Sima Qian, Lacking Money, Chose Castration

With the national treasury depleted after over 40 years of war during Emperor Wu of Han's reign, Sima Qian was sentenced to death for the crime of defending General Li Ling. To avoid execution at that time, an enormous ransom equivalent to operating a military unit for a year had to be paid.

However, Sima Qian did not possess the wealth to raise this massive ransom, and ultimately chose the humiliating punishment of castration to escape death.

At the time, castration was not only an extremely humiliating punishment but also carried a high risk of death from surgical shock. Sima Qian deeply pondered whether he should endure such physical and mental suffering.

Nevertheless, Sima Qian accepted castration and saved his life, driven by the determination to complete the monumental historical work, Records of the Grand Historian, inheriting his father's dying wish.

After experiencing the humiliating castration, Sima Qian keenly realized the importance of money. He regretted that if he had only had money, he would not have suffered such pain and would have lived a peaceful life as an ordinary man.

This personal experience became a powerful motivation for the creation of the 'Biographies of the Money-Makers'. Unlike the historical context of its time, 'Biographies of the Money-Makers' directly addresses the essence of money and wealth, and is regarded as the most honest record of wealth in history.

This statement contains Sima Qian's realistic diagnosis that money is an absolute power that guarantees the last choice and the right to survival in human life, as well as a painful insight reflecting his own unjust situation.

In the Records of the Grand Historian, Sima Qian criticized Emperor Wu of Han for depleting the national treasury and impoverishing the people through wars with the Xiongnu. He recorded that Emperor Wu of Han was extremely cruel and fickle, sometimes getting angry one day and laughing the next.

Sima Qian anticipated that his historical work would be revealed after Emperor Wu's death, and thus recorded facts dispassionately, without fear of living power.

They split the surname Sima (司馬), using 'Si (司)' as Dong (同) and 'Ma (馬)' as Feng (馮), and it is said that there are indeed clan villages of the Dong and Feng families near Sima Qian's hometown in Shanxi Province today. In the past, there was also a custom among the Dong and Feng families to avoid marriage, citing their shared ancestry.

This reflects Sima Qian's insight that money, beyond being a mere commodity, effectively functions as a social class in modern society. This perspective aligns with the reality that executives of large corporations today cannot casually address the owner by name.

Sima Qian believed that people's psychology reacts differently depending on the level of the other person's wealth. People tend to envy and disparage those who are ten times richer, believing they can catch up someday.

However, in front of someone a hundred times richer, they feel overwhelmed and begin to fear that person might harm them. Sima Qian analyzed that in front of someone a thousand times richer, they act like servants, and in front of someone ten thousand times richer, they behave like subordinates in an absolute relationship of dependence.

This insight reflects how human relationships transform from equality to power dynamics as wealth disparities grow, and how economic power shapes social class.

Sima Qian believed that if someone is about ten times richer, people consider them not much different, envying and slandering them. However, when encountering someone 100, 1,000, or 10,000 times richer, it is essentially human nature to become their servant.

This demonstrates Sima Qian's insight that money, beyond being a mere commodity, effectively functions as a social class in modern society. This perspective aligns with the reality that executives of large corporations today cannot casually address the owner by name.

Sima Qian emphasized that money is closely connected to human nature, and the desire for money is something everyone yearns for without being taught. His philosophy remains valid even after two millennia.

If the problem of making a living is not solved, humans can abandon everything for survival, and abstract values such as etiquette or dignity are inevitably pushed aside.

Therefore, economic余裕 emphasizes that it is a prerequisite for enhancing individual civility and social awareness, and that the pursuit of higher values is only possible on the foundation of a stable life.

Sima Qian explained the process of accumulating wealth in three stages. The first stage is 'mujajangnyeok' (無財壯力), the period when one uses their body to create seed money when they have no wealth. This primarily refers to the manual labor of one's youth in their 20s and 30s.

The second stage is 'soyutuji' (所有鬪智), the investment stage where one competes with wisdom based on the assets acquired. This is the period in one's 30s and 40s where assets are increased through intellectual investment beyond simple labor.

The final third stage is 'gihwojaengsi' (機貨爭時), the stage of achieving great wealth by understanding the trends and opportunities of the times and betting overwhelmingly. This is the pinnacle of wealth, requiring not just earning money but also the wisdom and courage to discern the times.