Sima Guang (Ssu-ma Kuang) 司馬光 1019-1086
Song-dynasty writer, historian and minister, was a native of Sushui in present-day Shanxi. He obtained the jinshi degree in 1038 and rose rapidly in office. He was a leader of the opponents of Wang Anshi’s 王安石 (1021–86) reforms. In 1070 he requested a transfer away from the capital and devoted himself to the completion of the monumental Zizhi tongjian 資治通鑒 [Mirror of good governance], a history of China covering the period 405 BC–AD 959. His other writings include Sima Wenzheng gong ji 司馬文正公集 [Collected works of Sima Guang] and Xigu lu 稽古錄 [A review of history].
Works available in English:
Emperor Huan and Emperor Ling: Being the Chronicle of Later Han for the
Years 157 to 189 A.D. as Recorded in Chapters 54 to 59 of the Zizhi tongjian
of Sima Guang (Rafe de Crespigny). Canberra: Faculty of Asian Studies,
Australian National University, 1989.
The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms (220-265): Chapters 67-78 from the
Tzu chih t'ung chien (Archilles Fang). Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University
Press, 1952-1965.
To Establish Peace: Being the Chronicle of Later Han for the Years 189 to 220
A.D. as Recorded in Chapters 59 to 69 of the Zizhi tongjian of Sima Guang
(Rafe de Crespigny). Canberra: Faculty of Asian Studies, Australian National
University, 1996.
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