An Analysis of Characteristic Images of Wan Dan Zhang Shu Biography in Shiji “务在鞠躬”——析论《史记·万石张叔列传》的庸宦形象

Abstract

After Li Ling’s misfortune, Sima Qian spoke up to fight for justice and later he was
sentenced to castration. Nobody offered help to Sima Qian or tried to convince the emperor
at the time. Sima Qian could not agree with those boot-licker officials who practiced
obedience to authority blindly and ignored the facts that could be harsh to the ears. This
paper aims to discover how Sima Qian expressed his dissatisfaction and anger to the feudal
hegemony by making extensive use of irony, sarcasm in writing this biography named Wan
Dan Zhang Shu.

Keywords: Shiji, Mediocre and incompetent official, submissiveness, bow