Study On The Narrative Of Qin Dynasty In The Historical Records

The Historical Records is generally acknowledged as an extensive and intensive historical work and also a literary masterpiece that represents remarkable achievements in narrative art.The author Sima Qian paid special attention to Qin,a country that achieved the unification of Tian Xia after the Zhou Dynasty,forming a narrative paradigm different from that of other classics of the pre-Qin period and had many different characteristics from those of other vassal states in The Historical Records.This paper provides an in-depth analysis from the perspectives of imperial capital,Qin people,wars,omens and narrative strategies.From the perspective of imperial capital narrative,Sima Qian had a special eye on Qin territory,which contained his views on history and on Qin Dynasty.In the Qin narrative of The Historical Records,the relocations of Qin capitals in different periods was often accompanied by changes in narrative paradigms.The use of different narrative modes,such as " Yi + place name " " Ju + place name / palace name " " Du+ place name ",was actually a microcosm of the development of Qin,which contained Sima Qian’s views on the staging of Qin history.Sima Qian’s multi-faceted narration of the Qin imperial capital Xian Yang highlighted the symbolic significance of the basic narrative pattern centered on Xian Yang and the domain of authority.Sima Qian’s was also concerned over the important military geographical location and commercial development of Guan Zhong in the Qin and Han Dynasties,which reflected his consciousness of Long Guan Zhong.The narrative of Qin people,which was based on the emperors,ministers and women of Qin,also had its own characteristics.By comparing the narrative materials of the Qin people with the Zuo Zhuan,Guo Yu,Zhan Guo Ce and the relevant materials in the unearthed documents,it could be seen that Sima Qian had constructed a relatively complete narrative system of the Qin people through the editing,adding,deleting and restructing of the materials,which contained his evaluation of the Qin people.At the same time,he also reflected on the personnel of the Han Dynasty in the narrative,showing a distinct sense of realistic care.Among them,Sima Qian’s emperor narration centered on Mu Gong and Shi Huang was in contrast to Emperor Wen and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty,thus implying the narrative purpose of borrowing Qin to satirize Han.As an important group that influenced the trend of Qin history,Sima Qian,on the one hand,deeply explored the role of Qin ministers,a historical component,in the development of Qin.On the other hand,it revealed the "utilitarian" and "loyal and trustworthy" monarch-subject relationship between Qin emperors and Qin ministers.In addition,although there is no specific chapter devoted to Qin women in The Historical Records,the relevant descriptions seemed to be scattered,but they still showed the necessary order amidst the chaos.Sima Qian examined them in a political environment by arranging narrative materials such as Empress Dowager Xuan,Empress Dowager Qin Shihuang and Ba Widow Qing,thus presenting the role played by Qin women in the rise and fall of Qin reign.Sima Qian’s narrative of Qin sacrificial rituals not only presented the process of rituals,but also embodied the political and historical view of Qin inheriting the orthodox of Zhou Dynasty and the rise of Han Dynasty.In the chronology of the Six Kingdoms,Sima Qian’s expression of the sacrifice after the founding of the Xianggong Kingdom had the meaning of "arrogation".On the face of it,it seems to have the meaning of the Confucian ritual system,but from the deeper analysis,it was the historical process of Sima Qian’s exploration of Qin’s replacement of Zhou with the idea of "original inspection".For this sacrifice,the Qin Benji and Six Kingdoms Chronology recorded as a sacrifice to " God ",while the Fengshan Book recorded as a sacrifice to "White Emperor ".The difference in narrative reflected that Sima Qian sought the theoretical basis for the Xuanhan thought by describing "the Red Emperor’s son angrily beheaded the White Emperor’s son" thus completing the deification writing of the Han Dynasty’s destruction of the Qin Dynasty.At the same time,in the narrative of the First Emperor’s tour and stone carving in the Qin Shihuang Benji,Sima Qian interspersed between the stone carving texts,interspersed with stories such as the assassination of the first emperor and the sarcasm of the First Emperor by Confucian scholars,and then dispelled the connotation of the stone carving text to promote the political authority of the First Emperor.In the narrative of the Qin war in The Historical Records,Sima Qian used different words for wars in different periods.Different expressions such as " crusade " " attack " " settle " " sally" etc,showing his different views on the wars in various stages of Qin.Closely related to the narrative of war was the changes in territory and the expansion of territory,both of which were related to the transformation from claiming King to Emperor in Qin Dynasty.In addition,The Historical Records also showcased the brutality of the Qin army through the narrative of beheading the number of enemy troops.In the narrative of the Qin war generals,Sima Qian uniquely used the "shift narrative technique" to turn the inconvenient and straightforward parts of the Han affairs into the Qin narrative.The Historical Records narrative of Qin’s abnormal signs embodied Sima Qian’s view of the destiny of Qin’s rise and fall.On the one hand,through the combing and analysis of the phenomena of Furui in the period of Qin Wen Gong,Xiao Gong and Zhao Wang,it could be seen that the rise and strengthen of Qin was due to the order.On the other hand,according to the recording conventions of Qin Benji and Six Kingdoms Chronology,disasters and anomalies were mainly concentrated in the Six Kingdoms Chronology during the period from Qin Ligong Gong to Zhuang Xiangwang,and the corresponding records of disasters and anomalies should also be concentrated in the Six Kingdoms Chronology during the period of Qin Shihuang.However,Sima Qian transferred disasters and anomalies to Qin Shihuang Benji and adopted the writing method of "disaster first and then anomaly".This presented the condemnation of the fate of the Qin government,which was in line with the writing of the Han Dynasty’s " Tiantong ".The narrative of The Historical Records Qin adopted a dual narrative structure,with the rise and fall of Qin as the surface narrative structure,and the worship of Confucianism and derogation of law as the deep narrative structure.In the meantime,Sima Qian adopted the method of observing Qin by Han and Zheng Qin,he classified into the Huaxia tribe and evaluated Qin’s historical achievements.The narrative of Qin in The Historical Records not only had its own system,but also Sima Qian’s narrative intention and position had a profound impact on the evaluating and positioning of Qin in the Xi Han and even later generations,reflecting Sima Qian’s unique historian perspective and narrative talent,which had important literary and historical values.