太史公

Chinese

		Court Astronomer; Imperial Historian	just; honourable; public just; honourable; public; common; fair; duke; mister
trad. (太史公)		太史	公
simp. ^#(太史公)		太史	公

Etymology

"Sima Qian": Believed to be retroactively inserted by later editors of the Records of the Grand Historian into the book's text, likely by Yang Yun, son of Sima Qian's daughter (see 《太史公行年考》 in Wang, 1923).

"Sima Tan": Honorific term used by Sima Qian when referring to his father.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): Tàishǐgōng

(Zhuyin): ㄊㄞˋ ㄕˇ ㄍㄨㄥ
Cantonese (Jyutping): taai³ si² gung¹

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: Tàishǐgōng
  - Zhuyin: ㄊㄞˋ ㄕˇ ㄍㄨㄥ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: Tàishǐhgong
  - Wade–Giles: Tʻai⁴-shih³-kung¹
  - Yale: Tài-shř-gūng
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: Tayshyygong
  - Palladius: Тайшигун (Tajšigun)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰaɪ̯⁵¹ ʂʐ̩²¹⁴⁻²¹ kʊŋ⁵⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: taai³ si² gung¹
  - Yale: taai sí gūng
  - Cantonese Pinyin: taai³ si² gung¹
  - Guangdong Romanization: tai³ xi² gung¹
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰaːi̯³³ siː³⁵ kʊŋ⁵⁵/

Middle Chinese: thajH sriX kuwng

Rime
Character	太	史	公
Reading #	1/1	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	透 (6)	生 (21)	見 (28)
Final (韻)	泰 (25)	之 (19)	東 (1)
Tone (調)	Departing (H)	Rising (X)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open	Open
Division (等)	I	III	I
Fanqie	他蓋切	踈士切	古紅切
Baxter	thajH	sriX	kuwng
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/tʰɑi^H/	/ʃɨ^X/	/kuŋ/
Pan Wuyun	/tʰɑi^H/	/ʃɨ^X/	/kuŋ/
Shao Rongfen	/tʰɑi^H/	/ʃie^X/	/kuŋ/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/tʰaj^H/	/ʂɨ^X/	/kəwŋ/
Li Rong	/tʰɑi^H/	/ʃiə^X/	/kuŋ/
Wang Li	/tʰɑi^H/	/ʃĭə^X/	/kuŋ/
Bernhard Karlgren	/tʰɑi^H/	/ʂi^X/	/kuŋ/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	tài	shǐ	gōng
Expected Cantonese Reflex	taai³	si²	gung¹

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*l̥ˤa[t]-s s-rəʔ C.qˤoŋ/

(Zhengzhang): /*tʰaːds srɯʔ kloːŋ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	太	史	公	公
Reading #	1/1	1/1	1/2	2/2
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	tài	shǐ	gōng	gōng
Middle Chinese	‹ thaj^H ›	‹ sri^X ›	‹ kuwng ›	‹ kuwng ›
Old Chinese	/*l̥ˁa[t]-s/	/*s-rəʔ/	/*C.qˁoŋ/	/*C.qˁoŋ/
English	great	scribe	impartial, just; public	father; prince
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. [t] as coda may in fact be -t or -p; Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; * Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; * Period "." indicates syllable boundary.

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	太	史	公
Reading #	1/1	1/1	1/1
No.	1937	11487	4092
Phonetic component	大	史	公
Rime group	祭	之	東
Rime subdivision	1	0	0
Corresponding MC rime	泰	史	公
Old Chinese	/*tʰaːds/	/*srɯʔ/	/*kloːŋ/

Proper noun

太史公

(honorific) Sima Qian (Chinese historian, c. 145 BCE–c. 90 BCE)
- 太史公，書漢世實事之人，而云「虛言」，近非實也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
  太史公，书汉世实事之人，而云「虚言」，近非实也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
  From: Wang Chong, Lun Heng (Discussive Weighing), 80 CE
  Tàishǐgōng, shū Hànshì shíshì zhīrén, ér yún “xūyán”, jìn fēishí yě. [Pinyin]
  The Grand Historian was a man who recorded the true history of Han. What he called "empty words" were unlikely to be true.
(rare, honorific) Sima Tan (father of Sima Qian)
- 太史公既掌天官，不治民。有子曰遷。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
  太史公既掌天官，不治民。有子曰迁。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
  From: The Records of the Grand Historian, by Sima Qian, c. 91 BCE
  Tàishǐgōng jì zhǎng tiānguān, bù zhìmín. Yǒu zǐ yuē Qiān. [Pinyin]
  The Lord Chief Astronomer, having held the office for celestial matters, no longer concerns himself in the government of men. He has a son named Qian.

Usage notes

In the Records of the Grand Historian, the author Sima Qian himself often used the phrase 太史公曰 (Tàishǐgōng yuē, “The Grand Historian remarks...”) as an opening for his commentary about the historical events described in a chapter.