Sima Qian ([sɨ́màtɕʰjɛ́n]; Chinese:司馬遷) was a Chinese historian of the early Han dynasty (206BC–AD220). He is considered the father of Chinese historiography for his Records of the Grand Historian, a Jizhuanti-style (history presented in a series of biographies) general history of China, covering more than two thousand years from the Yellow Emperor to his time, during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, a work that had much influence for centuries afterwards on history-writing not only in China, but in Korea, Japan and Vietnam as well.[2] Although he worked as the Court Astrologer (Tàishǐ Lìng 太史令), later generations refer to him as the Grand Historian (Tàishǐ Gōng 太史公) for his monumental work; a work which in later generations would often only be somewhat tacitly or glancingly acknowledged as an achievement only made possible by his acceptance and endurance of punitive actions against him, including imprisonment, castration, and subjection to servility.

Sima Qian was born at Xiayang in Zuopingyi (near modern Hancheng, Shaanxi Province) around 145BC, though some sources give his birth year as around 135BC.[3] Around 136BC, his father, Sima Tan, received an appointment to the relatively low-ranking position of "grand historian" (tàishǐ 太史, alt. "grand scribe" or "grand astrologer").[4][5] The grand historian's primary duty was to formulate the yearly calendar, identifying which days were ritually auspicious or inauspicious, and present it to the emperor prior to New Year's Day.[5] Besides these duties, the grand historian was also to travel with the emperor for important rituals and to record the daily events both at the court and within the country.[6] By his account, by the age of ten Sima was able to "read the old writings" and was considered to be a promising scholar.[6] Sima grew up in a Confucian environment, and Sima always regarded his historical work as an act of Confucian filial piety to his father.[6]