in 99 bc, sima qian got involved in the li ling affair. he was punished and sent to prison. sima qian would be sentenced to death if he could not pay a fine or accept the terrible punishment - castration. with the fact that sima qian did not have enough money to pay the fine and he hoped to finish writing the records of the grand historian, he accepted the castration. sima qian finally spent 19 years to write that book.