Sima Guang - Shibako

A bureaucrat and politician who played an active role during the reigns of four emperors of the Northern Song Dynasty, Renzong, Yingzong, Shenzong, and Zhezong. His pen name was Junshi. After his death, he was given the title of Duke of Wen, so he is also known as Duke Wen, and as he was born in Shushui Township, Xia County, Shanzhou, Shanxi Province, he is also known as Master Shushui. He eventually became prime minister and, as the leader of the so-called Old Law Party, he sharply opposed the New Laws enacted by Wang Anshi. However, his name is remembered today as a historian on a par with Sima Qian, thanks to the 294-volume masterpiece "Zizhi Tongjian" (Deeds of Famous Ministers of the Former Eras), which he began compiling under imperial command in 1066 and completed in 1084.

The episode in which, as a boy, he broke a large water jar to save a child drowning in it is well known as a reflection of his philosophy of valuing human life above material things, and is the reason he was called the Wen Duke. This attitude was maintained throughout his life, and it was also the basis for the selection and evaluation of articles in his writings such as Shuishui Jibun, especially Zizhi Tongjian. This book, a general history of 1,362 years from the Warring States period to the Five Dynasties in China, had a tangible and intangible influence on the formation of the famous Song school (Lu, Zhang, Zhu, and Lu schools), as well as on the ideas of Wang Fuzhi, Liang Qichao, and Mao Zedong, because it contained a universal recognition of human weakness. It also spread to other parts of East Asia, such as Vietnam, Korea, and Japan, and contributed to promoting the subjective self-awareness of the cultures and peoples of each region. He wrote many books covering a wide range of fields, including those mentioned above, as well as works that delve into the depths of his mind such as "Collection of Wen Guo Wen Zheng's Writings" and "Sima Wengong's Poetry."

[Masahiro Yamauchi]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

中国、北宋(ほくそう)の仁宗、英宗、神宗、哲宗の4代の皇帝の治世に活躍した官僚政治家。字(あざな)は君実。没後温国公に封ぜられたので司馬温公(おんこう)とも、山西省陝州(せんしゅう)夏県涑水(そくすい)郷の出身のため涑水先生ともよばれる。最後に宰相となり、いわゆる旧法党の領袖(りょうしゅう)として、王安石の行った新法に鋭く対決したが、その名はむしろ、1066年に勅命を受けて撰述(せんじゅつ)を開始し、84年に完成させた名著『資治通鑑(しじつがん)』（歴代名臣事跡）294巻により、司馬遷と並ぶ歴史家として今日に伝わっている。

　少年のとき、大きな水甕(みずがめ)に溺(おぼ)れた幼児をその甕を砕いて救い出したエピソードは、物よりも人の生命を尊重した彼の哲学を伝えるものとしてよく知られ、温公といわれたゆえんでもあるが、この姿勢は彼の生涯にわたって貫かれたばかりでなく、『涑水紀聞』その他の彼の著述、とくに『資治通鑑』における記事の選択や評価の原点となっている。中国の戦国時代から五代王朝までの1362年間の通史であるこの書物が、有名な宋学（呂(ろ)、張、朱、陸学）の形成をはじめ、王夫之(おうふうし)、梁啓超(りょうけいちょう)の思想から毛沢東(もうたくとう)思想に至るまで有形無形の影響を及ぼしたのも、そのなかに人間の弱さについての普遍的認識が流れていたからであるが、さらに中国のほかベトナム、朝鮮、日本といった東アジアの諸地域にまで広がり、それぞれの地域の文化と民族の主体的自覚を促すのに寄与した。著書は多く、各分野にわたるが、上述のほか心の深層をうかがうものとして『温国文正公文集』『司馬温公詩話』などがある。

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