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THE GRAND SCRIBE S RECORDS: Volume I: The Basic Annals of Pre-Han China. By Ssu-ma Ch'ien. Translated by Tsai-fa Chen Zongli Lu, William H. Nienhauser, Jr. and Robert Reynolds. Edited by William H. Nienhauser, Jr. Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.1995. xliv, 271 pp. (Maps.) US$34.95, cloth. ISBN 0-253-34021-7. THE GRAND SCRIBE'S RECORDS: Volume VII: The Memoirs of Pre-Han China. By Ssu-ma Ch'ien. Translated by Tsai-fa Cheng, Zongli Lu, William H. Nienhauser Jr., Robert Reynolds, and Chiu-Ming Chan. Edited by William H. Nienhauser,Jr. Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. 1995. xxxii, 399pp. (Maps, tables.) US$39.95, cloth. ISBN -253-34027-6.
The Grand Scribe's Records by Ssu-ma Ch'ien (?145 - ?86 BCE) is arguably the most important history produced in premodern China, a work whose influence has been in no way inferior to that of the classics of the Western tradition. Moreover, while these latter fade into genteel obscurity, The Grand Scribe's Records remain an "iron rice bowl" for its publishers, who, as the preface to the first volume reviewed here informs us, depend on its popularity to put themselves back in the black whenever they find themselves short of cash.
Despite its importance, The Grand Scribe's Records has never been fully rendered into any Western language. There are partial translations, among which those into English by Burton Watson have maintained a consistently acceptable standard; but Watson chose to go lightly on the scholarly apparatus in the interest of readability. This choice needs no defense, yet it has underlined the need for a meticulous, heavily annotated, and yet readable edition.
The team of translators assembled and coordinated by William H....