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The sources for this chapter—the corresponding chapter of the SC

First of all, we must consider the sources of this chapter, especially
the relation of this chapter to the corresponding one in the SC, a quite
complicated problem. In writing the earlier chapters of the HS, Pan
Ku used as his main source the chapters of the SC dealing with the same
material, reproducing almost all of those chapters, with additions and
corrections. For the present chapter he seems to have had no such
source. SC ch. 12, "The Fundamental Annals of Emperor Wu," as
we have it today, contains but half of the first paragraph in HS ch. 6;
the remainder of SC ch. 12 is reproduced in its entirety from SC ch. 28.
Some early editor recognized that Szu-ma Ch'ien intended to write a
chronicle of Emperor Wu's reign, and inserted, after the first paragraph

(which alone remained of Szu-ma Ch'ien's writing), the account of this
emperor's religious practises presented annalistically in SC ch. 28. It is
doubtful, then, whether Szu-ma Ch'ien really wrote a chapter of "Fundamental
Annals" for Emperor Wu's reign. Had such an account been
available, Pan Ku would certainly have used it in this chapter.

It is evident that Szu-ma Ch'ien at least planned to write such a
chapter. In the preface to his history (SC 130: 29), he says, "Therefore
I finally transmitted [an account of events] from T'ao-and-T'ang [Yao]
down to and ending with the unicorn [captured in 123 B.C.]." The last
sentence in that preface (130: 65) reads, "The Lord Grand Astrologer,
[Szu-ma Ch'ien], says, `I have transmitted [an account of] the generations
beginning with the Yellow Lord down to and ending with [the
period] T'ai-ch'u [104-101 B.C.], in one hundred thirty chapters'."
The original versified table of contents (130: 32, 33) includes, moreover,
a stanza for an annals of Emperor Wu's reign:

If such a chapter was ever written, it seems to have perished very early,
for no early writer refers to it. It seems indeed very likely that Szu-ma
Ch'ien never wrote a complete chapter. Yet there is some evidence that
he may have written part of such a chapter. Pan Piao (A.D. 3-54), in his
"Summary Discussion" (Lüeh-lun, quoted in HHS, Mem. 30 A: 3a;
trans. in the "Introductory Volume" of this series), reproduces the
statement of Szu-ma Ch'ien, saying that the latter, "beginning with the
Yellow Lord and ending with the capture of the unicorn, composed
`Fundamental Annals', `Hereditary Houses', `Memoirs', `Treatises',
and `Tables', in altogether 130 fascicles," but adds, "Ten fascicles
(chapters) are missing." Pan Ku, in his own preface (HS 100 B: 1a)
likewise uses Szu-ma Ch'ien's date for the close of the SC, saying, "In
[the dynasty's] sixth reign, a clerkly courtier, [Szu-ma Ch'ien], thereupon
. . . privately composed `Fundamental Annals', placing them at
the end of [his chapters devoted to] the various kings . . . . After [the

period] T'ai-ch'u, [these records] are lacking and were recorded." Pan
Ku thus likewise ends the account in the SC with the period T'ai-ch'u.

In other chapters, the present text of the SC however carries the
account to a much later date. (Most of this additional material must
be supplementation by later hands, although some of it was probably
written by Szu-ma Ch'ien himself.) The dates given by
Szu-ma Ch'ien for ending his account, "the capture of the unicorn [123]"
and "T'ai-ch'u [104-101]," are moreover not consistent. They are
evidently a literary way of saying, "after Emperor Wu had begun his
reign," and may be nothing more than literary phrases. The SC versified
table of contents could not have been written until after 104 B.C.,
since it mentions the change of calendar made in that year. That stanza
need not moreover be understood to imply that Szu-ma Ch'ien actually
wrote a "Fundamental Annals" for Emperor Wu's reign, for it may have
merely represented his plan for future writing. There is thus no definite
evidence from the SC or HS concerning whether Szu-ma Ch'ien did or
did not write an annals for Emperor Wu's reign.[1]

There is a possibility based on circumstantial accounts, that such
annals were written and destroyed. P'ei Yin (fl. 465-472), in a
note on SC 130: 65, quotes a comment from the HS Chiu-yi (by Wei
Hung, fl. 25-57), saying, "Szu-ma Ch'ien, in composing his `Fundamental
Annals of Emperor Ching', spoke very much of his defects together with
the faults of Emperor Wu. Emperor Wu became angry and sliced [the
writing] off [the tablets on which the book was written]. Later [Szu-ma
Ch'ien] was sentenced for recommending Li Ling. [Li] Ling had surrendered
to the Huns, hence [the Emperor] committed [Szu-ma] Ch'ien
to the Silkworm House, [where he was castrated. He spoke] some
bitter words, was committed to prison, and died."

The above saying has been taken to imply that Emperor Wu destroyed
the original chapters of the SC which dealt with Emperors Ching and Wu.
Wang Su (159-256) early seems explicitly to have understood it thus.
The San-kuo Chih (by Ch'en Shou, 223-297), in its "Treatise on Wei,"
13: 28a f, the "Memoir of Wang Su," towards the end, says, "Emperor
[Ming, 227-239], also questioned [Wang Su, saying], `Because Szu-ma
Ch'ien was punished, he cherished secret strong feelings within [himself]
and composed the SC to blame and condemn [Emperor] Hsiao-wu, which
makes people gnash their teeth.'

"[Wang Su] replied, `When Szu-ma Ch'ien recorded events, he did not
praise [anyone] without reason or hide any evil [deeds]. Liu Hsiang

[79-8 B.C.] and Yang Hsiung [53 B.C.-A.D. 18] admitted that he had
stated things well and had the qualities of a capable historian, and called
[his book] a recording of facts. [The foregoing statements are taken from
Pan Ku's eulogy on Szu-ma Ch'ien, HS 62: 26a.] Emperor Wu of the
Han [dynasty] heard that he had written the SC, took the "Fundamental
Annals of [Emperor] Hsiao-ching" together with those recording his own
[reign], and read them. Thereupon he became furious, sliced them off,
and threw them away. Down to the present, these two chapters have
the title but no writing. Later there happened the affair of Li Ling,
and thereupon [the Emperor] committed [Szu-ma] Ch'ien to the Silkworm
House. Thus there were secret strong feelings on the part of [Emperor]
Hsiao-wu and not upon the part of the historian [Szu-ma] Ch'ien."

The dependability of these two accounts is questionable. Wang Su's
reply seems merely an expansion of Wei Hung's statement, and hence
may perhaps be neglected. Wei Hung seems moreover to have been
quite mistaken. In the first place, his statement about Szu-ma
Ch'ien's death in prison is not corroborated. Unfortunately, Pan Ku's
biography of Szu-ma Ch'ien says nothing concerning the circumstances
of his death. Since Pan Ku admired Szu-ma Ch'ien greatly, he undoubtedly
collected all that was known about that famous historian; if
Szu-ma Ch'ien had died in prison, that fact would hardly have escaped
Pan Ku's notice. The only time that we know of Szu-ma Ch'ien having
been in prison was at the time that he was castrated, and HS 62: 16a says,
"After [Szu-ma] Ch'ien was punished, he became Chief Palace Writer
and was honored and favored in that position." (The Chief Palace
Writer was the eunuch imperial private secretary, a very important
position.) Moreover, in HHS, Mem. 50 B: 20a, the Minister over the
Masses, Wang Yün, when interceded in behalf of Ts'ai Yung, is said to
have replied as follows, in 192 A.D., "In former times, Emperor Wu did
not kill Szu-ma Ch'ien and left him to compose libelous writings to be
transmitted to later generations." Indeed, in HS 62: 12b, Pan Ku seems
to represent Szu-ma Ch'ien as writing at least his "Introductory Memoir"
(SC ch. 130) after his punishment, and the same chapter quotes a letter
of Szu-ma Ch'ien written after his punishment.[2] Probably Szu-ma

Ch'ien's death, which occurred within the forbidden apartments of the
imperial palace, to which few persons were admitted, was merely unnoticed.
Hence the second part of Wei Hung's statement is false.

Wei Hung's impression of Szu-ma Ch'ien's attitude towards Emperor
Wu is nevertheless correct. SC ch. 30 (Mh III, 552 ff) contains what
are practically annals for the years 124-110; that chapter constitutes a
picture of the ruin brought by war upon a prosperous empire. The
genuine portions of the SC thus contain a drastic criticism of Emperor
Wu's policies.

Pan Ku probably did not himself have any SC "Fundamental Annals
for Emperor Wu." In 62: 16a he repeats his father's statement, "Moreover
ten chapters [of the SC] are lacking; there is a listing [for them, but]
there is no writing [for them]." Chang Yen (iii cent.; also trans. in
Mh I, cci) attempted to enumerate these ten chapters, and writes, in a
note to the passage quoted above, "After the death of [Szu-ma] Ch'ien,
there were lacking the `Annals of [Emperor] Ching' [SC ch. 11], the
`Annals of [Emperor] Wu' [ch. 12], the `Book on Rites' [ch. 23], the `Book
on Music' [ch. 24], the `Book on War' [Szu-ma Cheng (fl. 713-742) says
it was lost (possibly because of criticism like that in HS 100 A: 5a) and
that Master Ch'u substituted for it part of Szu-ma Ch'ien's account of
the calendar, under the title, the `Book on the Sonorous Tubes,' ch. 25;
cf. Mh I, ccii, ccv-ccvii], the `Table by Years of the Generals and Chancellors
since the Rise of the Han [Dynasty', ch. 22], the `Memoir on Fortune-tellers'
[ch. 127], the `Hereditary House of the Three Kings' [ch. 60], the
`Memoir on the Tortoise and the Milfoil' [ch. 128], and the `Memoir of
Fu [K'uan] and Chin [Hsi,' ch. 98]. During [the time of Emperors]
Yüan and Ch'eng [48-7 B.C.], Master Ch'u supplied what was missing
and composed the `Annals of Emperor Wu,' the `Hereditary House of the
Three Kings,' and the `Memoirs of the Tortoise and the Milfoil' and `on
Fortune-tellers.' Their words and phrases are rustic and low, not
[Szu-ma] Ch'ien's original ideas."

It is doubtful whether Chang Yen's statement contains any independent
evidence. There is no doubt that most of the present SC ch. 12
has been supplied; chs. 60, 127, and 128 at present contain long passages,
said in the text to have been composed by the Master Ch'u; chs. 23 and 24
are filled out with long quotations from previous literature (cf. Mh I, ccii
for Szu-ma Cheng's explanation of Chang Yen's choice, and ibid. ccvii,
for Chavannes' criticism). Chang Yen is plainly depending for his
information upon internal evidence to be found in substantially what is
the present text of the SC. In mentioning SC chs. 11 and 12 he may be
under the influence of Wei Hung's statement, which itself is very doubtful.
We have moreover seen that there is every reason to believe that the

SC text of the "Annals of Emperor Ching" was used by Pan Ku and that
this chapter was written by Szu-ma Ch'ien (cf. HFHD, I, 291-292).

The copy of the SC in Pan Ku's family library was made from the
original, which Szu-ma Ch'ien says he deposited in the imperial private
library (HS 100 A: 5a). In addition he made a copy for circulation in the
capital outside the Palace (SC 130: 64), which seems to have been kept
by his grandson Yang Yün. After Yang Yün's execution, this copy may
have been preserved by Szu-ma Ch'ien's other descendants, who were
living as late as the time of Wang Mang and for whom a noble title was
then asked (Cf. HS 62: 25a; Fr. Jäger in Asia Major 9: [1933], 36). The
additions now found in the text of the SC were probably made to that
copy, to which Pan Ku may have had access. While composing his
History, he moreover had free access to the imperial private library.
Access to the copy of the SC in the imperial private library was commonly
denied, and even copies of it were at first refused; Pan Ku's clan would
not lend their copy (HS 100 A: 6b).

Chang Yen does not thus seem to have been making an independent
statement about the contemporary text of the SC, but merely to have
been guessing about what chapters were missing from Pan Piao's
copy. Concerning the "Annals of Emperor Ching," at least, he guessed
wrong. We may then dismiss as unsupported, except by the internal
evidence of the SC text, Chang Yen's statement about the missing
chapters of the SC. Except for that internal evidence, which is as
available to us as to earlier critics, we are left then merely with the statement
of Pan Piao that his copy lacked ten chapters, and we do not know
from ancient information which these ten were or even whether they were
all chapters dealing with Han times.

The HS "Annals of Emperor Wu" are then an original composition of
Pan Ku, in which he was not following any chapter of the SC, because
none was available. It is the first such chapter in the book. Szu-ma
Ch'ien however had written much about Emperor Wu's reign: parts of
SC chs. 28 and 30 are really annals dealing with some years in that reign.
These chapters were utilized by Pan Ku. He also had the additions
made to the SC by writers like Master Ch'u, who lived between his time
and that of Szu-ma Ch'ien. The majority of the material in these
"Annals" is however Pan Ku's own compilation and was taken, in all
probability, from the same sources as the material which did not come
from the SC now found in the preceding chapters: from the collection of
imperial edicts and important memorials to the throne, which we know
were preserved in the imperial files, and from some sort of palace annals
recording travels of the emperors, together with portentous happenings
and deaths of important persons.