Chapter 15 The second section is "Zuo Zhuan" with detailed records and beautiful writing style

"Zuo Zhuan" was originally called "Zuo Shi Chunqiu", and it and "Spring and Autumn" were two separate books, which are different from "Gongyang Zhuan" and "Guliang Biography". "Biography of Gongyang" and "Biography of Guliang" are attached to the "Spring and Autumn" classics, and they are compared together by scriptures and biography. "Zuoshi Chunqiu" was originally an independent book. Although Liu Xin, a famous scholar in the Han Dynasty, attached great importance to citing it to explain "Spring and Autumn" and named the book "Chunqiu Zuoshi Zhuan", the scriptures and biography are still separate.It was not until Du Yu in the Jin Dynasty compiled the "Chunqiu Jingzhuan Jijie" that the biography was attached to the scriptures by year, and a section of scriptures and a section of biography became the form we see today (Figure 18).

The record time of "Zuo Zhuan" is roughly the same as that of "Spring and Autumn", but it is slightly exceeded. It is also mainly from the period of 12 gongs from Lu Yingong to Lu Aigong. However, it traces the past to the 23rd year of Zhou Xuanwang 805 BC), 83 years earlier than "Spring and Autumn"; it was written according to the year to the twenty-seventh year of Duke Ai of Lu (468 BC), 13 years longer than "Spring and Autumn".Compared with the brief account-style records of "Spring and Autumn", the records of "Zuo Zhuan" are very rich and specific. There are also analysis and commentary, which is a chronological history book with a relatively complete system.It can be said that "Zuo Zhuan" systematically and detailedly records many political, economic, military, social, cultural and other events of various countries in the Spring and Autumn Period on the basis of extensive collection of various ancient historical news and public and private records. It is a valuable historical document for the study of ancient Chinese society in the pre-Qin period.

Because of the brief records in "Spring and Autumn", many parts are not easy to understand, and the reading is relatively dull and dull, which is very boring. "Zuo Zhuan" is different. It has detailed records and beautiful writing style. It uses rich historical materials to explain the ins and outs of things clearly, vividly and concretely, and makes people read with gusto.For example, it is recorded in "Spring and Autumn" in the year of Yin Gong: "Xia, May, Zheng Boke Duan Yu Yan [yan Yan]." There are only nine characters before and after; in "Zuo Zhuan", it is a story with twists and turns, vivid characters, beginning and end. historical story.Without the narration in "Zuo Zhuan", it is difficult to understand the specific circumstances of this matter. Many unknown places in "Spring and Autumn" rely on the supplements and explanations of "Zuo Zhuan", so that later generations can understand.Huan Tan of the Eastern Han Dynasty said: "The Zuo family's scriptures and biography are just like the inside and outside of the clothes. They treat each other. The scriptures have no biography, so that the sages will close their eyes and think about it, and they will not know it for ten years." This is very reasonable. Explains the importance of "Zuo Zhuan" to "Spring and Autumn". Based on a large number of reliable historical materials, "Zuo Zhuan" takes narrative as the main method, and makes selective and focused annotations and explanations for the historical events recorded in "Spring and Autumn".If there is no detailed record in "Zuo Zhuan", the value of "Spring and Autumn" will be greatly reduced. "Zuo Zhuan" also describes many historical events that "Spring and Autumn" did not record.Most of the Spring and Autumn Period was centered on the struggle for hegemony between Jin and Chu. However, "Spring and Autumn" did not mention the development process of the two countries' gradual strength and struggle for hegemony at all, while "Zuo Zhuan" had detailed and specific records.For example, the victory or defeat of the three major battles of Chengpu, Bi (bibi), and Yanling was the key to the prosperity and decline of Jin and Chu. Just remember that the whole story is very detailed and detailed, and the story is very strong.If there is no "Zuo Zhuan", readers will not be able to understand these three major battles.

"Zuo Zhuan" is valued by people because of its high historical value, and its literary achievements and language skills are also very high.The author is not only good at highlighting the essential characteristics of things, but also uses concise sentences to describe complex and complicated events in an orderly manner, especially when describing wars, which are often written in a clear and vivid way. , to portray the characters vividly.During the Spring and Autumn Period, countries had frequent diplomatic activities. Whether the envoys could speak or not was directly related to the country's honor, disgrace, and safety, so they attached great importance to diplomatic rhetoric. "Zuo Zhuan" has a vivid description of this.Many dialogues are euphemistic and reserved, soft on the outside and strong on the inside, with profound meaning. They seem to be gentle, but they are spoken slowly and leisurely, but they are strong in their bones, and they will not give an inch on key issues.Of course, this was the political fashion at that time, and the author of "Zuo Zhuan" also had to refine and refine his narrative. There are many vivid historical stories in the book "Zuo Zhuan", such as Cao GUI (guigui)'s debate, Duke Huan of Qi's attack on Chu, Gong Zhiqi's remonstrance against false ways, Zhu Zhiwu's retreat from the Qin master, Jie Zhi's push without words, and Xian Gao rewarding the Qin master , Chu Gui Jin Zhi Yu [ying Ying], etc., are all beautifully written, with moving plots, and are famous works in the history of literature.

There have been many discussions and differences of opinion about the author of "Zuo Zhuan" and when it was completed.According to Sima Qian's "Historical Records", the author of "Zuo Shi Chun Qiu" is "Lu Junzi Zuo Qiuming".Confucius once said: "Smart words, courteous looks, and respectful feet, Zuo Qiu is ashamed of them, and Qiu is ashamed of them. Hiding resentment and making friends with others, Zuo Qiu is ashamed of them, and Qiu is also ashamed of them." ("The Analects of Confucius Gongye "Long") to the effect: "Speak well, treat others flatteringly, outright obedience and flattery, Zuo Qiuming thinks this kind of person is shameful, and I think it's shameful. Zuo Qiuming thinks it's shameful to hide resentment towards others and make friends with others. I also think it’s shameful.” It can be seen that Zuo Qiuming was a contemporary who was highly respected by Confucius, and perhaps a little older than Confucius. There is a lot of written evidence in Zuo Zhuan that the author is from the state of Lu. For example, the word "I" is used as the pronoun of the state of Lu in many places, and the Duke of Lu is only called the public, and the word "Lu" is not written in front of Dr. Lu, etc.From the analysis of the content of the book, the content of each part of "Zuo Zhuan" is very unbalanced. In terms of time, the early period is relatively brief, and the later period is more detailed. In the later period, the period of Duke Xiang and Duke Zhao is the most detailed. However, it is 1/4 of that of the Spring and Autumn Period, and the narrative content accounts for almost half of the whole book.Confucius was born in 551 BC (the 22nd year of Duke Xiang of Lu) and died in 479 BC (the 16th year of Duke Ai of Lu). "Zuo Zhuan" has a more detailed account of the historical events that the author can hear and see in this world, which is very natural.It is inconvenient for the author to comment on matters that are too short in time, so the current affairs of Duke Ding and Duke Ai are relatively brief.In addition, because the book was written by a contemporary, its attitude towards Confucius and "Spring and Autumn" should be relatively independent and free, and the author has his own discretion and independent opinions.This is different from the descendants who respect Confucius as a sage and "Spring and Autumn" as a classic.This is why the relationship between "Zuo Zhuan" and "Spring and Autumn" is different from that of "Gongyang Zhuan" and "Gu Liang Zhuan".We believe that the original author of "Zuo Zhuan" was Zuo Qiuming, a gentleman of Lu who was contemporary with Confucius. In the early Warring States Period.

Few of the works in the pre-Qin period were completed by one person, and most of them had a process of compilation, and the same is true for "Zuo Zhuan".Due to this situation, we also need to analyze and identify the historical materials in Zuo Zhuan.Generally speaking, the writing is relatively concise and easy, and the record of the year, month, and day in detail should be the record of the historian at that time, and its historical value is the highest.The second is general memoirs, including many vivid historical stories, often without detailed time records.Most of them come from private records of various countries, which contain historical events and legends, and most of them are credible.A few were inserted by later generations, so it needs to be analyzed.Then there are some long articles, the text is more exaggerated and extravagant, like to use numbers, like to compare sentences, very similar to the style of articles in the Warring States Period.It is necessary to be cautious when citing such historical materials to explain the problem, and it is best to refer to other materials for necessary research and revision.

There are many divination (shi shi) prophecies in "Zuo Zhuan", and they are often very effective. These are all fabricated by later generations, and they are also strong evidence that "Zuo Zhuan" has been altered by later generations.For the prophecies that are right, the historical events should have been personally experienced by the forgers; while for the few unspoken prophecies, the historical development was unexpected by the forgers, who did not see what happened later .Today, many scholars have put forward powerful analysis and conclusions on the time when "Zuo Zhuan" was written based on the veracity and failure of the prophecies in "Zuo Zhuan".

Due to its precious historical value and literary achievements, "Zuo Zhuan" is highly valued by later generations, and many people have always commented on it.The more popular commentary is the "Spring and Autumn Zuozhuan Zhengyi" (Jin Du Yuyu, Tang Kongying Dashu) included in the "Thirteen Classics Commentary", which is a relatively influential commentary in history (Figure 19).In recent years, Zhonghua Book Company has published "Spring and Autumn Zuozhuan Zhuan" edited by Yang Bojun. The author has made comprehensive and detailed annotations on "Zuo Zhuan" on the basis of extensively absorbing relevant research results of ancient and modern Chinese and foreign scholars, with a certain degree of summary.If young comrades have difficulty reading this book, they can also refer to Shen Yucheng's "Zuo Zhuan Translation". He translated the original text based on Yang Bojun's annotations. The translation is accurate and the reading is relatively smooth.This is the first volume of "Zuo Zhuan" translated into vernacular.