In ancient China, spring and autumn were the seasons when princes made pilgrimages to the royal family. In addition, Spring and Autumn also represented the four seasons in ancient times. History books record all the major events that occur throughout the year, so "Spring and Autumn Period" is a general term for history books. The official name of Lu's history book is Chunqiu. Traditionally, Chunqiu is regarded as the work of Confucius, while some people think it is the collective work of Lu historians.
The writing in Chunqiu is very concise, and the record of events is also very brief. However, during these 242 years, the customs of vassal's attack, alliance, usurpation, sacrifice and disaster were recorded. It records the era of the twelfth generation of Lu, which is completely correct. Compared with the solar eclipse scripture written by western scholars, there are more than 30 solar eclipses recorded in it, which proves that Spring and Autumn Annals was not written by the ancients on the basis of nothing, and can be regarded as a history of faith. However, in the process of long-term circulation, it is inevitable that there will be problems such as escaping from the text and increasing channeling.
The original version of Chunqiu contained only 18000 words, while the existing version contained only 16000 words. The language is extremely concise and the wording is orderly. Because the text is too simple for later generations to understand, exegetical works have appeared one after another, explaining and explaining the records in the book, which is called "biography". Among them, Zuo Qiuming's Biography of Zuo's Family in the Spring and Autumn Period, Gongyanggao's Biography of the Spring and Autumn Period and Bo Liangchi's Biography of the Spring and Autumn Period are collectively called the three biographies of the Spring and Autumn Period and listed as Confucian classics. At present, the original text of Chunqiu is generally compiled into Zuozhuan as a classic, and the new content in Zuozhuan is biography. According to "History of Literature and Art in Hanshu", there were ***5 biographies in the Spring and Autumn Period:
Thirty volumes of Zuo Zhuan;
Ram biography (11);
Liang Chuan (11);
Zou Chuan (11);
Jia Chuan 1 1.
The latter two have disappeared. Biography of Ram and Biography of Gu Liang were written in the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, using the official script prevailing at that time, which was called Jinwen. There are two kinds of Zuozhuan, one is written in ancient fonts before the pre-Qin period, called ancient prose; One was handed down by Xun Qing during the Warring States Period.
Biography of Ram is quite different from Biography of Liang and Biography of Zuo. Yang Gongzhuan and Liang Bochuan talk about "great righteousness" in the hope of clarifying Confucius' original intention (the author thinks that Chunqiu was written by Confucius), and some people think that some contents are far-fetched. Zuo Zhuan is based on historical facts, which supplements the events not recorded in Spring and Autumn Annals. Some records are different from Chunqiu. Some people think that the historical value of Zuo Zhuan is greater than that of Yang Gongzhuan and Liang Bochuan.
At the latest, from the Western Zhou Dynasty, Taishi Zhi recorded state affairs. At the beginning of each season, we usually write about the season from "spring" to "autumn". However, the ancients attached great importance to the Spring and Autumn Period, so they called the national history record Chunqiu, which may be the reason why Chunqiu was named as a history book. The existing Spring and Autumn Annals, from to, lasted for 12 generations of monarchs, counting 244 years (according to the records of Biography of Ram and Biography of Liang Dynasty, it was 242 years to mourn for the public for fourteen years, and Zuozhuan was more than two years), which is basically the original of Lu history books.
According to legend, The Spring and Autumn Annals was written by Confucius. In the old society, there was a saying that "Wang Wen was arrested and played Zhouyi and Zhongnie as Spring and Autumn Annals". However, later generations also have different views. Yuan Gufang, a A Qing, said in On Calligraphy in the Spring and Autumn Period that Lu was also the author of Spring and Autumn Period. Lu's books were recorded and hidden by Confucius, spreading information to later generations. Shi Yuyu's "Du Xuelu's First Draft on the Spring and Autumn Period" also said: "Spring and Autumn Period" is an old article of Lu Shi. Spring and Autumn Annals has a history of 240 years, and there must be dozens of people writing it. Can these dozens of people, whose families are teachers and whose people are learners, achieve the same calligraphy? Although the author of Chunqiu is controversial, there is little difference after being revised by Confucius. In fact, Chunqiu, as a historical book of Lu, has already gone beyond the scope of historical books. The diction and sentence-making in the Spring and Autumn Period became a unique style of writing, known as the Spring and Autumn brushwork, and was regarded as a classic by literary historians of past dynasties. Spring and Autumn Annals is an important event in the Spring and Autumn Period for more than 240 years. At present, there are only more than 16,000 words in the full text, but according to Zhang Yan of Cao Wei in the late Tang Dynasty, it is 18,000 words (Zhang said that it was quoted from the preface of Taishigong Historical Records, and Xu said that it was quoted from the Biography of the Ram for twelve years). Many important events were omitted.
Because "Spring and Autumn Annals" is a rich and colorful stroke. In order to make up for this vacancy, biographies mainly in the Spring and Autumn Period appeared later, that is, Biography of the Spring and Autumn Ram, Biography of the Spring and Autumn Beam and Biography of the Spring and Autumn Zuozhuan, which have been handed down to this day, and are also called Three Biographies of the Spring and Autumn Period. The characters in Chunqiu Jing are basically the same in Zhuan, but there are some differences. Biographies are merged by year, and the first one is handed down. This column is a separate volume in the Spring and Autumn Period. Please read or download the other three biographies in the Thirteen Classics District of our library.