司馬遷生年新證

New Evidence on Sima Qian's Year of Birth

關於司馬遷的生年問題,歷來爭議頗多。目前主要集中爲兩說,即漢景帝中元五年(前145)和漢武帝建元六年(前135)。經對有關文獻記載仔細研讀、分析,以及邏輯推理,可認定司馬遷出生的時間在其父司馬談掌"天官"之職以後。由此,進一步確證司馬遷出生於漢武帝"建元六年(前135)"是正確的,而認爲司馬遷出生於漢景帝"中元五年(前145)"則是失察的。

There has always been much controversy on the issue about Sima Qian's year of birth.Currently,there are mainly two versions.One suggests that it is the fifth year of Zhongyuan during the reign of Emperor Jing of Han Dynasty (145BC),while the other suggests the sixth year of Jianyuan during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han (135BC).After careful analyses and logical reasoning of the literature,this paper suggests that Sima Qian was born after his father Sima Tan took charge of the position of "Tianguan 天官".Thus,it can be further confirmed that Sima Qian was born in 135BC rather than 145BC.