Sima Jizhu (司馬季主)

Overview

The translated histories identify Sima Jizhu as a diviner, scholar, and teacher. This record brings together 8 passages from 1 chapter across 1 history, with names, dates, relationships, offices, and events preserved as source-backed claims.

Names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Personal	Sima Jizhu	司馬季主	Sima Jizhu
Surname	Sima	司馬	Sīmǎ
Personal	Sima Jizhu	司馬季主	Sīmǎ Jìzhǔ

Identity

Historicity: Historical
Identification: Named
Sex: Male

Sex: male
Strongly inferred · shiji:127:s0005

Roles

Diviner
Scholar
Teacher

Life and dates

Attested activity

Source Date: Text: 宋忠為中大夫，賈誼為博士 · Western Interval: Start: BC 178 · End: BC 169
Explicit · shiji:127:s0005, shiji:127:s0007
Source Date: Text: 褚先生曰 · Western Interval: Start: BC 74 · End: BC 49
Explicit · shiji:127:s0109, shiji:127:s0112

Career and standing

Label: diviner / 卜者
Explicit · shiji:127:s0006, shiji:127:s0059
Status: lowly-market-diviner · Label: lowly station / 居之卑
Explicit · shiji:127:s0017

Places and affiliations

Polity: Chu / 楚 · Relation: native-of
Explicit · shiji:127:s0005
Polity: Western Han / 漢 · Relation: active-in
Explicit · shiji:127:s0006, shiji:127:s0007
Place: Chu / 楚
Explicit · shiji:127:s0005, shiji:127:s0112
Place: Chang'an / 長安 · Relation: resided-at
Explicit · shiji:127:s0006
Place: Chang'an / 長安 · Relation: traveled-to
Explicit · shiji:127:s0112
Place: eastern market of Chang'an / 長安東市 · Relation: posted-to
Explicit · shiji:127:s0006

Learning and skills

Label: traveled to study in Chang'an / 游學長安
Explicit · shiji:127:s0112
Belief: arts of the Yellow Emperor and Laozi / 黃帝、老子 · Relation: adherent-of
Explicit · shiji:127:s0112
Skill: Book of Changes / 易經 · Level: mastered
Explicit · shiji:127:s0112
Skill: arts of the Yellow Emperor and Laozi / 黃帝、老子 · Level: practiced
Explicit · shiji:127:s0112

Works and attributed material

Work: Book of Changes / 易經 · Relation: studied
Explicit · shiji:127:s0112
Kind: speech · Role: speaker · Speaker Person Id: Sima Jizhu (司馬季主)
Explicit · shiji:127:s0019, shiji:127:s0020, shiji:127:s0021, shiji:127:s0022, shiji:127:s0031, shiji:127:s0032, shiji:127:s0033, shiji:127:s0034, shiji:127:s0035, shiji:127:s0036, shiji:127:s0037, shiji:127:s0038, shiji:127:s0039, shiji:127:s0040, shiji:127:s0041, shiji:127:s0042, shiji:127:s0043, shiji:127:s0044, shiji:127:s0045, shiji:127:s0046, shiji:127:s0047, shiji:127:s0048, shiji:127:s0049, shiji:127:s0050, shiji:127:s0051, shiji:127:s0052, shiji:127:s0053, shiji:127:s0054, shiji:127:s0055, shiji:127:s0056, shiji:127:s0057, shiji:127:s0058, shiji:127:s0059, shiji:127:s0060, shiji:127:s0061, shiji:127:s0062, shiji:127:s0063, shiji:127:s0064, shiji:127:s0065, shiji:127:s0066, shiji:127:s0067, shiji:127:s0068, shiji:127:s0069, shiji:127:s0070, shiji:127:s0071, shiji:127:s0072, shiji:127:s0073, shiji:127:s0074, shiji:127:s0075, shiji:127:s0076, shiji:127:s0077, shiji:127:s0078, shiji:127:s0079, shiji:127:s0080, shiji:127:s0081, shiji:127:s0082, shiji:127:s0083, shiji:127:s0084, shiji:127:s0085, shiji:127:s0086, shiji:127:s0087, shiji:127:s0088, shiji:127:s0089

Events and relationships

Kind: discourse · Role: speaker · Action: discoursed-on-cosmos-and-divination · Other Person Id: Song Zhong (宋忠)
Explicit · shiji:127:s0012, shiji:127:s0015, shiji:127:s0019
Kind: meeting · Role: host · Action: received-at-divination-stall · Other Person Id: Jia Yi (賈誼)
Explicit · shiji:127:s0011, shiji:127:s0014
Kind: meeting · Role: host · Action: received-at-divination-stall · Other Person Id: Song Zhong (宋忠)
Explicit · shiji:127:s0011, shiji:127:s0014
Relation: interlocutor-of · Person Id: Jia Yi (賈誼)
Explicit · shiji:127:s0013, shiji:127:s0016, shiji:127:s0019
Relation: interlocutor-of · Person Id: Song Zhong (宋忠)
Explicit · shiji:127:s0013, shiji:127:s0016, shiji:127:s0019

Assessments and attributes

Assessment: concealed among diviners as worthy who withdrew from world · Provenance: Mode: commentator-judgment · Speaker Person Id: Master Chu (褚先生)
Explicit · shiji:127:s0111, shiji:127:s0112
Assessment: profound learning and eloquence unmatched · Provenance: Mode: named-person-report · Speaker Person Id: Song Zhong (宋忠)
Explicit · shiji:127:s0016
Assessment: worthy grandee of Chu; not shallow learning · Provenance: Mode: commentator-judgment · Speaker Person Id: Master Chu (褚先生)
Explicit · shiji:127:s0112, shiji:127:s0113

Source notes

Statement: Attended by three or four disciples while discoursing / 弟子三四人侍
Explicit · shiji:127:s0012
Statement: Described as Chu worthy grandee who hid among diviners / 楚賢大夫…隱居卜筮閒以全身
Explicit · shiji:127:s0111, shiji:127:s0112

References in the histories

Open any source group to read the Chinese and English passage in context.

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 127Biographies of Soothsayers · 8 passages

Open chapter

司馬季主者，楚人也。 Sima Jizhu was a native of Chu.

天新雨，道少人，司馬季主閒坐，弟子三四人侍，方辯天地之道，日月之運，陰陽吉凶之本。 It had just rained, and the streets were nearly empty. Sima Jizhu sat at his ease, attended by three or four disciples, discoursing on the Way of Heaven and Earth, the movements of the sun and moon, and the origins of fortune and misfortune in the balance of yin and yang.

司馬季主視其狀貌，如類有知者，即禮之，使弟子延之坐。 Sima Jizhu studied their appearance and manner. Seeing that they seemed to be men of learning, he received them courteously and had his disciples invite them to sit.

坐定，司馬季主復理前語，分別天地之終始，日月星辰之紀，差次仁義之際，列吉凶之符，語數千言，莫不順理。 Once they were settled, Sima Jizhu returned to his earlier discourse. He expounded the beginning and the end of Heaven and Earth, the cycles of the sun, moon, and stars, the gradations of benevolence and righteousness, and the tokens of fortune and misfortune. He spoke for several thousand words, and every one accorded with reason.

司馬季主捧腹大笑曰：「觀大夫類有道術者，今何言之陋也，何辭之野也！ Sima Jizhu threw back his head, holding his belly in a great laugh. "Looking at you, my lords, you appear to be men who understand the Way and its arts—yet how crude your words are, and how coarse your speech!

司馬季主曰：「公且安坐。 Sima Jizhu said, "Please, sirs, remain seated.

及至司馬季主，余志而著之。 But when I encountered the account of Sima Jizhu, I resolved to set it down in writing.

夫司馬季主者，楚賢大夫，游學長安，通易經，術黃帝、老子，博聞遠見。 Sima Jizhu was a worthy grandee of Chu who traveled to Chang'an to study. He mastered the Book of Changes, practiced the arts of the Yellow Emperor and Laozi, and was a man of wide learning and far-reaching insight.