Zuo Tradition / Zuozhuan: Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals

by Stephen Durrant (Translator), Wai-Yee Li (Translator), David Schaberg (Translator)

Zuo Tradition (Zuozhuan; sometimes called The Zuo Commentary) is China's first great work of history. It consists of two interwoven texts - the Spring and Autumn Annals (Chunqiu, a terse annalistic record) and a vast web of narratives and speeches that add context and interpretation to the Annals. Completed by about 300 BCE, it is the longest and one of the most difficult texts surviving from pre-imperial times. It has been as important to the foundation and preservation of Chinese culture as the historical books of the Hebrew Bible have been to the Jewish and Christian traditions. It has shaped notions of history, justice, and the significance of human action in the Chinese tradition perhaps more so than any comparable work of Latin or Greek historiography has done to Western civilization. This translation, accompanied by the original text, an introduction, and annotations, will finally make Zuozhuan accessible to all.

Genres: History, China, Chinese Literature, Classics

2243 pages, Hardcover

Published July 1, 2016

Reviews

[hoffnarr · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing achievement. The bilingual presentation, the rich and informative introduction, and the amazing notes on the translation make this a real mode for editions of important Chinese Classics.

[Barack Liu · Rating 5 out of 5]

365-Spring and Autumn Annals-Confucius-History- 722BC

Barack
2021/10/04

"Spring and Autumn", the historian of the State of Lu recorded a large number of disrespectful and indecent incidents of the princes, doctors, and people of the country at that time; the historian of the State of Lu would also collect the disrespectful and indecent incidents of other princes, princes, princes, and other princes. The contents of the letters between the doctors and others, such as the letter of Jin Shuxiang and Zheng Guozichan about the casting penalty, which recorded the killing of the Qi State historian for keeping true records and so on.

At the beginning of each season, it is generally necessary to write the seasons from "spring" to "winter". It is said that the ancient calendar has spring and autumn first, followed by winter and summer. Therefore, the national historical record is called "Chun Qiu", which may be the origin of "Chun Qiu" as the name of history books. The existing "Spring and Autumn", from Lu Yin Gong ( 722 BC) to Lu Ai Gong, the twelve generations of monarchs, counted 244 years (according to "Gong Yang Biography" and "Guoliang Biography" to Aigong Ten-Four years ended, two hundred and forty-two years, "Zuo Zhuan" two more years), it is basically the original text of the history books of the Lu Kingdom.

The language used in "Chun Qiu" is extremely concise, but almost every sentence implies praise and criticism, which is called "Chun Qiu Style" and "Small Words" by later generations. It is one of the "Six Classics" of ancient Chinese Confucian classics. It is my country's first chronological history book and also the national history of Lu during the Zhou Dynasty. The existing version is rumored to have been revised by Confucius.

Confucius, born in BC 551 years BC to 479 years 4 Yue 11 date of the death, sub-name, Conn, name Qiu, styled Zhong Ni, Lu Yi Zou (now Qufu City, Shandong Province) people, the ancient Chinese thinker, Politician, educator, founder of the Confucian school, "the most sage master of Dacheng".

Confucius pioneered the style of private lectures and advocated benevolence, justice, courtesy, wisdom, and trust. There are three thousand disciples, among which seventy-two wise men. He led some disciples to travel around the world for 14 years and revised the Six Classics in his later years ("Poetry", "Book", "Ritual", "Yue", "Yi", and "Spring and Autumn").

Table of Contents
1. Yin AD to eleven years
2. Huan AD~18 years
3. Zhuang A.D. ~ Thirty-two years
4. Min AD ~ 2nd year
5. From the first year to the 33rd year of Xi
6. From the first year to the eighteenth year of Wen AD
7. From the first year of Xuan AD to the eighteenth year
8. From the first year to the eighteenth year
9. The first year of Xiang AD ~ 31st year
10. From the first year of Zhao AD to the thirty-second year

Ji Zhong said: "The capital, the city passes a hundred pheasants, and the country is harmed. The system of the first king: most, but one of the participating countries; middle, one of the fifth; small, one of the ninth. Today, the capital does not save, it is not the rule, the ruler Unbearable." The public said: "Jiang wants it, how can he stop the harm?" He said: "Why does Jiang have it? It is better to do it early, and there is no cause to nourish the vine! The vine is difficult to picture. The vine is still inevitable, let alone. Is the king's favorite brother?" The public said: "If you do much unrighteousness, you will die, and Zigu will treat it."

It is also a biological child, and the parents' preferences are not uniform. It is very difficult for a bowl of water to be smooth, and there will be disasters if there is partiality. If there is no ability to punish the wrongdoer for the time being, then let him perish by connivance.

"The gentleman said: "Believe it, quality is useless. To act with forgiveness, to be courteous, although there is no quality, who can intervene? Gou Youmingxin, the hairs of Jianxi marsh, the dishes of Pingfengwei, the utensils of the baskets, the vessels of the pots, the water that is dirty and the water, can be recommended to ghosts and gods, can be ashamed of the princes, and the gentleman of the two countries believes in the two kingdoms, OK How to use courtesy and quality? "Wind" has "Cai Fan" and "Cai Ping", and "Ya" has "Xing Wei" and "Looking for Drinking", so loyal and faithful. ""

Credit is invisible, but the value may be higher than the material that can be measured quantitatively. It takes a long time to accumulate credit, but it only takes a few times to destroy credit. Don't be cautious.

"Shi Jie remonstrated: "The minister heard about his son and taught him to use righteousness, and he was satisfied with evil. Pride, extravagance, licentiousness, and arrogance are also self-evil. The four of them are too spoiled. Calling Lizhou is a matter of determination, if it is still not yet, the order will be a disaster. Husband favors without arrogance, arrogant but can drop, drop without regret, regret but can succumb to those who are rare. The husband is cheap and expensive, the young tomb is long, the distant relatives, the old between the new, the small and the big, the prostitution breaks righteousness, the so-called six inverses. The righteousness of the emperor, the line of officials, the kindness of the father, the filial piety of the son, the love of the brother, the respect of the younger brother, the so-called six sufficiency. Going smoothly and inversely, so it's a quick disaster. The ruler will do away with the disaster, but if it is quick, there is nothing to do with it? ""

Even the monarch, doing things is often affected by personal likes and dislikes. For what we like, we condone its shortcomings; for what we dislike, we ignore its advantages. This is a foreshadowing of misfortune. The principle of education as a child can also be applied to self-cultivation.

"In September, the guards made You Zaichou come to kill Zhou Yup, and Shi Jie made him slaughter the sheep and shoulders to kill Shi Hou Yu Chen. The gentleman said: "Shi Jie, a pure minister, Ezhou Yu, and Hou and Yan. . 'The righteousness to destroy the relatives' is what it is! ""

When a father sees his son embarking on an evil path, he first tries to dissuade him; if he fails to dissuade him, he will give up staying away. Later generations read from history books, and they probably feel fair, but who knows the real pain in the heart of being a father?

"The gentleman said: "Good is not to be lost, and evil is not to grow. Chen Huang is nothing less than that! Evil is not long enough, from time to time. Although he wants to be saved, will he be able to stop? "Book of Commerce," said: "Evil is easy like a fire sings on the pristine, not a hometown, can it still be put out? 'Zhou Ren has said:'For the country, seeing evil is like a farmer’s task to go to the grass, and the barbarians will accumulate it, and the root will be eliminated. Don't use it to reproduce, then the goodwill believes in it. '""

Humans are animals, and both good and evil exist in nature at the same time. One of the effects of acquired education is to help people contain the evil part of nature and encourage the good part of nature.

"The brave but lackluster will taste the bandit, and go quickly. You are waiting for it three times. Rong is light and unregulated, greedy without relatives, wins without giving in, and loses without saving. The first one must make progress when he sees and gains, and then he rushes when he encounters the fall. The latter will not be saved without success. It can be done. ""

The strength of individual soldiers does not mean that the overall strength is strong. Only a good organization can give full play to everyone's strength. The reason why human beings can outperform other creatures with more powerful bodies depends on collective power.

"In the spring of the second year, Governor Song attacked the Kong family, killed Kong's father, and took his wife."

Confucius was killed, the reason may not be just because he had a beautiful wife, but this may be one of the reasons. In the struggle of men, women are also seen as resources. Every husband is not guilty, and he is guilty of his guilt, and the result of failure to keep it is a disaster.

"Ji Liangzhizhi said: "Heaven teaches Chu, Chu Zhipan, and it entices me, why is it so urgent? The minister heard that the small can rival the big, and the path is big. The so-called Dao means being loyal to the people and believing in God. Think and benefit the people, and be loyal; Zhushi is righteous and faithful. Today the people are discouraged, but the king wants to succumb to it. ""

It is a rare thing to be strong with a weak enemy. To achieve such a thing requires not only one's own side to do the right thing, but also the other side's doing the wrong thing.

"At the beginning, Uncle Yu had a jade, and Gong Yu asked for it. Fu Xian then regretted it and said: "Zhou Yan has it:'Every husband is not guilty, but he is guilty of his crime. 'Why should I use this, is it harmless? "Nai Xianzhi. I also asked for his sword. Uncle said: "It's insatiable. Insatiable will reach me. "Then Duke Yu was killed, so Duke Yu went to the pool."

Insatiable greed leads to disaster. Desires are shared by all, and what is needed is to learn how to control one's own desires. To satisfy one's own desires requires a sustainable approach, otherwise, it will easily lead to a backlash.

[Ring Chime · Rating 5 out of 5]

Introduction
This text which I’m writing my thoughts on was translated and introduced by Stephen Durrant, Wai-Yee Li, and David Schaberg. The narrative on the narrative’s official author has been discussed and discoursed on for a long time. Traditionally the work was supposed to have been written by a student of Confucius, in truth it might have been compiled, written, and edited by a number of individuals, including persons with a strong preference for the future polity of Wei.

The translators chose for this text to translate differently than many other texts, where other works have dukes and marquis, this text has lords, princes, heads, and so on. What is usually translated as state is instead translated as domain within this text.

Structure
The book contains English translations on the right with original Chinese on the left. Short annals are followed by corresponding commentary, explanation, and additional details in the form of the Zuo commentary. The first several years of the text are far more spare, but become increasingly thicker in terms of details and number of events before the amount of detail feels shockingly foreshortened in the last several years and reigns as the chaos of the “present” era seems to have made certain details and the ability to accurately record them much less available.

Transformation of Culture
As the years pass, the behavior of the people involved changes more and more. visits to the Zhou Royal Domain by the other domains become less frequent, the Odes cease to be quoted, and statements on the basis of ritual propriety seem to be less frequent in the last years of Lord Ai.

Reconsiderations
Reading the text, it's easy to see how different this time period was from the imagined reality of China in general. The supposed massive armies that were cited to have always existed in China’s past were not present in this time period when one examines the number of soldiers that were able to turn the tide of battle, and when the footnotes point out details like a state having an army of a thousand chariots which could have been supported by up to eighty men perhaps. The narratives of battles are frequently not unlike or too distant a cousin from the various heroes of the Iliad making challenges and crying out threats before killing some great warrior on the other side or capturing some lord or important scion of some lineage. There are even a few points at which the man on one side complains that the other does not give him his turn while they are shooting arrows at each other.

The domain of Lu which successfully resisted one of the strongest domains Qi, balks at the idea of having to supply one hundred sets of sacrificial animals to Wu, which calls into question the amount of available resources these states would have had available to them to support some of the reputedly massive armies noted or claimed by some.

Speeches & Ritual Propriety
Much like Thucydides, one reading this text gains the impression that the writer of this text frequently desired to have certain individuals say what needed to be said or to state different opinions on certain subjects in such a fashion as to have the appropriate arguments for certain sides of a discussion explored, and for the opinion that was most agreeable to the writer to a certain extent, match the opinion of historical winners.

The work is filled with numerous predictions of certain and charmingly accurate doom by certain individuals who are the spokesmen for ritual propriety. An individual does not behave in a ritually appropriate manner and another declares the certainty of their death in the next decade or within the next several years, and almost unfailingly, the death can be expected.

Ritual propriety as described by Zichan or You Ji, is in a manner, an individual acting in concord with Heaven. Individuals who do not adhere to behaving in the way of Heaven, are aberrations. They simply do not fit into the warp and woof of the cosmic thread of existence. It is only through engaging in the natural and proper behavior of ritual propriety that individuals can reach the end of their allotted years. Ritual propriety, like the movement of planets or the change of seasons

If this text accurately portrays the religious and philosophical thinking of the time, other texts which regard Heaven as uncaring and regard humans as merely straw dogs are a dramatic break from former lines of thinking. Confucius also never meets with Laozi in this text.

On Confucius
Confucius doesn’t seem quite as impressive or like he did as much stuff as many of his disciples based upon what was recorded of him in this text, and in regards to the ritual propriety which Confucius and others championed, it seems obvious from the text that, if one takes the speeches as belonging to or accurately representing the individuals, that ritual propriety was safe-guarded and defended by individuals like Shuxiang, Zichan, and You Ji before Confucius was particularly active, and at the same time as him, and oftentimes they did a better job given they were actually employed.

It’s undoubtedly true that Confucius provided Lu with additional talent that was able to assist it in navigating the later Spring & Autumn such as Zigong and that his students (as recorded) generally faced the future with dignity. Still, I can’t help but feel like maybe we should be calling it Shuxiang-Zichanism instead of Confucianism in English, or Heavenly-Patternism.

The reason that Confucius became the face of this line of thinking which had existed for a long time instead of those other individuals is because he had the time (lack of a job) to gather students to teach them and educate them. His way of thinking was able to propagate precisely because he wasn’t given a position to exercise it actively in a position of power. Something to consider.

[Shiraste · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing view into Chinese history.
The importance of ritual, the steady decline of central powers and rise of hereditary high nobility within the various states. The dichotomy between moral ethics and realpolitik.

Be aware that this is not an easy book to read, even compared to western primary sources.

However, the translation and editing team made it a lot more accessible. Without it I would have been lost numerous times.

[Snade Snapper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome