Sima Qian's story of being imprisoned is 3 words.

In the second year of Tianhan (99 BC), while Sima Qian was writing historical records wholeheartedly, he met unexpected trouble, which was the Liling incident.

In the summer of this year, Emperor Wu sent his favorite concubine Li Furen's brother, General Li Guangli of the Second Division, to lead a crusade against the Huns, and sent Li Guang's grandson, Don't send Li Ling, to accompany Li Guangli to escort the trench. Li Guang led 5, foot soldiers out of Juyan, went deep into Jishan alone, and suffered from Khan. Xiongnu besieged Li Ling with 8, cavalry. After eight days and nights of fighting, Li Ling killed more than 1, Xiongnu, but because he could not get the support of the main force, he ran out of ammunition and was unfortunately captured.

After the news of Li Ling's defeat spread to Chang 'an, Emperor Wu hoped that he could die, but when he heard that he had surrendered, he was furious. The civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty watched and listened to the situation. A few days ago, they praised Li Ling's bravery, but now they echo Emperor Wu and accuse Li Ling of his sins. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty asked Taishi for Sima Qian's opinion. On the one hand, Sima Qian comforted Emperor Wu, on the other hand, he hated those ministers in have it both ways and tried his best to defend Li Ling. He believes that Li Ling is usually filial to his mother, faithful to his friends, humble and courteous to others, loyal to soldiers, and always desperate for the country's urgent needs, with the demeanor of a national scholar. Sima Qian hated those ministers who only knew how to protect themselves and their families. Now they see that Li Ling's invasion is unfavorable, so they blindly hit people when they are down and exaggerate their charges. He said to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, "Li Ling led only 5, infantry, went deep into the Huns and fought alone, killing many enemies and making great contributions. In the absence of reinforcements, ammunition and food, and desperate circumstances, we still fought bravely to kill the enemy. Even ancient famous soldiers are so much. Although Li Ling himself failed, he killed many Huns, which was enough to be famous in the world. The reason why he didn't die, but surrendered to the Huns, must be to find a suitable opportunity to repay the Han family. "

Sima Qian seems to mean that Li Guangli, the general of the Second Division, failed to do his duty. His outspoken remarks angered Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, who thought that he was defending Li Ling and satirizing Li Guangli, who returned from his expedition and defeat, and ordered Sima Qian to be put in prison.

After Sima Qian was put into prison, the case fell into the hands of Du Zhou, a cruel official with a bad reputation at that time. Du Zhou tortured Sima Qian severely, and Sima Qian endured all kinds of cruel physical and mental torture. In the face of cruel officials, he never gave in or confessed. Sima Qian kept asking himself in prison, "Is this my crime? Is this my sin? "I'm a courtier, so I can't express my opinions." Soon, it was rumored that Li Ling had led Xiongnu soldiers to attack the Han Dynasty. When Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty believed it, he hastily killed Li Ling's mother, wife and son. Sima Qian was also sentenced to death for this matter.

according to the criminal law of the Han dynasty, there are two ways to reduce the death penalty: one is to make amends with 5, yuan, and the other is to be punished by "corruption". Sima Qian's official family is poor, of course, he can't afford so much money to atone. Corruption not only cruelly destroys human body and spirit, but also greatly insults personality. Sima Qian certainly didn't want to endure such punishment, and he even thought of suicide in grief. But later, he thought that people always die, but "death is more important than Mount Tai or lighter than a feather", and the significance of death is different. He felt that if he "died before the law" like this, it would be worthless if a hair was missing from a cow. He thought of Confucius, Qu Yuan, Zuo Qiuming and Sun Bin, their humiliation and their impressive achievements. Sima Qian suddenly felt full of strength, and he resolutely chose corruption. In the face of the most cruel punishment, Sima Qian suffered to the extreme, but he had no resentment or fear at this time. He has only one belief, that is, he must live and finish writing the historical records. "If you live in the intestine for nine times a day, you will suddenly die, but if you leave, you will not know where to go." "Every time I think about my shame, I feel sweaty and my back is stained with clothes." It is precisely because he has not completed the historical records that he has survived with humiliation.