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Zhan Guo Ce
The Zhan Guo Ce () was a renowned ancient Chinese historical work and compilation of sporadic materials on the Warring States Period compiled between 3rd century to 1st century BCE.[1][2] It is an important literature in the research of Warring States Period as it accounts the strategies and political views of the School of Negotiation and reveals the historical and social characteristics of the period.
HistoryThe author of Zhan Guo Ce still cannot be verified, it is generally deemed, since Zhang Xincheng's argument, that the book was not written by a single author at one time. It was thought to be composed by Su Qin (d. 284 BCE) and his fellows before obtained by Liu Xiang. It is interesting to note that unlike most of the pre-Qin classics, the authenticity of Zhan Guo Ce, along with the Shijing, Mozi, Yulingzi and Gongsun Longzi had never been questioned since the Western Han period. The earliest to assert the texts as an apocryphal scriptures was perhaps the compiler of the Catalogue of Siku Quanshu, but he provided no warrant for it.[1] In 1931, Luo Genze put forward an argument that the book was composed by Kuai Tong in his two papers based on six conclusions which he drawn, a contemporary of Han Xin. Although this argument had been seconded by Jin Dejian (1932) and Zu Zhugeng (1937), but by 1939 it was refuted by Zhang Xincheng.[3] The six versions of written works from the School of Negotiation were discovered by Liu Xiang during his editing and proofreading of the imperial literary collection. Those works of political views and diplomatic strategies from the School of Negotiation were in poor condition, comprised of confusing contents and missing words. Liu Xiang proofread and edited them into the new book under the title Zhan Guo Ce; it was therefore not written by a single author at one time. Significant contents of Zhan Guo Ce were lost in subsequent centuries. Zeng Gong of the Northern Song Dynasty reclaimed some lost chapters, proofread and edited the modern version. Some writings on cloth were excavated from the Han Dynasty tomb at Mawangdui near the city of Changsha in 1973 and edited and published in Beijing in 1976 as Zhanguo Zonghengjia Shu ("Works from the School of Negotiation During the Warring States Period)". The book contained 27 chapters, 11 of which were found to be similar to the contents in Zhan Guo Ce and the Records of the Grand Historian. That publication appeared in Taiwan in 1977 as the Boshu Zhanguoce. The texts were written in between the style of Seal script and Clerical script. The transcript was probably composed around 195 BCE before its burial, as the text tend to avoid using the word bang (?), the personal name of Emperor Gao of Han.[4] ContentThe Zhan Guo Ce recounts the history of the Warring States from the conquest of the Fan clan by the Zhi clan in 490 BC up to the failed assassination of Qin Shi Huang by Gao Jianli in 221 BC. The book comprises approximately 120,000 words, and is divided into 33 chapters and 497 sections. The twelve strategies are:
Comparison in original ChineseManwangdui texts, "Xujia spoke to the Marquis of Rang" (Chapter 15):[6] ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? Received texts, "Qin defeated Wei at Hua, put Mang Mao to flight, and besieged Daliang" (Wei 3:3):[6] ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? Manwangdui texts, "Spoke to the king of Yan" (Chapter 20):[7] ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? Received texts, "Qi attacked Song, Song was hard pressed" (Yan 1:11):[7] ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? Literary criticismZGC displays the social aspects and scholastic habitat of the Warring States Period. Not only a brilliant historical work, it is also an excellent historical literature and novel. Major events and historical information of the period are represented in objective and vivid descriptions. Detailed records of speeches and deeds of followers of School of Negotiation reveals their mental makeup and intellectual expertise. Righteousness, bravery and determination of numerous characters are also recorded. Sophisticated intellectual contents of ZGC mainly discloses the intellectual inclination of followers of the School of Negotiation and illustrates the intellectual prosperity and multicultural aspects of the period. The literary achievement of the ZGC is also outstanding - it signifies a new era in the development of ancient Chinese literature. Among other aspects, character description, language usage and metaphorical stories demonstrates strong and clear literary quality. ZGC greatly influenced the format of the Record of the Grand Historian. Nevertheless, its intellectual aspects have also been disputed, mainly due to its stress on fame and profit and its conflicts with Confucian ideology. The book tends to overemphasize historical contributions from the School of Negotiation, devaluing the book's historical importance. As the book does not emphasize historical facts or fiction, but an extensive collection of anecdotes with little bearing between the chronological order of chapter and narrates. There has been an obsession whether the book should be considered as a historical work from writer Chao Gongwu and Gao Sisun since the 12th century, whose attempt to category the book into a different genus. It was not until 1936, that scholar like Zhong Fengnian had demonstrated that the book was not intended to be written as a compilation of historical facts, but handbook of diction from the school of negotiations.[8] Alternative English titlesAlternative English titles include:
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de:Zhanguo Ce ja:??? no:Zhan Guo Ce vi:Chi?n Qu?c sách zh:??? Source: Wikipedia | The above article is available under the GNU FDL. | Edit this article
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