Sima Qian

Sima Qian is primarily known as the author of the Shiji, or Records of the Grand Historian, a monumental work that established the form and content of subsequent Chinese dynastic histories. This work is considered the foundational text of Chinese historiography.

Sima Qian endured castration as a punishment for defending a general, a humiliation that deeply affected him. Despite this, he persevered in completing his monumental historical work, viewing it as a filial duty to his father and a means of expressing his insights.