史記(しき)

しき
noun
Records of the Grand Historian (Chinese classic)
1. the Records of the Grand Historian, an ancient Chinese history
A monumental history of ancient China compiled by Sima Qian around 100 BCE, covering events from legendary times to his own era. The first of the canonical Chinese histories, it is the source of many phrases and proverbs still cited in Japanese.
この故事(こじ)は史記(しき)に出(で)てくる。
This old anecdote appears in the Records of the Grand Historian.
史記(しき)は司馬遷(しばせん)が書(か)いた歴史書(れきししょ)だ。
The Records of the Grand Historian is a history written by Sima Qian.
「四面楚歌(しめんそか)」という言葉(ことば)は史記(しき)の記述(きじゅつ)に由来(ゆらい)している。
The expression "surrounded on all sides" derives from an account in the Records of the Grand Historian.

The oldest of the canonical Chinese histories, compiled by 司馬遷(しばせん) (Sima Qian). Many four-character idioms and proverbs used in Japanese trace back to it.

RELATED:

  • 漢書(かんじょ): the Book of Han — a later Chinese history covering the Former Han dynasty
  • 漢文(かんぶん): classical Chinese, as studied in Japanese schools
  • 正史(せいし): an official dynastic history

Related Words

Related: 漢書(かんじょ)
general
Added 2026.7.1 9:20
29500/29596_shiki