The narrative of "Zuo Zhuan" often pays great attention to the complete description of the process and cause-and-effect relationship of events. The most outstanding achievement of the narrative of "Zuo Zhuan" is the description of war. The war description in "Zuo Zhuan" fully reflects the narrative characteristics of "Zuo Zhuan". The book "Zuo Zhuan" records hundreds of wars, large and small. The descriptions of the Battle of Chengpu, the Battle of Wei, the Battle of Bi, the Battle of Ange, and the Battle of Yanling have always been praised by people. , countless small battles are also written with their own characteristics, exciting and vivid. Generally speaking, when "Zuo Zhuan" writes about wars, it is not limited to describing the fighting process, but also reveals in depth the causes, brewing process and consequences of the war. For example, in the "Twenty-eighth Year of Duke Xi" when writing about the Battle of Chengpu, the background and direct causes of the outbreak of the war are explained, and in the writing, the reasons for Jin's victory and Chu's defeat are constantly shown: Jin Wen Gong wiped out grievances and repaid kindness, and rectified the situation. Military discipline, keeping promises, listening to the opinions of subordinates, and working together from top to bottom. However, in Chu, the emperor and his ministers had different opinions. The commander-in-chief Ziyu was arrogant because of his troops and insisted on going his own way, blindly advancing on the Jin army. The outcome of the Battle of Chengpu is also comprehensively written. It not only describes the victory of the Jin army and the establishment of Jin Wengong's dominance, but also the aftermath of the war: Chu Ziyu committed suicide in shame after being defeated. Jin Wengong was overjoyed when he heard about it and rewarded him after returning home. Punish the crime, summarize the battle, and then use the words of a gentleman to praise Duke Wen of Jin for his hegemony. At this point, the narrative ends successfully.
The narration of the causal relationship of events in "Zuo Zhuan" often has the characteristics of moralization and mystification. As the author said when summarizing the experience of the Battle of Chengpu: "It is said that the Jin Dynasty fought and was able to attack with virtue." (The 28th year of Duke Xi) Not only the Battle of Chengpu, but also the entire narrative of "Zuo Zhuan", etiquette, Moral factors such as righteousness and morality are all described by the author as important factors affecting the success or failure of events, and there are often mysterious factors in the narrative. Take the omens that often appear in "Zuo Zhuan" as an example. Most of these omens have a moralizing tendency: things that comply with the requirements of etiquette and justice often have good omens, while things that go against etiquette and justice often have bad omens. These omens are sometimes the words of wise men, and sometimes they are mysterious hints from divination, dreams, celestial phenomena, etc. For example, in the "Fifteenth Year of Duke Xi" of the war between Qin, Jin and Korea, in the "Ten Years of Duke Xi" there was a prophecy that the late Jin crown prince would "defeat Han"; in the "Fifteenth Year of Duke Xi" there was also a prophecy of the Jin divination "General of the Year" There is a prophecy that there will be a great disaster and the country may be destroyed." Before the war, there were omens from Qin's divination disciple's father, and Jin Hui Gong failed to follow the divination. Behind these seemingly mysterious omens, Duke Hui of Jin acted in violation of etiquette, injustice, and breach of trust. Facing the established historical facts, the author adds various mystical legends and stories to the narration of historical events based on the words and deeds of historical figures to predict the outcome of the event and explain the cause and effect of the event. This reflects the worldview and level of understanding of people in the Spring and Autumn Period, and has distinctive characteristics of the times.
"Zuo Zhuan" is a historical work, but the author is sometimes like a storyteller, narrating events in a dramatic way. A large number of vivid dramatic plots make this work full of story. Not only that, some of the narratives in "Zuo Zhuan" are obviously not true records of historical facts, but are based on conjecture or fiction. For example, the conversation between Jie Zitui and his son recorded in the "Twenty-Fourth Year of Duke Xi" could not have been heard or recorded by a third party. It must have been made up by the author based on rumors and conjectures. This way of writing can be seen as the beginning of fictional dialogue for characters by later novelists. "Zuo Zhuan" also records a large number of divination, dream interpretation and miraculous rumors. For example, "The Tenth Year of Chenggong" records the death of Duke Jinggong of Jin. The plot is twists and turns and weird, with three dreams forming an interrelated plot. The description of the dream of the Marquis of Jin is very powerful, and the ghost painting is vivid and creepy; the description of the terminal illness is extremely vivid and interesting; the words of the mulberry field witch interpreting the dream and the confirmation of the dream of the minister are full of mystery, like a fantasy novel.
Characters are an indispensable element in narrative. Various characters are described in "Zuo Zhuan", but the writing of "Zuo Zhuan" is not like biographical historical works that describe the life story of a character in a special chapter, nor does it shape the character image like later novels. Because it is a chronicle, most of the characters' words and deeds are recorded scatteredly in various eras when the events occurred, and there is rarely a centralized description of a certain character. Only by linking the deeds of the same character in different eras can a complete character image be obtained. Many important political figures in Zuo Zhuan, such as Duke Zhuang of Zheng, Duke Wen of Jin, King Ling of Chu, Zheng Zichan, Qi Yanying, etc., are all represented through the accumulation of their deeds over several years. There are also some characters in "Zuo Zhuan" that do not appear repeatedly to form a complete image, but only appear at a certain time or event, showing only a certain fragment of their life and reflecting their character. some aspect of it.
These images are often very vivid and expressive, and can leave a deep impression on readers. For example, in "Jin Linggong is not the king", the three warriors Jianqi, Timiming and Lingzhui (the second year of Xuangong), Feng Chou's father and others who were captured on behalf of the king in the battle of Ange between Qi and Jin Dynasty (Chenggong) two years).
"Zuo Zhuan" extensively describes various characters, many of whom have distinctive personalities. Some descriptions in "Zuo Zhuan" also show the richness and complexity of the characters' personalities, and show the changes in their personalities. Duke Wen of Jin is the character praised in "Zuo Zhuan" (from the 28th year of Duke Zhuang to the 32nd year of Duke Xi). He grew from a noble son to a politician, from exile to a generation of overlords. His character has a tortuous maturation process. King Ling of Chu is a negated image of the king in Zuo Zhuan (from the 26th year of Duke Xiang to the 13th year of Duke Zhao). Before he came to the throne, he was competitive and ambitious. He killed kings and became self-reliant. After he came to the throne, he was brutal and arrogant. Arrogance, etc., all show that he is indeed a foolish king. But at the same time, the author also showed his character traits such as being tolerant and accepting advice, being able to correct mistakes after knowing them, not forgetting past grudges, and being funny. He also wrote about the cruelty he most regretted about himself, and created a character with a complex personality.
The actions and dialogues of the characters in the narrative of "Zuo Zhuan" constitute the main means of expressing the characters, and there are rarely subjective static descriptions of the characters' appearance, psychology, etc. Through the characters' words and deeds in major historical events, the character's personality is revealed and the image is completed. For example, in the battle between Qi, Jin and Ange in the second year of Chenggong, "Zuo Zhuan" describes the war scenes in this way, showing the overall picture of the war and expressing the personalities of the characters: The arrow was wounded, the blood was flowing to the waist, and the drum sound was not stopped, saying: "I am sick!" Zhang Hou said: "Since the beginning, the arrow has penetrated Yu's hand and elbow, and I have broken it to control, and the revolver Zhu Yin has dared to say that I am sick? My son tolerates it!" Xu said: "Since the beginning of the combination, I have been sick. If there is danger, I will get off the cart. How can I know it? But I am sick." Zhang Hou said, "The teacher's ears and eyes are with me. If I advance or retreat, I can gather my troops. Why is it so important to defeat the king because of his illness? If he wears his armor and holds his troops, he will soon die. If he is not sick enough, my son will encourage him. "The bridle is tied to the left, and the drum is supported by the right hand. The horse can't stop it, so the teacher follows him. The entire army was defeated. Chase it away, and Sanzhouhua will not pay attention.
Choke was injured, and Jie Zhang and Zheng Qiuhuan encouraged him to keep fighting. One can imagine the tense and fierce scenes on the battlefield at that time. The three people share the same hatred of the enemy and their spirit of disregarding death is fully reflected in their dialogue and action descriptions.
There are many things in the war description in "Zuo Zhuan" that have little to do with the entire war situation. These things only reflect some specific situations of the war and are not of great significance in the war. "Zuo Zhuan" also describes a large number of details in the complex war process and political events. As a historical work, these descriptions can be omitted or abbreviated at all, but "Zuo Zhuan" describes a large number of these trivial details, which have literary significance in terms of vivid narrative and characterization, such as the Song Dynasty in the second year of Xuangong. The Battle of Zheng Daji, in which the Zheng people were attacked by the crazy and cunning halberds, Hua Yuan's cooks forgot their Yang Zhen, Hua Yuan's dialogue with Yang Zhen after his escape, and the battle between the city guards, etc., are not important events in this war. , but if we only write about the battle between Song and Zheng at Daji, the defeat of the Song army, the Zheng people winning the Hua Yuan, and the Hua Yuan fleeing back, the narrative will inevitably be boring and have no literary quality at all. It is the detailed description of these secondary events that adds to the vividness and expressiveness of the narrative. Another example is the "Fourth Year of Xuangong", which records the major historical event of the return of Prince Zheng to kill his king. It records the details such as Prince Song's index finger moved greatly, Duke Linggong of Zheng's food doctor Yuan refused to interact with Prince Song, and Prince Song became angry and got involved in the tripod. The whole story is as follows: The incident was caused by the trivial matter of eating a turtle, and the greedy and angry Prince Song, the hesitation and cowardice of the Prince's return to life, and the stupidity and ridiculousness of Zheng Linggong are all reflected in the description of the details of life. Another example is the "Sixteenth Year of Ai Gong", which records the political event of the Chu State Baigong Rebellion. It ends with the story of Ye Gong's son Gao Ping's rebellion. It does not focus on Ye Gong's major military and political measures, but repeats the details of whether Ye Gong should wear a helmet. Rendering: Ye Gong also arrived and approached the north gate. He might meet him and say: "You are so handsome, don't you? The people of the country look to you as much as they look to their loving parents, and the thieves' arrows hurt you. This is to destroy the people's hope. Why not be proud of you?" "Nai Zhou came forward. Another person met and said: "Jun Hu Zhou? The people of our country look at you as if they are looking forward to the new year. How many days are there, if they see your face, it is a sign of love. The people know that they will not die, but they are also ambitious, so they will still show favor to you." Isn't it worse to hide one's face in order to avoid the popularity of the people in the country? It highlights the people's love for Ye Gong and Ye Gong's eagerness to win over the people. The reason why Ye Gong's rebellion was successful and his valuable features are all reflected in the details of Ye Gong's exemption.