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Hirohito surrender broadcast

The Hirohito surrender broadcast, also known as the Jewel Voice Broadcast (玉音放送), was a radio broadcast of surrender given by Hirohito, the emperor of Japan, on August 15, 1945.

It announced to the Japanese people that the Japanese government had accepted the Potsdam Declaration, which demanded the unconditional surrender of the Japanese military at the end of World War II. Following the Hiroshima bombing on August 6, and the Soviet declaration of war and Nagasaki bombing on August 9, the Emperor's speech was broadcast at noon Japan Standard Time on August 15, 1945, and referred to the atomic bombs as a reason for the surrender.

The speech is the first known instance of a Japanese emperor speaking to the common people (albeit via a phonograph record). It was delivered in formal Classical Japanese, with much pronunciation unfamiliar to ordinary Japanese. The speech made no direct reference to a surrender of Japan, instead stating that the government had been instructed to accept the "joint declaration" (the Potsdam Declaration) of the United States, the United Kingdom, China, and the Soviet Union. This confused many listeners not familiar with the declaration about whether Japan had actually surrendered. Both the poor audio quality of the radio broadcast and the formal courtly language worsened the confusion.

Recording
The speech was not broadcast directly, but replayed from a phonograph recording. On August 14, 1945, the NHK dispatched sound technicians to the Imperial Palace to record the broadcast. Microphones were set up in an office bunker under the Imperial Household Ministry, and Emperor Hirohito proceeded in between 11:25p.m. and 11:30p.m. During the first recording he spoke too softly, and upon the advice of the technicians, offered to rerecord it. On the second attempt, his voice was considered too high-pitched, with occasional characters being skipped. Nevertheless, the second version was deemed the official one, with the first serving as a backup.

Broadcast
Many elements of the Imperial Japanese Army refused to accept that Hirohito was going to end the war, believing it dishonourable. As many as 1,000 officers and army soldiers raided the Imperial Palace on the evening of August 14, 1945 to destroy the recording. The rebels were confused by the layout of the palace and unable to find the recordings, which had been hidden in a pile of documents. The two phonographs were labelled original and copy and successfully smuggled out of the palace, the original in a lacquer box and the copy in a lunch bag. Major Kenji Hatanaka attempted to halt the broadcast at the NHK station, but was ordered to desist by the Eastern District Army.

On the morning of August 15, 1945, all NHK stations announced that the Emperor would address the nation at noon. Many people wore formal clothes for the occasion. At precisely noon that day, an NHK announcer instructed the nation to stand for an announcement "of the highest importance." The national anthem, Kimigayo, was played, followed by the Emperor's speech. Reportedly, this was the first time that common Japanese had heard the voice of any Japanese Emperor and the first radio address by the Emperor.

To ease the anticipated confusion, after the conclusion of the speech, a radio announcer clarified that the Emperor's message had meant that Japan was surrendering. According to French journalist Robert Guillain, who then lived in Tokyo, upon the announcement's conclusion, most Japanese retreated to their homes or places of business for several hours to quietly absorb and contemplate the significance of the announcement. A digitally remastered version of the broadcast was released in June 2015.

Content
Though the word "surrender" was not explicitly stated, Emperor Shōwa instructed Prime Minister Kantarō Suzuki and his administration to communicate to the Allies that the "Empire accepts the provisions of their joint declaration", which amounted to an acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration. He justified Japan's decision to go to war as an act of "self-preservation and the stabilization of East Asia" and referenced the setbacks and defeats of recent years, saying "the war situation has developed not necessarily to Japan's advantage". He mentioned the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that had occurred days earlier, calling the atomic bomb a "new and most cruel bomb". The Emperor ended with a call on the Japanese people "to be devoted to construction for the future".

The broadcast was translated into English and broadcast internationally by radio presenter Tadaichi Hirakawa at the same time. In the U.S., the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recorded the broadcast, and its entire text appeared in The New York Times.

Full text
"TO OUR GOOD AND LOYAL SUBJECTS,

After pondering deeply the general trends of the world and the actual conditions obtaining in our empire today, we have decided to effect a settlement of the present situation by resorting to an extraordinary measure.

We have ordered our government to communicate to the governments of the United States, Great Britain, China and the Soviet Union that our empire accepts the provisions of their joint declaration.

To strive for the common prosperity and happiness of all nations as well as the security and well-being of our subjects is the solemn obligation which has been handed down by our imperial ancestors and which lies close to our heart.

Indeed, we declared war on America and Britain out of our sincere desire to ensure Japan's self-preservation and the stabilization of East Asia, it being far from our thought either to infringe upon the sovereignty of other nations or to embark upon territorial aggrandizement.

But now the war has lasted for nearly four years. Despite the best that has been done by everyone – the gallant fighting of the military and naval forces, the diligence and assiduity of our servants of the state, and the devoted service of our one hundred million people – the war situation has developed not necessarily to Japan's advantage, while the general trends of the world have all turned against her interest.

Moreover, the enemy has begun to employ a new and most cruel bomb, the power of which to do damage is, indeed, incalculable, taking the toll of many innocent lives. Should we continue to fight, not only would it result in an ultimate collapse and obliteration of the Japanese nation, but also it would lead to the total extinction of human civilization.

Such being the case, how are we to save the millions of our subjects, or to atone ourselves before the hallowed spirits of our imperial ancestors? This is the reason why we have ordered the acceptance of the provisions of the joint declaration of the powers.

We cannot but express the deepest sense of regret to our allied nations of East Asia, who have consistently cooperated with the Empire towards the emancipation of East Asia.

The thought of those officers and men as well as others who have fallen in the fields of battle, those who died at their posts of duty, or those who met with untimely death and all their bereaved families, pains our heart night and day.

The welfare of the wounded and the war-sufferers, and of those who have lost their homes and livelihood, are the objects of our profound solicitude.

The hardships and sufferings to which our nation is to be subjected hereafter will be certainly great. We are keenly aware of the inmost feelings of all of you, our subjects. However, it is according to the dictates of time and fate that We have resolved to pave the way for a grand peace for all the generations to come by enduring the unendurable and suffering what is insufferable.

Having been able to safeguard and maintain the Kokutai, We are always with you, our good and loyal subjects, relying upon your sincerity and integrity.

Beware most strictly of any outbursts of emotion which may engender needless complications, or any fraternal contention and strife which may create confusion, lead you astray and cause you to lose the confidence of the world.

Let the entire nation continue as one family from generation to generation, ever firm in its faith in the imperishability of its sacred land, and mindful of its heavy burden of responsibility, and of the long road before it.

Unite your total strength, to be devoted to construction for the future. Cultivate the ways of rectitude, foster nobility of spirit, and work with resolution – so that you may enhance the innate glory of the imperial state and keep pace with the progress of the world.

Showa shomei.svg Gyoji.svg

Tokyo, August 14, 1945 (20th year of Shōwa)"

Media releases

 * Book includes a CD.
 * Book includes a CD.

title: Hirohito surrender broadcast


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The Rumble in the Jungle

George Foreman vs. Muhammad Ali, billed as The Rumble in the Jungle, was a heavyweight championship boxing match on October 30, 1974, at the 20th of May Stadium (now at the Stade Tata Raphaël) in Kinshasa, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo), between undefeated and undisputed heavyweight champion George Foreman and Muhammad Ali. The event had an attendance of 60,000 people and was one of the most watched televised events at the time. Ali won by knockout in the eighth round.

It has been called "arguably the greatest sporting event of the 20th century" and was a major upset, with Ali coming in as a 4–1 underdog against the unbeaten, heavy-hitting Foreman. The fight is famous for Ali's introduction of the rope-a-dope tactic.

Some sources estimate that the fight was watched by as many as one billion television viewers around the world, becoming the world's most-watched live television broadcast at the time. This included a record estimated 50 million viewers watching the fight on pay-per-view or closed-circuit theatre TV. The fight grossed an estimated US$100 million (inflation-adjusted US$million) in worldwide revenue. Decades later, the bout would be the subject of the Academy Award winning documentary film When We Were Kings.

Inception
Don King arranged the fight with music businessman Jerry Masucci, who took his record label's showcase group, the Fania All-Stars, to play at the venue. King managed to get Ali and Foreman to sign separate contracts saying they would fight for him if he could get a $5 million purse. Such an amount of money, quite enormous for those days, was purported to prevent other top boxing promoters from attempts to arrange a Foreman vs. Ali match. However, as King did not have the money, and was not welcomed to stage an event of such a profile in the United States, he began seeking an outside country to stage and sponsor the event. Fred Weymar, an American advisor to Zaire's dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, persuaded Mobutu that the publicity such a high-profile event would generate would help his regime, and Mobutu agreed for the fight to be held in his country. In a TV interview, King stated that Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi was involved in making the payment for the purse money for the athletes and other major expenses, although the precise process was not made clear.

King had pulled together a consortium that included Risnelia Investment from Panama; the Hemdale Film Corporation, a British company founded by film producer John Daly and the actor David Hemmings; Video Techniques Incorporated of New York; and Don King Productions. Although King is most closely associated with the fight, Hemdale and Video Techniques Inc., with whom King was a director, were the bout's official co-promoters. The fight was broadcast on closed-circuit television in theaters in the United States and on over-the-air television throughout the world. The play-by-play commentary was done by "Colonel" Bob Sheridan. Color commentary was done by Jim Brown, David Frost, and Joe Frazier.

Build-up and delay due to injury
In 1967, then-champion Ali was stripped of his title and suspended from boxing for $3 1/2$ years for his refusal to comply with the draft and enter the U.S. Army. In 1970, he first regained a boxing license and promptly fought comeback fights against Jerry Quarry and Oscar Bonavena in an attempt to regain the heavyweight championship from the then-undefeated Joe Frazier. In a bout dubbed the Fight of the Century, Frazier won a unanimous decision, leaving Ali fighting other contenders for years in an attempt at a new title shot.

Meanwhile, the heavily muscled Foreman had quickly risen from a gold-medal victory at the 1968 Olympics to the top ranks of the heavyweight division. Greatly feared for his punching power, size, and sheer physical dominance, Foreman was nonetheless underestimated by Frazier and his promoters, and knocked the champion down six times in two rounds before the bout was stopped. He further solidified his hold over the heavyweight division by demolishing the only man besides Frazier at the time to defeat Ali, Ken Norton, in two rounds. At 25, the younger and stronger Foreman seemed an overwhelming favorite against the well-worn 32-year-old Ali.

Foreman and Ali spent much of the middle of 1974 training in Zaire, getting acclimated to its tropical African climate. The fight was originally set to happen on September 25 (September 24 in the United States due to the difference in time zones). However, eight days prior, Foreman was cut above his right eye by an accidental elbow thrown by his sparring partner Bill McMurray in a sparring session. Foreman's cut required 11 stitches, and the date of the fight was pushed back five weeks to October 30.

A three-night-long music festival to hype the fight, Zaire 74, took place as scheduled, September 22–24, including performances by James Brown, Celia Cruz and the Fania All-Stars, B.B. King, Miriam Makeba, The Spinners, Bill Withers, The Crusaders, and Manu Dibango, as documented in the 2008 film Soul Power. The championship was scheduled for 4 am local time to appear on live closed-circuit television in the Eastern Time Zone of the US at 10 pm. Zack Clayton was selected as referee for the fight.

Undercard
The undercard was broadcast live for the American viewers from Pittsfield, Massachusetts. The original undercard, consisting of three bouts, was scheduled for September 24, it featured several Cus D'Amato fighters with notable amateur accomplishments:

 * Middleweight: Dornell Wigfall of Brockton, Massachusetts, vs. Roland Cousins of New York City (scheduled for 6 rounds)
 * Middleweight: Joey Hadley of Catskill, New York, vs. Cove Green of Bridgeport, Connecticut (scheduled for 4 rounds)
 * Light heavyweight: Bobby Stewart of Amsterdam, New York, vs. Charley Scott of New York City (scheduled for 6 rounds)

However, it was cancelled after the fight was rescheduled due to Foreman's cut.

The rescheduled undercard took place on October 29:

 * Featherweight: Terry Rondeau of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, former New England featherweight champion, was introduced in the ring before the Osborne vs. Romano fight.
 * Junior middleweight (for the New England Junior middleweight title): Paul Osborne of Lowell, Massachusetts, won by a fourth-round technical knockout over Al Romano of North Adams, Massachusetts.
 * Middleweight: Joey Hadley (160 lbs) of Catskill, New York, won by a first-round technical knockout (scheduled for four) over Gene Olten (164) of Springfield, Massachusetts.
 * Light heavyweight: Bobby Stewart (174 lbs) of Amsterdam, New York, won by unanimous decision (sixth) over Ken Jones (168) of Somers, Connecticut.

Fight

Ali was famed for his speed and technical skills, while Foreman's raw power was his greatest strength. Defying convention, Ali began by attacking Foreman with disorienting right-hand leads. This was notable as it seemed that close-range fighting would inevitably favor Foreman and leave too great a chance that Ali would be stunned by Foreman's powerful haymakers. Ali made use of the right-hand lead punch (striking with the right hand without setting up the left) in a further effort to disorient Foreman. However, while this aggressive tactic may have surprised Foreman and allowed Ali to punch him several times in the head, it failed to significantly hurt him. Before the end of the first round, Foreman began to catch up to Ali, landing punches of his own. Foreman had been trained to cut off the ring and prevent escape. Ali realized that he would tire if Foreman could keep making one step to Ali's two, so he changed tactics.

Ali had told his trainer, Angelo Dundee, and his fans that he had a secret plan for Foreman. As the second round commenced, Ali began to lean on the ropes and cover up, letting Foreman punch him on the arms and body (a strategy Ali later dubbed the rope-a-dope). As a result, Foreman spent his energy throwing punches (without earning points) that either did not hit Ali or were deflected in a way that made Foreman hitting Ali's head difficult, while sapping Foreman's strength due to the large number of punches he threw. This loss of energy was key to Ali's rope-a-dope tactic.

Meanwhile, Ali took every opportunity to shoot straight punches to Foreman's face (which was soon visibly puffy). When the two fighters were locked in clinches, Ali consistently out-wrestled Foreman, using tactics such as leaning on Foreman to make Foreman support Ali's weight, and holding down Foreman's head by pushing on his neck. He constantly taunted Foreman in these clinches, telling him to throw more punches, and an enraged Foreman responded by doing just that.

After several rounds of this, Foreman began to tire. His face became increasingly damaged by hard, fast jabs and crosses by Ali. The effects were visible as Foreman was staggered by an Ali combination at the start of the fourth round, and again several times near the end of the fifth, after Foreman had seemed to dominate that round. Although Foreman kept throwing punches and coming forward, after the fifth round, he looked increasingly worn out. Ali continued to taunt him by saying, "They told me you could punch, George!" and "They told me you could punch as hard as Joe Louis." According to Foreman: "I thought he was just one more knockout victim until, about the seventh round, I hit him hard to the jaw and he held me and whispered in my ear: 'That all you got, George?' I realized that this ain't what I thought it was."

As the fight drew into the eighth round, Foreman's punching and defense became ineffective as the strain of throwing so many wild shots took its toll. Ali pounced as Foreman tried to pin Ali on the ropes, landing several right hooks over Foreman's jab, followed by a five-punch combination, culminating in a left hook that brought Foreman's head up into position and a hard right straight to the face that caused Foreman to stumble to the canvas. Foreman rose to one knee but referee Zack Clayton signaled the end of the fight before Foreman got to his feet. At the stoppage, Ali led on all three scorecards by 68–66, 70–67, and 69–66.

The fight showed that Ali was capable of taking a punch and highlighted his tactical genius, changing his fighting style by adopting the rope-a-dope, instead of his former style that emphasized movement to counter his opponent. The film of the Zaire fight shows Foreman striking Ali with hundreds of thunderous blows, many blocked, but many others getting through. Foreman mostly struck to the sides and kidney region, but also landed some vicious shots to the head, seemingly with no effect.

Despite repeatedly calling Ali out, Foreman was unable to secure a rematch with the champion before Foreman abruptly decided to retire after a loss to Jimmy Young in 1977. Ali did not hurry to set up a rematch, making title defenses against unheralded opponents such as Jean Pierre Coopman and Richard Dunn. However, he repeatedly stated that his rematch with Foreman was one of the major fights he wanted to get to before retiring.

Foreman and Ali
Foreman and Ali became friends after the fight. Ali had trouble walking to the stage at the 1996 Oscars to be part of the group receiving the Oscar for When We Were Kings (1996), a documentary of the fight in Zaire, due to his Parkinson's syndrome. Foreman helped him up the steps to receive the Oscar.

Over the years, Foreman revised his opinions on Ali and on The Rumble in the Jungle, on several accounts. In 2012, The Daily Telegraph reported Foreman's declaration: "We fought in 1974, that was a long time ago. After 1981, we became the best of friends. By 1984, we loved each other. I am not closer to anyone else in this life than I am to Muhammad Ali." Foreman also stated: "Then, in 1981, a reporter came to my ranch and asked me: 'What happened in Africa, George?' I had to look him in the eye and say, 'I lost. He beat me.' Before that I had nothing but revenge and hate on my mind, but from then on it was clear. I'll never be able to win that match, so I had to let it go."

Viewership and revenue
The fight was broadcast live on pay-per-view on closed-circuit television, also known as theatre television, to venues across the world. The fight had a record estimated 50 million viewers on closed-circuit television worldwide, grossing an estimated $100million (inflation-adjusted $million) in revenue.

In the United States, the fight had an estimated three million closed-circuit viewers in 400 venues, with tickets sold at $20 (inflation-adjusted $), grossing $million (inflation-adjusted $million) in the United States. The promoters and fighters received over half of the US closed-circuit revenue, generating an income of at least $30 million for the promoters and fighters; Ali and Foreman were paid a record $5 million each.

It had a large television audience in the United Kingdom, where the fight was watched by 26 million viewers on BBC One, nearly half of the UK's 56 million population in 1974.

In total, including closed-circuit and free television, the fight was reported to have been watched by a record estimated television audience of one billion viewers worldwide, about a quarter of the world's four billion population in 1974, as the world's most-watched live television broadcast at the time. However, caution should be exercised here, as the only officially confirmed event with a billion viewers before 2011 was the 2008 Summer Olympics, with most such claims otherwise being highly exaggerated.

Legacy
The Rumble in the Jungle is one of Ali's most famous fights, ranking alongside 1971's Fight of the Century between the unbeaten former champion Ali and the unbeaten then-heavyweight champion Joe Frazier, and the pair's final match, the Thrilla in Manila in 1975.

Controversy
Immediately after the fight, Foreman called into question the legitimacy of the fight and its result. Foreman made several allegations against Ali, his trainer, and the referee. Foreman claimed first that Ali's trainer, Angelo Dundee, had deliberately loosened the ropes of the ring days prior to the fight to aid in Ali's rope-a-dope strategy, though this has never been confirmed. Foreman further insisted that his water had been drugged, and that it tasted like medicine. He went on to say that the water he was given in between rounds made him dizzy and droopy throughout the fight, a claim that was lost to time and ultimately never confirmed. Lastly, Foreman claimed that he had been given a quick count by the referee, this would ultimately be disproven as, when later timed, Foreman was on the canvas for approximately 11–12 seconds.

Fan reactions
When Ali arrived in Zaire, now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, he was greeted with adoration. In the eyes of the people of Zaire, Ali was like a representation of the struggles of their country, which only 12 years ago had gained independence after Belgian colonial rule followed by long-lasting turmoil. A chant for Ali took little time to form. They chanted "Ali boma ye", translating "Ali, kill him".

Foreman was unable to connect with the people of Zaire the way Ali did. When arriving in Zaire, Foreman exited the plane walking his two German Shepherds, the same dogs used by the Belgians during the colonization, as described in the film When We Were Kings.

In addition, the events surrounding the fight, such as its musical acts (B.B. King, the Fania All Stars, and James Brown, among others), added to its cultural impact. The concert portion of the event would later be featured in the documentary Soul Power.

In a 2002 UK poll conducted by Channel 4, the British public voted the fight as number seven in the list of the 100 Greatest Sporting Moments.

Film

 * Muhammad Ali: Skills, Brains and Guts (1975) This film produced by Big Fights Inc. was produced instantly after Ali beat Foreman to become once again heavyweight champion.
 * The Greatest (1977) is a biopic starring Ali himself that includes the fight in its climax.
 * When We Were Kings (1996) is an Academy Award-winning documentary film that depicts the events before and during this bout. (The film's editor directed a separate documentary about the concurrent Zaire 74 music festival; Soul Power was released in 2009.)
 * Don King: Only in America (1997) is an HBO made-for-TV movie that depicts the buildup to the fight and the maneuvers that King had to perform to set it up, as well as numerous scenes that show the way Ali gained the favor of the people of Zaire.
 * Ali (2001) is a biographical feature film that depicts The Rumble in the Jungle as the film's climax.
 * Big George Foreman (2023) is a biographical feature film that depicts The Rumble in the Jungle.

Literature and print journalism

 * Muhammad Ali discusses The Rumble in the Jungle in his autobiography The Greatest: My Own Story.
 * George Foreman and Joel Engel discuss The Rumble in the Jungle, the controversies, and the lasting impact it had on Foreman in his autobiography By George: The Autobiography of George Foreman.
 * Barbara Kingsolver's novel, The Poisonwood Bible (1998), includes a passage describing The Rumble in the Jungle taking place at the Stade du 20 Mai (20 May Stadium) while political prisoners were locked up downstairs.
 * Norman Mailer was part of the press corps sent to cover the event and later wrote a book, The Fight (1975), describing the events, and placing them within the context of his views of black American culture.
 * George Plimpton was part of the press corps, covering the fight for Sports Illustrated, and later featured it in detail in the book Shadow Box (1993).
 * Hunter S. Thompson was sent to cover the event for Rolling Stone, though, according to TIME, Thompson "chose to float in his hotel pool, a bottle of hooch in hand, while the great fight took place, and he was unable to file anything."

Museum exhibits
The robe worn by Muhammad Ali in this fight is part of the collections of National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution together with a pair of gloves he used in training for the fight.

Music
Several songs were written and released about the fight. For example:
 * Orchestre G.O. Malebo, a Zairean band of the 1970s, composed the song "Foreman Ali Welcome to Kinshasa" in honor of the event.
 * The Fugees wrote a song about the event with A Tribe Called Quest, Busta Rhymes, and John Forté titled "Rumble in the Jungle" for the soundtrack of When We Were Kings. It reached number three in the United Kingdom, number 10 in Ireland, number 13 in New Zealand and Finland, number 36 in Sweden, and number 85 in Germany.
 * The Game wrote a song titled "Ali Bomaye".
 * The Hours wrote a song about the event titled "Ali in the Jungle".
 * Johnny Wakelin wrote a song about the match called "In Zaire".
 * Fleet Foxes reference the event in their song "I Should See Memphis".

Television

 * The incident was covered in a season-three episode of ESPN Classic's The Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame..., which argued that Foreman should not be harshly judged for losing the fight.
 * On the April 30, 2011, episode of ABC's Winners Bracket, the Rumble in the Jungle was named the greatest moment in the history of ABC's Wide World of Sports.
 * The fight (along with the TV coverage on ESPN Classic) was referenced in "Crosshairs", the seventh episode of the first season of the Netflix series The Punisher as Ali, who was not expected to win at the time, changed up his strategy in order to tire Foreman out.
 * The cult Serbian series Državni posao (The State Job) mentioned this event in the episode "Lov" ("Hunting").
 * In season 2 episode 13 of the NBC series NewsRadio, Matthew makes a bet with Joe on the boxing match unaware it had already taken place over two decades prior. Matthew takes George Foreman and loses the bet.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: The Rumble in the Jungle


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Japan Standard Time

Japan Standard Time (日本標準時), or Japan Central Standard Time (中央標準時), is the standard time zone in Japan, 9 hours ahead of UTC (UTC+09:00). Japan does not observe daylight saving time, though its introduction has been debated on several occasions. During World War II, the time zone was often referred to as Tokyo Standard Time.

Japan Standard Time is equivalent to Korean Standard Time, Pyongyang Time (North Korea), Eastern Indonesia Standard Time, East-Timorese Standard Time, Palau Time, and Yakutsk Time (Russia).

History
Before the Meiji era (1868–1912), each local region had its own time zone in which noon was when the sun was exactly at its culmination. As modern transportation methods, such as trains, were adopted, this practice became a source of confusion. For example, there is a difference of about 5 degrees longitude between Tokyo and Osaka and because of this, a train that departed from Tokyo would arrive at Osaka 20 minutes behind the time in Tokyo. In 1886, Ordinance 51 was issued in response to this problem, which stated:

"Ordinance 51 (on the precise calculation of time using the Prime Meridian) – July 13, 1886
 * The prime meridian passes through England's Greenwich Observatory.
 * Longitudes are calculated using the prime meridian, counting 180 degrees either east or west. Positive degrees are east, negative degrees are west.
 * On January 1, 1888, 135 degrees east longitude will be set as the standard meridian for all of Japan, allowing precise times to be fixed."

According to this, the standard time (標準時) was set 9 hours ahead of GMT (UTC had not been established yet). In the ordinance, the first clause mentions GMT, the second defines east longitude and west longitude and the third says the standard time zone would be in effect from 1888. The city of Akashi in Hyōgo Prefecture is located exactly on 135 degrees east longitude and subsequently became known as Toki no machi (Town of Time).

With the annexation of Taiwan in 1895, Ordinance 167 (pictured on the right) was issued to rename the previous Standard Time to Central Standard Time (中央標準時) and establish a new Western Standard Time (西部標準時) at 120° longitude as the time zone for the Japanese Miyako and Yaeyama Islands, as well as Taiwan and its Penghu Islands. While Korea came under Japanese rule in 1910, Korea Standard Time of GMT+08:30 continued to be used until 1912, when it was changed to Central Standard Time.

Western Standard Time, which was used in Taiwan and some parts of Okinawa, was abolished by Ordinance 529 in 1937 and replaced by Central Standard Time in those areas. Territories occupied by Japan during World War II, including Singapore and Malaya, adopted Japan Standard Time for the duration of their occupation, but reverted after Japan's surrender.

Between 1948 and 1951 occupied Japan observed daylight saving time (DST) from the first Saturday in May at 24:00 to the second Saturday in September at 24:00 (with the exception of 1949, when the spring forward transition was the first Saturday in April at 24:00). More recently there have been efforts to restore daylight saving time in Japan but these have not succeeded.

In May 2013, former Tokyo governor Naoki Inose proposed permanently moving the country's time zone ahead by 2 hours to better align global markets and make Japan's stock market to be the first to open in the world at any given time.

Time zones of the Japanese Empire
The two-time-zone system was implemented in Japan between January 1896 and September 1937: From October 1937, Central Standard Time was also used in western Okinawa and Taiwan.

IANA time zone database
The IANA time zone database contains one zone for Japan in the file zone.tab, named Asia/Tokyo.

Daylight saving time in Japan

From 1948 to 1952, Japan observed daylight saving time (DST) between May and September every year. The United States imposed this policy as part of the Allied occupation of Japan. In 1952, three weeks before the occupation ended, the Japanese government, which had been granted increased powers, abolished daylight saving time, and the Allied occupation authorities did not interfere. Since then, DST has never been officially implemented nationwide in Japan.

Starting in the late 1990s, a movement to reinstate DST in Japan gained some popularity, aiming at saving energy and increasing recreational time. The Hokkaido region is particularly in favour of this movement because daylight starts as early as 03:30 (in standard time) there in summer due to its high latitude and its location near the eastern edge of the time zone, with much of the region's solar time actually closer to UTC+10:00. Because of this, the sun sets shortly after 19:00 in much of the eastern part of the country (in Tokyo, the latest sunset of the entire year is 19:01, from 26 June to 1 July, despite being at 35°41'N latitude). Since 2000, a few local governments and commerce departments have promoted unmandated hour-earlier work schedule experiments during the summer without officially resetting clocks.

The Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy of the Cabinet Office is expected(written October 2013) to propose that the Japanese government begin studying DST in an attempt to help combat global warming. Japanese former Prime Minister Shinzō Abe made a significant effort to introduce daylight saving time, but was ultimately unsuccessful. However, it is not clear that DST would conserve energy in Japan. A 2007 simulation estimated that introducing DST to Japan would increase energy use in Osaka residences by 0.13%, with a 0.02% saving due to lighting more than outweighed by a 0.15% increase due to cooling costs; the simulation did not examine non-residential buildings.

Possibility of adjusting the time zone
On May 22, 2013, the Governor of Tokyo (then) Naoki Inose proposed a two-hour advance (UTC+11) Japan Standard Time at an industry competitiveness conference. Its purpose is to enhance the influence of the Japanese financial market by starting early in the Tokyo financial market. The Japanese government has decided to consider this proposal. However, there has been no specific discussion of this proposal for more than ten years.

title: Japan Standard Time


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USS Ranger

USS Ranger may refer to the following ships of the United States Navy:

 * USS Ranger (1777) was an 18-gun ship sloop built in 1777 and commanded by John Paul Jones. She was captured by the British in 1780 and renamed HMS Halifax.
 * USS Ranger (1814) was a schooner mounting a single 18-pounder gun, purchased in 1814 and sold in 1816.
 * USS Ranger (Ontario) was a 14-gun brig also purchased in 1814 for operations on Lake Ontario, and sold in 1821.
 * USS Ranger (1876) was an iron vessel mounting four guns, commissioned in 1876, converted to a nautical school ship in 1908, and broken up in 1940.
 * USS Ranger (SP-237), was a steel yacht commissioned in 1917 and decommissioned in 1919, subsequently serving in the Department of Commerce from 1919 to 1930 before being returned to the Navy and sold in 1931.
 * USS Ranger (SP-369), was a minesweeper built in 1882 and commissioned in 1918, and used in coastal defense until returned to her owner in 1919.
 * Ranger (CC-5) was a Lexington-class battlecruiser renamed Constitution on 10 December 1917 and laid down in 1921, but canceled in 1923 and scrapped prior to completion.
 * Ranger (CC-4), was a Lexington-class battlecruiser laid down in 1921, but canceled in 1923 and scrapped prior to completion.
 * USS Ranger (CV-4), the first U.S. Navy ship originally designed to be an aircraft carrier, was commissioned in 1934, operated in the Atlantic during World War II, and was sold for scrapping in 1947.
 * USS Ranger (CV-61) was an aircraft carrier, the largest in the world when launched in 1957.
 * USV Ranger is an unmanned surface vehicle operated by the U.S. Navy as part of the Ghost Fleet Overlord drone ships.

title: USS Ranger


text:
Records of the Grand Historian

Records of the Grand Historian, also known by its Chinese name Shiji, is a monumental history of China that is the first of China's Twenty-Four Histories. The Records were written in the late 2nd century BC to early 1st century BC by the historian Sima Qian, whose father Sima Tan had begun it several decades earlier. The work covers a 2,500-year period from the age of the legendary Yellow Emperor to the reign of Emperor Wu of Han in the author's own time, and describes the world as it was known to the Chinese of the Western Han dynasty.

The Records has been called a "foundational text in Chinese civilization". After Confucius and Qin Shi Huang, "Sima Qian was one of the creators of Imperial China, not least because by providing definitive biographies, he virtually created the two earlier figures." The Records set the model for all subsequent dynastic histories of China. In contrast to Western historiographical conventions, the Records do not treat history as "a continuous, sweeping narrative", but rather break it up into smaller, overlapping units dealing with famous leaders, individuals, and major topics of significance.

Title
The original title of the work, as given by the author in the postface, is Taishigongshu (太史公書), or Records of the Grand Historian. However, the Records was also known by a variety of other titles, including Taishigongji (太史公記) and Taishigongzhuan (太史公傳) in ancient times. Eventually, Shiji (史記), or Historical Records became the most commonly used title in Chinese. This title was originally used to refer to any general historical text, although after the Three Kingdoms period, Shiji gradually began to be used exclusively to refer to Sima Qian's work. In English, the original title, Records of the Grand Historian, is in common use, although Historical Records, The Grand Scribe's Records, and Records of the Historian are also used.

Textual history
The work that became Records of the Grand Historian was begun by Sima Tan, who was Grand Historian (Tàishǐ 太史, also translated "Grand Scribe") of the Han dynasty court during the late 2nd century BC. Sima Tan drafted plans for the ambitious work and left behind some fragments and notes that may have been incorporated into the final text. After Sima's death in 110 BC, Records was continued and completed by his son and successor Sima Qian, who is generally credited as the work's author. The exact date of the Records completion is unknown. It is certain that Sima Qian completed it before his death in approximately 86 BC, with one copy residing in the imperial capital of Chang'an (present-day Xi'an) and the other copy probably being stored in Sima's home.

Little is known about the Records early reception and circulation. Several 1st-century BC authors, such as the scholar Chu Shaosun (褚少孫; fl. 32–7 BC), added interpolations to it. Ten of the Records original 130 chapters were lost in the Eastern Han period (AD 25–220) and seem to have been reconstructed later.

The first commentaries to the Records date from the Northern and Southern dynasties (420–589) and the early Tang dynasty (618–907). Most historical editions of the Records included the commentaries of Pei Yin (裴駰, 5th century), Sima Zhen (early 8th century), and Zhang Shoujie (張守節, early 8th century). The primary modern edition of the Records is the ten-volume Zhonghua Book Company edition published in 1959 (revised in 1982), which is based on an edition created in the early 1930s by the Chinese historian Gu Jiegang.

Manuscripts
There are two known surviving fragments of pre-Tang dynasty Records manuscripts, both of which are held in the Ishiyama-dera temple in Ōtsu, Japan. Portions of at least nine Tang dynasty manuscripts survive: three fragments discovered among the Dunhuang manuscripts in the early 20th century, and six manuscripts preserved in Japanese temples and museums, such as the Kōzan-ji temple in Kyoto and the Tōyō Bunko museum in Tokyo. Several woodblock printed editions of the Records survive, the earliest of which date to the Song dynasty (960–1279).

Contents

In all, the Records is about 526,500 Chinese characters long, making it four times longer than Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War and longer than the Old Testament.

Sima Qian conceived and composed his work in self-contained units, with a good deal of repetition between them. His manuscript was written on bamboo slips with about 24 to 36 characters each, and assembled into bundles of around 30 slips. Even after the manuscript was allowed to circulate or be copied, the work would have circulated as bundles of bamboo slips or small groups. Endymion Wilkinson calculates that there were probably between 466 and 700 bundles, whose total weight would have been 88 - 132 lb, which would have been difficult to access and hard to transport. Later copies on silk would have been much lighter, but also expensive and rare. Until the work was transferred to paper many centuries later, circulation would have been difficult and piecemeal, which accounts for many of the errors and variations in the text.

Sima Qian organized the chapters of Records of the Grand Historian into five categories, which each comprise a section of the book.

"Basic Annals"
The "Basic Annals" (běnjì 本紀) make up the first 12 chapters of the Records, and are largely similar to records from the ancient Chinese court chronicle tradition, such as the Spring and Autumn Annals. The first five cover either periods, such as the Five Emperors, or individual dynasties, such as the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties. The last seven cover individual rulers, starting with the First Emperor of Qin and progressing through the first emperors of the Han dynasty. In this section, Sima chose to also include de facto rulers of China, such as Xiang Yu and Empress Dowager Lü, while excluding rulers who never held any real power, such as Emperor Yi of Chu and Emperor Hui of Han.

"Tables"
Chapters 13 to 22 are the "Tables" (biǎo 表), which comprise one genealogical table and nine other chronological tables. They show reigns, important events, and royal lineages in table form, which Sima Qian stated that he did because "the chronologies are difficult to follow when different genealogical lines exist at the same time." Each table except the last one begins with an introduction to the period it covers.

"Treatises"
The "Treatises" (shū 書, sometimes called "Monographs") is the shortest of the five Records sections, and contains eight chapters (23–30) on the historical evolution of ritual, music, pitch pipes, the calendar, astronomy, sacrifices, rivers and waterways, and financial administration.

"Hereditary Houses"
The "Hereditary Houses" (shìjiā 世家) is the second largest of the five Records sections, and comprises chapters 31 to 60. Within this section, the earlier chapters are very different in nature than the later chapters. Many of the earlier chapters are chronicle-like accounts of the leading states of the Zhou dynasty, such as the states of Qin and Lu, and two of the chapters go back as far as the Shang dynasty. The later chapters, which cover the Han dynasty, contain biographies.

"Ranked Biographies"
The "Ranked Biographies" (lièzhuàn 列傳, usually shortened to "Biographies") is the largest of the five Records sections, covering chapters 61 to 130, and accounts for 42% of the entire work. The 69 "Biographies" chapters mostly contain biographical profiles of about 130 outstanding ancient Chinese men, ranging from the moral paragon Boyi from the end of the Shang dynasty to some of Sima Qian's near contemporaries. About 40 of the chapters are dedicated to one particular man, but some are about two related figures, while others cover small groups of figures who shared certain roles, such as assassins, caring officials, or Confucian scholars. Unlike most modern biographies, the accounts in the "Biographies" give profiles using anecdotes to depict morals and character, with "unforgettably lively impressions of people of many different kinds and of the age in which they lived." The "Biographies" have been popular throughout Chinese history, and have provided a large number of set phrases still used in modern Chinese.

Style

Unlike subsequent official historical texts that adopted Confucian doctrine, proclaimed the divine rights of the emperors, and degraded any failed claimant to the throne, Sima Qian's more liberal and objective prose has been renowned and followed by poets and novelists. Most volumes of Liezhuan are vivid descriptions of events and persons. Sima Qian sought out stories from those who might have closer knowledge of certain historical events, using them as sources to balance the reliability and accuracy of historical records. For instance, the material on Jing Ke's attempt at assassinating the King of Qin incorporates an eye-witness account by Xia Wuju (夏無且), a physician to the king of Qin who happened to be attending the diplomatic ceremony for Jing Ke, and this account was passed on to Sima Qian by those who knew Xia.

It has been observed that the diplomatic Sima Qian has a way of accentuating the positive in his treatment of rulers in the Basic Annals, but slipping negative information into other chapters, and so his work must be read as a whole to obtain full information. For example, the information that Liu Bang (later Emperor Gaozu of Han), in a desperate attempt to escape in a chase from Xiang Yu's men, pushed his own children off his carriage to lighten it, is not given in the emperor's biography, but in the biography of Xiang Yu. He is also careful to balance the negative with the positive, for example, in the biography of Empress Dowager Lu which contains startling accounts of her cruelty, he points out at the end that, despite whatever her personal life may have been, her rule brought peace and prosperity to the country.

Source materials
Sima's family were hereditary historians to the Han emperor. Sima Qian's father Sima Tan served as Grand Historian, and Sima Qian succeeded to his position. Thus he had access to the early Han dynasty archives, edicts, and records. Sima Qian was a methodical, skeptical historian who had access to ancient books, written on bamboo and wooden slips, from before the time of the Han dynasty. Many of the sources he used did not survive. He not only used archives and imperial records, but also interviewed people and traveled around China to verify information. In his first chapter, "Annals of the Five Emperors", he writes,

余嘗西至空桐，北過涿鹿，東漸於海，南浮江淮矣，至長老皆各往往稱黃帝、堯、舜之處，風教固殊焉，總之不離古文者近是.

I myself have travelled west as far as Kongtong, north past Zhuolu, east to the sea, and in the south I have sailed the Yangtze and Huai Rivers. The elders and old men of these various lands frequently pointed out to me the places where the Yellow Emperor, Yao, and Shun had lived, and in these places the manners and customs seemed quite different. In general those of their accounts which do not differ from the ancient texts seem to be near to the truth.

— Sima Qian, translation by Burton Watson

The Grand Historian used The Annals of the Five Emperors (五帝系諜) and the Classic of History as source materials to make genealogies from the time of the Yellow Emperor until that of the Gonghe regency (841–828 BC). Sima Qian often cites his sources. For example, in the first chapter, "Annals of the Five Emperors", he writes, "I have read the Spring and Autumn Annals and the Guoyu." In his 13th chapter, "Genealogical Table of the Three Ages", Sima Qian writes, "I have read all the genealogies of the kings (dieji 諜記) that exist since the time of the Yellow Emperor." In his 14th chapter, "Yearly Chronicle of the Feudal Lords", he writes, "I have read all the royal annals (chunqiu li pudie 春秋曆譜諜) up until the time of King Li of Zhou." In his 15th chapter, "Yearly Chronicle of the Six States", he writes, "I have read the Annals of Qin (qin ji 秦記), and they say that the Quanrong [a barbarian tribe] defeated King You of Zhou [ca 771 BC]."

In the 19th chapter, he writes, "I have occasion to read over the records of enfeoffment and come to the case of Wu Qian, the marquis of Bian...." (The father of Marquis Bian, Wu Rui, was named king (wang) of Changsha for his loyalty to Gaozu.) In his chapter on the patriotic minister and poet Qu Yuan, Sima Qian writes, "I have read [Qu Yuan's works] Li Sao, Tianwen ("Heaven Asking"), Zhaohun (summoning the soul), and Ai Ying (Lament for Ying)". In the 62nd chapter, "Biography of Guan and of Yan", he writes, "I have read Guan's Mu Min (牧民 - "Government of the People", a chapter in the Guanzi), Shan Gao ("The Mountains Are High"), Chengma (chariot and horses; a long section on war and economics), Qingzhong (Light and Heavy; i.e. "what is important"), and Jiufu (Nine Houses), as well as the Spring and Autumn Annals of Yanzi." In his 64th chapter, "Biography of Sima Rangju", the Grand Historian writes, "I have read Sima's Art of War." In the 121st chapter, "Biographies of Scholars", he writes, "I read the Imperial Decrees that encouraged education officials."

Sima Qian wrote of the problems with incomplete, fragmentary and contradictory sources. For example, he mentioned in the preface to chapter 15 that the chronicle records of the feudal states kept in the Zhou dynasty's archive were burnt by Qin Shi Huang because they contained criticisms and ridicule of the Qin state, and that the Qin annals were brief and incomplete. In the 13th chapter he mentioned that the chronologies and genealogies of different ancient texts "disagree and contradict each other throughout". In his 18th chapter, Sima Qian writes, "I have set down only what is certain, and in doubtful cases left a blank."

Reliability and accuracy
Scholars have questioned the historicity of legendary kings of the ancient periods given by Sima Qian. Sima Qian began the Shiji with an account of the five rulers of supreme virtue, the Five Emperors, who modern scholars, such as those from the Doubting Antiquity School, believe to be originally local deities of the peoples of ancient China. Sima Qian sifted out elements of the supernatural and fantastic which seemed to contradict their existence as actual human monarchs, and was therefore criticized for turning myths and folklore into sober history.

However, according to Joseph Needham, who wrote in 1954 on Sima Qian's accounts of the kings of the Shang dynasty (c. 1600 – c. 1050 BC): "It was commonly maintained that Ssuma Chhien [Sima Qian] could not have adequate historical materials for his account of what had happened more than a thousand years earlier. One may judge of the astonishment of many, therefore, when it appeared that no less than twenty-three of the thirty rulers' name were to be clearly found on the indisputably genuine Anyang bones. It must be, therefore, that Ssuma Chhien [Sima Qian] did have fairly reliable materials at his disposal—a fact which underlines once more the deep historical-mindedness of the Chinese—and that the Shang dynasty is perfectly acceptable."

While the king names in Sima Qian's history of the Shang dynasty are supported by inscriptions on the oracle bones, there is, as yet, no archaeological corroboration of Sima Qian's history of the Xia dynasty.

There are also discrepancies of fact such as dates between various portions of the work. This may be a result of Sima Qian's use of different source texts.

Transmission and supplementation by other writers
After ca. 91 BC, the more-or-less completed manuscript was hidden in the residence of the author's daughter, Sima Ying (司馬英), to avoid destruction under Emperor Wu and his immediate successor Emperor Zhao. The Shiji was finally disseminated during the reign of Emperor Xuan by Sima Qian's grandson (through his daughter), Yang Yun (楊惲), after a hiatus of around twenty years.

The changes in the manuscript of the Shiji during this hiatus have always been disputed among scholars. That the text was more or less complete by ca. 91 BC is established in the Letter to Ren'an (報任安書), composed in the Zhenghe (征和) era of Emperor Wu's reign. In this letter, Sima Qian describes his work as "spanning from the time of the Yellow Emperor to the present age and consisting of ten tables, twelve basic annals, eight treatises, thirty chapters on hereditary houses, and seventy biographies, together totaling 130 chapters." These numbers are likewise given in the postface to Shiji.

After his death (presumably only a few years later), few people had the opportunity to see the whole work. However, various additions were still made to it. The historian Liu Zhiji reported the names of a total of fifteen scholars supposed to have added material to the Shiji during the period after the death of Sima Qian. Only the additions by Chu Shaosun (褚少孫, c. 105 – c. 30 BC) are clearly indicated by adding "Mr Chu said," (Chu xiansheng yue, 褚先生曰). Already in the first century AD, Ban Biao and Ban Gu claimed that ten chapters in Records of the Grand Historian were lacking. A large number of chapters dealing with the first century of the Han dynasty (i.e. the 2nd century BC) correspond exactly to the relevant chapters from the Book of Han (Hanshu). It is unclear whether those chapters initially came from the Shiji or from the Hanshu. Researchers Yves Hervouet (1921–1999) and A. F. P. Hulsewé argued that the originals of those chapters of the Shiji were lost and they were later reconstructed using the corresponding chapters from the Hanshu.

Editions
The earliest extant copy of Records of the Grand Historian, handwritten, was made during the Southern and Northern Dynasties period (420–589 AD). The earliest printed edition, called Shiji jijie (史記集解, literally Scribal Records, Collected Annotations), was published during the Northern Song dynasty. Huang Shanfu's edition, printed under the Southern Song dynasty, is the earliest collection of the Sanjiazhu commentaries on Records of the Grand Historian (三家注, literally: The Combined Annotations of the Three Experts).

In modern times, the Zhonghua Book Company in Beijing has published the book in both simplified Chinese for mass consumption and traditional Chinese for scholarly study. The 1959 (2nd ed., 1982) Sanjiazhu edition in traditional Chinese (based upon the Jinling Publishing House edition, see below) contains commentaries interspersed among the main text and is considered to be an authoritative modern edition.

The most well-known editions of the Shiji (all woodblock printed) are:

English

 * Herbert J. Allen, Ssŭma Ch‘ien's Historical Records, The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, 1894, p. 269-294; 1895, p. 93-110, 601-611, available online. (The first English translation of the first three chapters).
 * Watson, Burton, trans. (1961). Records of the Grand Historian of China. New York: Columbia University Press.
 * Second edition, 1993 (Records of the Grand Historian). Translates roughly 90 out of 130 chapters.
 * Qin Dynasty, ISBN 978-0-231-08169-6.
 * Han Dynasty, Volume 1, ISBN 978-0-231-08165-8.
 * Han Dynasty, Volume 2, ISBN 978-0-231-08167-2.
 * Yang Hsien-yi and Gladys Yang (1974), Records of the Historians. Hong Kong: Commercial Press.
 * Reprinted by University Press of the Pacific, 2002. Contains biographies of Confucius and Laozi. ISBN 978-0835106184
 * Raymond Stanley Dawson (1994). Historical Records. New York: Oxford University Press.
 * Reprinted, 2007 (The First Emperor : Selections from the Historical Records). Translates only Qin-related material. ISBN 9780199574391
 * William H. Nienhauser, Jr., ed. (1994– ). The Grand Scribe's Records, 9 vols. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Ongoing translation, and being translated out of order. As of 2020, translates 92 out of 130 chapters.
 * I. The Basic Annals of Pre-Han China (2018), ISBN 978-0-253-03855-5.
 * II. The Basic Annals of the Han Dynasty (2018), ISBN 978-0-253-03909-5.
 * V. part 1. The Hereditary Houses of Pre-Han China (2006), ISBN 978-0-253-34025-2.
 * VI. The Hereditary Houses, III (2022), ISBN 978-0-253-06418-9. (edited with Masha Kobzeva)
 * VII. The Memoirs of Pre-Han China (1995), ISBN 978-0-253-34027-6.
 * VIII. The Memoirs of Han China, Part I (2008), ISBN 978-0-253-34028-3.
 * IX. The Memoirs of Han China, Part II (2010), ISBN 978-0-253-35590-4.
 * X. The Memoirs of Han China, Part III (2016), ISBN 978-0-253-01931-8.
 * XI. The Memoirs of Han China, Part IV (2019), ISBN 978-0-253-04610-9.

Non-English

 * Chavannes, Édouard, trans. (1895–1905). Les Mémoires historiques de Se-ma Ts'ien [The Historical Memoirs of Sima Qian], 6 vols.; rpt. (1967–1969) 7 vols., Paris: Adrien Maisonneuve. Left uncompleted at Chavannes' death. William Nienhauser calls it a "landmark" and "the standard by which all subsequent renditions... must be measured.". Accessible online at Se-ma Ts'ien: Les Mémoires Historiques - Bibliothèque Chine ancienne and La bibliothèque numérique Les Classiques des sciences sociales - Collection «Les auteur(e)s classiques» - La Chine ancienne - Les auteurs chinois.
 * Chavannes, Édouard, Maxime Kaltenmark Jacques Pimpaneau, translators. (2015) Les Mémoires historiques de Se-Ma Ts'ien [The Historical Memoirs of Sima Qian], 9 vols.; Éditions You Feng, Paris. This is the completed full translation of the Shiji
 * full translation in 9 vols: Vyatkin, Rudolf V., trans. . Istoricheskie Zapiski (Shi-czi) [Исторические записки (Ши-цзи)], 8 vols. Moscow: Nauka (1972–2002); 9th volume: Vyatkin, Anatoly R., trans. (2010), Moscow: Vostochnaya literatura. This is the first complete translation into any European language. Full text available online: Сыма Цянь. Исторические записки (Ши цзи).
 * Yang, Zhongxian 杨钟贤; Hao, Zhida 郝志达, eds. (1997). Quanjiao quanzhu quanyi quanping Shiji 全校全注全译全评史记 [Shiji: Fully Collated, Annotated, Translated, and Evaluated], 6 vols. Tianjin: Tianjin guji chubanshe.
 * (in Mandarin Chinese) Yang, Yanqi 杨燕起; eds. (2001). “Shi Ji Quan Yi" 史记全译, 12 vols. Guiyang: Guizhou renmin chubanshe 贵州人民出版社.
 * (in Mandarin Chinese) Xu, Jialu 许嘉璐; An, Pingqiu 安平秋, eds. (2003). Ershisishi quanyi: Shiji 二十四史全译：史记, 2 vols. Beijing: Hanyudacidian chubanshe.
 * Mizusawa, Toshitada 水澤利忠; Yoshida, Kenkō 吉田賢抗, trans. (1996–1998). Shiki 史記 [Shiji], 12 vols. Tokyo: Kyūko.
 * Mieczysław J. Künstler, trans. (2000). Sy-ma Ts'ien, Syn smoka. Fragmenty Zapisków historyka, Warszawa: Czytelnik; ISBN 83-07-02780-2. Selected chapters only.
 * Svane, Gunnar O., trans. (2007). Historiske Optegnelser: Kapitlerne 61-130, Biografier 1-70. Aarhus: Aarhus Universitetsforlag.
 * Gregor Kneussel, Alexander Saechtig, trans. (2016). Aus den Aufzeichnungen des Chronisten, 3 vols. Beijing: Verlag für fremdsprachige Literatur (Foreign Languages Press); ISBN 978-7-119-09676-6.
 * Cannata, Vincenzo, translator. (2024) Memorie Storiche di Sima Qian [Historical Memoirs of Sima Qian], 4 vols.; Luni Editrice, Milano This is the completed full translation of the Shiji; ISBN 9-788879-848220.

title: Records of the Grand Historian


text:
David Mason (trumpeter)

David Mason (2 April 1926 – 29 April 2011 ) was an English orchestral, solo and session trumpet player. He played the flugelhorn for the premiere of Ralph Vaughan Williams's ninth symphony and the piccolo trumpet solo on the Beatles' song "Penny Lane".

Career
Mason was born in London, and educated at Christ's Hospital and the Royal College of Music where he studied with Ernest Hall. His early playing career benefited from the timing of the Second World War: as a sixteen-year-old he was ineligible for call-up where many older players had already been recruited, and was thus able to pick up a lot of work in London before and during his time as a student at the Royal College of Music, which was itself interrupted by his own call-up into the Band of the Scots Guards. Before call-up he was the youngest member of the then National Symphony Orchestra.

After leaving the Royal College of Music, Mason became a member of the orchestra of the Royal Opera House, moving on later to the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra where he eventually became principal trumpet. After seven years in that role he moved to the Philharmonia, where he remained for most of the rest of his orchestral career. He was a professor of trumpet at the Royal College of Music for thirty years and thus taught many of the trumpet players who now make up the core of the profession in the UK.

The Royal College of Music has awarded a David Mason Prize for Orchestral Trumpet Playing.

Mason was the flugelhorn soloist for the world premiere of Ralph Vaughan Williams's Symphony No. 9 on 2 April 1958. The novelty of the flugelhorn (often seen as a jazz or brass band instrument) being used in such a significant mainstream classical work attracted much press comment at the time, perhaps to the detriment of the symphony's overall coverage and consideration.

Penny Lane
On 17 January 1967 at Abbey Road Studios Mason recorded the piccolo trumpet solo which is a prominent part of the Beatles' song "Penny Lane". The solo, inspired by Mason's performance of Bach's 2nd Brandenburg Concerto with the English Chamber Orchestra, is in a mock-Baroque style for which the piccolo trumpet is particularly suited, having a clean and clear sound which penetrates well through thicker midrange textures.

Mason recorded the solo using a piccolo trumpet in A (this uses a slightly longer leadpipe than the piccolo trumpet in B-flat, which itself is an octave higher than a standard B-flat trumpet). Although such piccolo trumpet solos became almost commonplace in some types of pop, this was innovative at the time and was among the first such uses: George Martin later wrote, "The result was unique, something which had never been done in rock music before".

Mason also contributed to several other Beatles songs, including "A Day in the Life", "Magical Mystery Tour", "All You Need Is Love" and "It's All Too Much".

Death
Mason died of leukaemia in April 2011, at the age of 85.

title: David Mason (trumpeter)