The purpose of this thesis is to examine and point out that history is not as set and unalterable as one has thought. Historical narration has to do with the use of language and is affected by the historian’s ideological position. The thesis does not deny the value of history but proposes that it needs our careful analysis with respect to its claim as the record of historical "facts". ^th...[ Read more ]

The purpose of this thesis is to examine and point out that history is not as set and unalterable as one has thought. Historical narration has to do with the use of language and is affected by the historian’s ideological position. The thesis does not deny the value of history but proposes that it needs our careful analysis with respect to its claim as the record of historical "facts".

History used to be considered as "sacred" by many people. It was believed that history was able to "represent" the past accurately and objectively in the form of words. In the 20^th century the rise of postmodernism, however, puts an end to that belief. According to the postmodernist theory, the ways the historians connect events into causal relation and give meaning to the narration are more or less similar to the composition of fiction. In terms of Hayden White's "emplotment", the narrations falls into the general patterns that are similar to the limited number of “plot” found in literary or fictional narratives. Thus, the “representational” ability of historical writing is only a myth. Under this kind of argument how do we differentiate between history and fiction?

The historical writings analyzed in this thesis are examples taken from the serial biographies of the emperors, the generals and the assassins of the Shiji. The thesis examines specifically story of Liu Bang who succeeded in unifying the country and became the founding emperor of the Han, that of his rival, Xiang Yu, who failed despite his advantages in the early stages of competition. The story of general Li Guang and his grandson Li Ling and their misfortune, and that of the assassin Jing Ke who lived for the ideal of “dying for someone who appreciates one’s talent.” They are analyzed and shown to be Sima Qian’s “emplotments” of given event. This thesis points out that the Shiji, following the tradition of the Spring and Autumn Annuals historical writing, is affected by both the Confucian ideology and the historian’s own subjective positions. It contains the historian’s moral views and personal values just as those that might be found in the didactic fiction in Chinese tradition.