Feng Yuanzheng (right) portrays ancient historian Sima Qian in his theater directorial debut, Sima Qian, in which he explores the historian's inner struggles. [Photo by Feng Yuanzheng/China Daily]

While most others would have chosen death rather than suffer the torture, Sima chose the latter as he needed time to finish his work, Records of the Grand Historian, one of the country's most influential classics.

Feng's family comes from the same town as Sima－Hancheng city in Northwest China's Shaanxi province－and it is this connection with the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220) historian that tempted the 53-year-old actor to spend 10 years on the project.

The biographical stage play, which features Feng in the lead role, received critical acclaim during the Beijing premiere in mid-September and at its Shaanxi performance in early November.

More shows will follow, and the producer, the Beijing People's Art Theater, hopes it becomes a classic play with regular, annual performances.

Xiong Zhaozheng, the winner of the country's highest honor for fiction, the Mao Dun Literature Prize in 2005 for his historical novel, Zhang Juzheng, wrote the script.