Ssu-ma Chien wrote the Historical Records to realize a personal avocation: "Studying all affairs in heaven and earth, looking through from past to present, and coming up with a respected set of observations" so that after its completion it could be "stored in the Imperial library and passed on to others."
司馬遷作《史記》為實現個人抱負，「究天人之際，通古今之變，成一家之言」，期望書成之後，「藏諸名山，傳之其人」。