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Sima Guang

Type Figure Region Xia County, Shanzhou Time 1019–1086 Also known as Junshi、Master of the Rush River

Sima Guang (1019–1086), courtesy name Junshi, sobriquet of the Rush River, was a native of Xia County, Shanzhou, in the Northern Song.…

Timeline

  1. 1019–1038Xia County, Shanzhou · Xia CountyBorn in Rushu Township, Xia County, Shanzhou, Sima Guang was devoted to study from childhood, famed in his home area for smashing a vat to save a friend, and mastered the classics and history, fully preparing for the jinshi examination in the first year of Baoyuan; this stage covers the years 1031–1040.
  2. 1038–1046Kaifeng · Kaifeng PrefectureIn the first year of Baoyuan (1038), at nineteen, Sima Guang passed the jinshi examination, first serving as sheriff of Lantian and later holding various local offices, accumulating administrative experience while beginning to plan a grand historiographical project.
  3. 1066–1084Luoyang · LuoyangCommissioned by Emperors Yingzong and Shenzong, Sima Guang led a team of scholars at a bureau in Luoyang, completing the Zizhi Tongjian over nearly twenty years, spanning from the Warring States to the Five Dynasties, a model of chronological history for later ages.

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