Speculation on the Scribal Nature of the Shiji Based on Two Cases of Misordered Slips in the Memoirs Section

This paper identifies a case of textual dislocation in each of two chapters of the Shiji: the “Memoir of Li Shang” and the “Memoir of the Xiongnu.” Reconstructing these misarranged passages suggests that the Memoirs section of the Shiji was originally composed on bamboo slips containing approximately 21 to 23 characters each—a format consistent with other narrative texts of the period. This suggests that Sima Tan and Sima Qian may have directly excerpted or copied earlier source materials in their compilation of the Shiji. The displaced slips in the “Memoir of Li Shang” were already present in the version known to Ban Gu, leading to longstanding misinterpretations and textual modifications beginning with the Hanshu. Once restored, the passage shows that Li Shang and Fan Kuai were appointed Right and Left Chancellors, respectively, and took command in suppressing the rebellions of Zang Tu and Chen Xi after Gaozu’s withdrawal from the front. This restoration offers new insight into the structure of the chancellorship in the early Han dynasty. The disruption in the “Memoir of the Xiongnu,” on the other hand, suggests that prior to the Eastern Han, there were at least two competing accounts of the final years of Emperor Wu’s reign. Eventually, only the version aligned with the Hanshu narrative prevailed and was established in the received historical tradition.