A Thousand Pieces of Gold Read Online Free

clustered around the Yangtze and the Yellow Rivers. From it we learn that the Shang dynasty lasted from 1765 to 1122 B.C.E. and was followed by the Zhou dynasty. A succession of Zhou kings ruled China for about 300 years through feudal vassals appointed by the king. China was vast even then, and these feudal lords were given free rein to govern their territories as they saw fit. As time went on, descendants of the local rulers became increasingly rebellious and independent. The stronger ones developed their own armies, which defied the king.
    From 770 until 476 B.C.E. , China was only nominally governed by the House of Zhou. This was known as the Spring and Autumn period, during which China was divided initially into as many as 170 different semi-independent principalities. Each was ruled by its own feudal lord (some called themselves kings), its own hereditary ruling caste, court, and bureaucracy. The feudal lords fought one another, with the stronger states annexing the weaker ones.
    By the beginning of the Warring States period (475–221 B.C.E. ), this process of annexation had accelerated to such an extent that only seven states remained in 403 B.C.E. They were Qin, Zhao, Yan, Qi, Haan, Chu, and Wei. Each state was headed by its own king. These seven states continued to wage war against one another. Gradually, it began to emerge that the state of Qin in northwest China was becoming the richest, strongest, largest, and most efficient. Qin began systematically conquering and annexing the other states, until King Zheng (259–210 B.C.E. ) subdued them all and unified China in 221 B.C.E. He called himself the First Emperor of the Qin dynasty (Qin Shihuang) and planned for his dynasty to last for ten thousand generations.
    The chronicle of this long period of civil war was vividly narrated by Sima Qian in his book, Shiji. He was innovative, bringing history alive by writing biographies of notable individuals. He wrote not only of the kings who reigned and the ministers who governed, but also of the warlords who lost as well as the words and deeds of the philosophers, writers, merchants, landlords, thieves, paid assassins, comedians, and teachers who lived and died during the reign of each ruler.
    Released from prison after three years at the age of fifty, Sima regained Emperor Wu’s favor and was appointed palace secretary. Despite his disgrace, he was able to arrange an advantageous marriage for his only daughter. His son-in-law, Yang Shang, was a rising young star who eventually rose to become prime minister. Sima soon had a precocious grandson, Yang Yun, who was composing poetry at a very young age.
    In Sima’s spare time, he continued to write, and he completed his manuscript just one year before his death. However, he never dared reveal his work during his lifetime for fear of further offending the emperor. He buried one copy in the cave of a “famous mountain.” The only other copy he left to his only daughter and his talented grandson, Yang Yun.
    Yang Yun became a marquis under Emperor Xuan (92–49 B.C.E .) and for a time enjoyed great favor at court. Yang judged it prudent to release Shiji sometime between 73 and 54 B.C.E. and promoted it assiduously. Shiji was immediately popular and turned into a classic on which all later official Chinese histories were modeled. It also became the first of a series of government-sponsored histories commissioned and compiled by emperors of successive dynasties. At present, there are more than 3600 volumes of official Chinese history totaling over 45 million words, describing events from the time of the Yellow Emperor to the present: the history of each dynasty systematically and continuously recorded by court-appointed historians and illustrated by biographies of notable men (and an occasional woman) of that era.
    By focusing his energy into creativity rather than despair, Sima Qian became the most famous Chinese historian who ever lived. Nowadays he is certainly better known