Chunqiu
The Chunqiu, commonly referred to as the Spring and Autumn Annals, is a historical text that records events from 722 to 464 BCE in ancient China. It is characterized by its concise factual entries arranged chronologically. This text is traditionally believed to encapsulate the historical judgments of Confucius, who lived during a time that overlaps with its entries, leading to extensive scholarly interpretations of its supposed deeper meanings. Among its early commentaries, the Zuozhuan stands out for its narrative style and has largely supplanted the original text in academic usage. Recent scholarship, particularly by George A. Kennedy, challenges the notion of coded judgments in the Chunqiu, suggesting it should instead be viewed as a straightforward historical record. This perspective highlights a complex political landscape of prebureaucratic states, emphasizing cooperative governance and different forms of warfare. The Chunqiu holds significant untapped potential as a source of information for understanding early Chinese history and societal structures.
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Chunqiu
Related civilization: China.
Also known as:Wade-Giles Ch’un-ch’iu.
Date: fifth century b.c.e.
Locale: Pre-Imperial state of Lu
Authorship: Anonymous scribes
Chunqiu
The Chunqiu (JEWN-chyew; The Ch’un Ts’ew with the Tso Chuen, 1872; commonly known as Spring and Summer Annals) consists of brief factual entries arranged chronologically, covering the years 722-464 b.c.e. By the fourth century c.e., it was believed to contain the coded historical judgments of Confucius (whose lifetime, 551-479 b.c.e., it overlaps) on people and events, and numerous works have been written to explain this supposed esoteric meaning. Three early commentaries, and in particular the Zuozhuan (probably compiled 475-221 b.c.e.; English translation, 1872), with its lively narrative, have almost entirely replaced the text itself in Chinese scholarly usage.
The “judgment” theory of the text has been refuted by scholar George A. Kennedy, which opens the way to treating the Spring and Summer Annals as a literal chronicle. This position has been further developed to show that the text reflects a world earlier than and different from that implied by the commentaries, featuring functional cooperation among large and small prebureaucratic states, chivalric rather than mass-army warfare in China, and a ruler-based rather than a people-based definition of the state. Its value as a source for the history of early China is unexploited but incalculable.
Bibliography
Gardner, Charles S. Chinese Traditional Historiography. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1970.
Kennedy, George A. “Interpretation of the Ch’un-ch’iu.” Journal of Oriental Studies 62, no. 1 (1942): 40-48.
Legge, James. The Ch’un Ts’ew with the Tso Chuen. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 1872. Reprint. Taipei: SMC, 1994.