The Grand Scribe's Records, Volume IIThis second volume of the ongoing annotated translation of Ssu ma Ch'ien's Shih chi (The Grand Scribe's Records), widely acknowledged as the most important early Chinese history, contains the "basic annals" of five early Han dynasty emperors. The annals trace the first century of Han rule (206 b. c. to ca. 100 b. c.) in a year by year account that focuses on imperial activities. In these later annals, Ssu ma Ch'ien revitalized the style he had