"The role of the Grand Scribe's personal perception in the 'taishigong yue' parts of the Shiji"
As generally acknowledged by scholars concerned with the Shiji, the “taishigong yue” (The Lord the Grand Scribe says)
parts which are mostly found at the end - and in some cases at the outset - of the Shiji chapters, is that part of the
historiographer’s work in which he expresses praise and blame; this part should thus be especially insightful when dealing
with the question of argumentation. It has, however, in my view not yet been scrutinized in detail which impact explicit mentioning
of the Grand Scribe’s personal experience, his sensual perceptions and reflections have on his argumentation and final judgement.
At closer look, one finds that references towards these perceptions (seeing, hearing, observing on travels and visits, reading, etc.)
are in most cases even stressed by an explicit mention of the Grand Scribe himself, i.e. the use of the personal pronoun “I”
(yu 余 , w u 吾 , and also yu 予 ) .
If one compares the passages in which references to these personal perceptions are made with other kinds of references,
such as allusions to or explicit quotations from the Classics, one will find that those references which pertain to the Grand Scribe’s
personal experience, mostly outweigh that of any other authorities. The Grand Scribe himself is thus the central authority which weighs different
kinds of evidence critically against each other. In addition, the central argument at which the Grand Scribe arrives is mostly based on evidence
taken from the above mentioned forms of personal perception. The analysis of this pecularity - certainly one of the most exciting innovations
to be found in the Shiji - will in my view also help to answer the tricky question what the expression “cheng yijia zhi yan”
(to complete he words of one single family?/ school?/ master?) really means .