THE GRAND HISTORIAN AND ASTRONOMER SSU-MA CH’IEN BY DAVID ARTHUR WALTERSI was not born with knowledge but, being fond of antiquity, I am quick to seek it. Confucius Tyranny is naturally despised by its victims despite the occasional benevolent acts of the tyrant, but those who stand to gain from tyranny prefer to call their tyrant a great ruler or leader. Virtue never appears without its infernal vices closely attending, thus we find in the progress of civilization from evil to good a long litany of crimes against humanity. The imposition of the Great Peace on the Page 1 of 6 Warring States by the tyrant Shih Huang Ti, First Sovereign Emperor of China, was more than uncomfortable to many people: millions suffered and died as a consequence of war, mass dislocation, and forced labor on gigantic public projects. Yet he is most infamous for his monopolistic approach to education: for centuries, every Chinese student was taught, "He burned the books and buried the scholars." His terrible reputation was reinforced by lowly scholars employed by the Han Dynasty succeeding his short-lived Ch'in Dynasty. Naturally the Confucian scholars were extremely interested in restoring the old books Confucius loved and the dignity of the scholars, whom the Legalists had viewed as parasites. The Legalist Book of Lord Shang of Ch’in had made their distaste for useless culture clear: “The six parasites are: rites and music, odes and history, moral culture and virtue, filial piety and brotherly love, sincerity and faith, chastity and integrity, benevolence and righteousness, criticism of the army and being ashamed of fighting. If there are these twelve things, the ruler is unable to make people farm and fight, and then the state will be so poor that it will be dismembered. If these twelve things come together, then it may be said that the prince's administration is not stronger than his ministers and that the administration of his officials is not stronger than his people. This is said to be a condition where the six parasites are stronger than the government. When these twelve gain an attachment, then dismemberment ensues. Therefore to make a country prosperous, these twelve things should not be practiced; then the state will have much strength, and no one in the empire will be able to invade it.” http://ctext.org/ Most of what we know about the Ch'in Dynasty and its major figures was recorded by the Grand Historian and Great Astrologer of the Han court, Ssu-ma Ch'ien, who lived from 145 to about 90 B.C. Ssu-ma provides us with a fairly straightforward history, the Shih Chi (Historical Record), based on his own experience with Han Dynasty Emperor Wu, who had embraced the hated Legalist methods of the former Ch’in Dynasty, and the old records he managed to cull, including the remnants of the old cultural books burned by Li Ssu when he was Prime Minister of Ch’in. History for Ssu-ma, a liberal-minded Confucian opposed to the punitive conservative policies of the Legalists, was a record of morality. He was cautious with his criticism of Emperor Wu, couching it humbly in ceremonial praise, but he came down hard on such major Ch’in personages as Ch’in Shih Huang Ti (First Sovereign Emperor of Ch’in); Grand Councillor Li Ssu; General Meng T'ien, infamous for building the Great Wall with conscripted labor; the Emperor's favorite son Hu-hai, who wrongfully succeeded him; and Hu-hai's collaborator, Chao Kao, the prototypical evil eunuch. Page 2 of 6 Ssu-ma was not as grand in status as we might presume from his formal titles. He had been castrated at Emperor Wu’s behest for praising the exploits of Li Ling, a general of his own day who had fallen into disfavor at the court because he had finally suffered a noble but utter defeat against overwhelming odds: Li Ling's five thousand soldiers to the barbarian khan's million. Ssu-ma was asked for his opinion at court, he dutifully complied with the request; Ssu-ma’s praise was misinterpreted as criticism of a court favorite. The judges condemned him to the most ignoble corporal punishment of all for "attempting to mislead the emperor". He was a poor man; nobody came to his defense or offered to pay the fine in lieu of castration. After all, he was just a lowly scribbler, a historian whose work was necessarily related to astrology - astrologers, with their professional interest in timely events, were the first historians. "My father never earned tally and patent of nobility," Ssu-ma wrote in a letter. "As annalist and astrologer I was not far removed from the diviners and invokers, truly the plaything of the emperor, kept like any singing girl or jester, and despised by the world." He might have chosen death over castration: "Had I chosen to submit to the law and let myself be put to death, it would be no more important than the loss of a single hair from nine oxen, no different from the crushing of an ant. No one would have credited me with dying for a principle; rather they would have thought that I simply died because I was at my wit's end and my offence allowed no other way out. And why? They would think so because of the occupation in which I had established myself." As far as Ssu-ma was concerned, castration is the worst of all corporal punishments: “I have heard it said that to devote oneself to moral training is the storehouse of wisdom; to delight in giving to others is the beginning of humanity; that proper giving and taking are the mark of a man's sense of duty; while times of shame and disgrace determine his courage; and that making a name for himself is the aim of all action. Only when a man has shown that he possesses these five qualities may he take a place in the world and rank among the host of superior men. No more severe misfortune can come to a man than to be driven by covetous desires, no sadness is so painful as the grief of the heart. No deed is more hideous than bringing shame to one's ancestors, and no disgrace greater than the palace punishment [castration]. That a man who has undergone such punishment is fit no longer to be associated with is the opinion not of one age alone but has been held since ancient times. When Duke Ling of Wei rode in the same carriage with Yung Ch'u, Confucius departed for Ch'en. Because Shang Yang obtained audience with Page 3 of 6 the King through the offices of Ching Chien, Chao Liang's heart turned cold. When Chao T'an rode in the Emperor's carriage, Yuan Ssu was fired with anger. So from old times men have been ashamed to associate with eunuchs. If even ordinary men are loath to have dealings with eunuchs, how much more so in the case of gentlemen of virtue and feeling? Although our court today may be in need of good men, what business would I, a mere "remnant of the knife and saw," have in trying to help and recommend the finest and most worthy men of the world?” Of course there were men who castrated themselves and their sons to obtain employment with the court as eunuchs; however, Ssu-ma, being a Confucian, was supposedly unmotivated by profit; nor would a true Confucian grovel for his life. “The gentleman understands what is moral. The small man understands what is profitable.” Confucius Ssu-ma avers suicide to be the dignified course to follow, preferable to corporal punishment or to death and dismemberment. According to the traditional assessment, the body is integral not only to this world but to the next as well; a dismembered body may not be reintegrated in the afterlife. Eunuchs hoped for restoration after death: they preserved their amputated "treasure" in a casket not only as valid identification but to be buried with them for eventual restoration in the realm beyond. He noted that the First Sovereign Emperor's Grand Councillor, Li Ssu, did not commit suicide but was cut in half in the marketplace. He names others: “All these men achieved the positions of feudal lords, generals, or ministers, and their fame reached to neighboring lands. But when they were accused of crimes and sentence was passed upon them, there was not one who could settle the matter with his hands by committing suicide.” “The gentleman hates not leaving behind a name when he is gone.” Confucius They had noble status but ignobly rejected suicide. So why did Ssu-ma not chose the honorable fate, of ending his own life? Because of his work-in-progress, the important project which he left behind for us, rendering him immortal in this world: his Historical Record, the Shih Chi. In his 'Letter to Jen An', he admits his conduct would seem cowardly to vulgar people, but those who are more sensitive would understand the need to suffer disgrace for superlative goals. He gave King Wen, who wrote from prison, as a good example. Furthermore, Confucius wrote when in bad straits; Ch'u Yuan wrote while banished: “These men had a rankling in their hearts, for they were not able to accomplish what they wished. Therefore Page 4 of 6 they wrote about past affairs in order to pass on their thoughts to future generations.” Furthermore, he recounted, Tso Ch'iu wrote after being blinded; Sun Tzu penned his doctrine on war after having his feet cut off; the poems in the 'Book of Songs' were written by oppressed sages who wrote with the future in mind. Therefore, Ssu-ma wrote history; he gathered the fragments of ancient accounts together and arranged them in good order. The other writers “could never hold office, so they retired to compose books in order to set forth their thoughts and indignation, handing down their theoretical writings in order to show to posterity who they were. I too have ventured not to be modest but have entrusted myself to my useless writings.” "Further it was my hope, by a thorough comprehension of the workings of affairs divine and human, and a knowledge of the historical process, to create a philosophy of my own. Before my draft was complete this disaster (castration) overtook me. It was my concern over my unfinished work that made me submit to the worst of all punishments without showing the rage I felt. When I shall have finished my book, I shall store it away in the archives to await the man who will understand it. When it finally becomes known in the world, I shall have paid the debt of my shame; nor will I regret a thousand deaths." That Ssu-ma had already written a most of his history before he was castrated belies the notion that his disgrace was the motive for his criticism of the purportedly benevolent Confucian Emperor Wu, who was in fact a ruthless imperialist following the example of the First Sovereign Emperor of the Ch’in dynasty and that emperor’s Legalist Prime Minister Li Ssu. In any event, Ssu-ma deemed the severe punishments advanced by Emperor Wu’s Legalist ministers cruel and inhumane, a reversion to the hated methods of the state of Ch’in. There was hardly a minister of the Wu court that had not been punished in one way or another—one might lose his life over a curl of the lip, a slight sneer. As we have seen, Ssu-ma has supposedly lost his manhood for mentioning the courage of defeated General Li Ling, whom Emperor Wu would later exonerate, then murder his entire family because the general did not return to court when recalled. Ssu-ma kept his peace, with his dignity diminished, just like a formerly fierce, caged tiger, now wagging his tail and begging for food—his own analogy. But he was not silent. Today, two thousand years later, his voice rings loudly and clearly to freedom writers; his example encourages them to lift the pen against the sword although the sword is immediately more mighty. Page 5 of 6 The Grand Historian said, "I have ventured not to look for more recent models, but with what little literary ability I possess I have brought together the scattered fragments of ancient lore." The historical fragments Ssu-ma collected and his divining thereupon are even more ancient and precious today. What more can any obscure scribbler hope for than to rediscover and piece together good old success stories, if not for his own success, for the success of posterity? I deeply bow to Ssu-ma Ch'ien, the Grand Historian and Great Astrologer. -T- Page 6 of 6
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