Sima Guang (Ssu-ma Kuang) 1019-1086
Song-dynasty writer, historian and minister. He studied diligently from a young age (according to Herbert Giles, he used a kind of wooden pillow that would rouse him to wakefulness every time he dozed) and obtained the jinshi degree in 1038. He rose rapidly in office and ultimately reached the position of Minister of State. In 1070, he resigned and devoted himself to the completion of his masterwork, a history of China known as the Zizhi tongjian [Mirror of Good Governance]. He also compiled a dictionary based on the Shuowen.
Works available in English:
Emperor Huan and Emperor Ling: Being the Chronicle of Later Han for the
Years 157 to 189 A.D. as Recorded in Chapters 54 to 59 of the Zizhi tongjian
of Sima Guang (Rafe de Crespigny). Canberra: Faculty of Asian Studies,
Australian National University, 1989.
The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms (220-265): Chapters 67-78 from the
Tzu chih t'ung chien (Archilles Fang). Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University
Press, 1952-1965.
To Establish Peace: Being the Chronicle of Later Han for the Years 189 to 220
A.D. as Recorded in Chapters 59 to 69 of the Zizhi tongjian of Sima Guang
(Rafe de Crespigny). Canberra: Faculty of Asian Studies, Australian National
University, 1996.
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