# 太史公
## Chinese
### 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): taai$^3$ si$^2$ gung$^1$
* Mandarin
** (Standard Chinese)
*** Hanyu Pinyin: Tàishǐgōng
*** Zhuyin: ㄊㄞˋ ㄕˇ ㄍㄨㄥ
*** Tongyong Pinyin: Tàishǐhgong
*** Wade–Giles: Tʻai$^4$-shih$^3$-kung$^1$
*** Yale: Tài-shř-gūng
*** Gwoyeu Romatzyh: Tayshyygong
*** Palladius: Тайшигун (Tajšigun)
*** Sinological IPA : /tʰaɪ̯⁵¹ ʂʐ̩²¹⁴⁻²¹ kʊŋ⁵⁵/
* Cantonese
** (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
*** Jyutping: taai$^3$ si$^2$ gung$^1$
*** Yale: taai sí gūng
*** Cantonese Pinyin: taai$^3$ si$^2$ gung$^1$
*** Guangdong Romanization: tai$^3$ xi$^2$ gung$^1$
*** Sinological IPA : /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/ |
| Bernard Karlgren | /tʰɑi$^H$/ | /ʂi$^X$/ | /kuŋ/ |
| Expected Mandarin Reflex | tài | shǐ | gōng |
| Expected Cantonese Reflex | taai$^3$ | si$^2$ | gung$^1$ |
* 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)
    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)
    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.