Sima Qian (???; simplified ???; Wade-Giles: Ssu-ma Ch'ien) was a Prefect of the Grand Scribes (???) of the Han Dynasty.

He is regarded as the father of Chinese historiography for his highly praised work; Records of the Grand Historian (?? or ??); a 'Jizhuanti'-style general history of China; covering more than two thousand years from the Yellow Emperor to Emperor Wu of Han. His definitive work laid the foundation for later Chinese historiography.