Centre for Translation [The Chinese University of Hong Kong] ; New York, Columbia University Press). ISBN 0-231-08168-5 (hbk); ISBN 0-231-08169-3 (pbk)
* de Bary, W.T. & Bloom, I., "Sources of Chinese Tradition", Volume One, 2nd ed. (New York, 1999).

ee also

*Sima Qian
*Han Dynasty
*"Shiji"
*Daoism