Spring and Autumn Annals and Zuo Zhuan are not the same works, but they are related. Chunqiu is a history book, which is said to have been written by Confucius or a historian of Lu. Because the historical events recorded in Chunqiu are very brief, later generations often have scholars to explain them, which is called "biography". Among them, Zuozhuan in the Spring and Autumn Period is the most famous, and later generations refer to Zuozhuan for short.
Based on the Spring and Autumn Annals, Zuo Zhuan uses materials from Zhou Zhi, Jincheng, Zhengshu and Chu Bian to explain the outline of the Spring and Autumn Annals by describing specific historical facts in the Spring and Autumn Period.
Extended data:
The figures and events in Zuo Zhuan are compiled according to historical materials, but the author also shows certain ideological views and political tendencies when describing these historical figures and events. This kind of thought is close to Confucianism in ethics, political opinions, emphasis on hierarchy, and the concept of respect and inferiority.
First of all, it reveals the historical trend of social change. With a keen historical perspective, the author describes the decline of the Zhou royal family, the hegemony of princes, the inferiority of public office, and the merger of doctors, showing the rise and fall of old and new forces and revealing the trend of social change.
In the process of describing historical events, the author expressed his knowledge and understanding of historical events, summed up historical experience and lessons from the standpoint of Confucianism, and made moral and ethical evaluation of historical events and historical figures, providing historical reference for people. Zuo Zhuan developed the brushwork of Spring and Autumn Annals, and embodied moral evaluation through vivid description of the event process and description of characters' words and deeds.
For example, a conversation between Cao Gui and Lu Zhuanggong in the ten-year "Cao Gui Debate" described by Zhuang Gong conveyed the author's thoughts through Cao Gui's words. At the same time, Zuo Zhuan created a new form of "gentleman's theory", and directly introduced comments in the narrative or after the narrative to evaluate the events or characters morally to show the author's attitude.
Secondly, emphasize the meaning of people and attach importance to the role of people. During the Spring and Autumn Period, with the progress of history and the general rise of social changes, the status of God gradually declined and the status of man gradually rose. Some progressive politicians have rationally realized the importance of human beings in social change.
Eighteen Years of Zhao Gong records that the dry climate in summer and May led to fires in many countries such as Song, Wei, Chen and Zheng. Zheng advocated offering treasures to the gods and praying for blessing. Zi Shu also thinks that treasures have the function of "protecting the people" and "saving the country", while Zheng Xiangzi puts forward the view that "heaven is far away and people are close" and thinks that personnel problems cannot be solved by "heaven".
As a result, Zheng did not offer sacrifices, and because he strengthened the management of people, there was no fire again. In Six Years of Huan Gong, Liang Ji, a doctor from the same country, said: "The husband and the people are also the Lord of God, and the holy king became the people first and then devoted himself to God."
In the thirty-second year of Zhuang Gong, it was recorded that Dr. Zhou said: "The country will prosper and listen to the people; Will die, resigned. " These records clearly show that in the relationship between heaven and man, Zuo Zhuan emphasizes the meaning of man more.
References:
Baidu Encyclopedia-Zuo Biography in the Spring and Autumn Period