Guoyu mainly embodies the Confucian concept of respecting ceremony and people. The thought of respecting heaven and protecting the people since the Western Zhou Dynasty has been inherited in the book. Although many places in Putonghua emphasize destiny and ask God for advice, people have paid equal attention to God in the relationship between God and people, from the worship of destiny to the attention to personnel. Therefore, we attach importance to the status and role of the people and take the people's hearts as the foundation of governance. For example, in "A Covenant between Lu and Yu", when commenting on the killing of its monarch Gong Li by Jin people, Lu Taishilige thought that the tyrant deserved to be killed and the resistance of his subjects was understandable. Another example is "Zhou Yushang", in which Shao Gong admonished slanderers, and Princess Shao wanted to "declare her words" and examine the rise and fall of the country and political gains and losses from the people's remarks. Only by observing the people's feelings, doing well what the people do, getting rid of the evils they do and increasing their wealth and food and clothing can the country maintain long-term stability.
"Mandarin" is mainly about memorizing words, most of which are words appointed by the court, feasting, satire, argument and response. The words recorded in Guoyu are meticulous in image thinking and logical thinking, popular and colloquial, and vivid. Of course, because Guoyu is a compilation of historical materials from various countries, its sources are different, and its editors have not polished it uniformly, so its recording level is different and its style is quite different. For example, Zhou Yu, for the purpose of preaching, wrote euphemistically and made a long speech. Lu Yu's works are short and pithy, while the works of Chu Yu, Wu Yu and Yu Yue are fluent and magnificent. Some of the response words in Guoyu are the same as Zuo Zhuan, but the words are not as wonderful as Zuo Zhuan, and some of them are hard to match. Some words that are not in Zuo Zhuan are also quite distinctive. For example, King Xiang of Zhou forbade Jin Wengong to invite him, and his words were mild and harsh (in Zhou Yuzhong), while King Gou Jian of Yue was modest and self-abased (Wu Yu), all of which were very distinctive. And some argumentative essays in Guoyu are often incisive and clear. For example, Shao Gong's suggestion and slander in Zhou Yu Shang, Jiang's respect for leisure in Lu Zhong, He's poor in Bazhong and Wang Sun's comments on treasures in Chu Zhong have always been praised by people.
Although Guoyu recorded more words than notes, Guoyu did not have simple argumentative papers or quotations, but a series of stories interspersed among them, so it showed the characteristics of narrative skills and plot conception, and sometimes it could write vivid characters. Generally speaking, Guoyu also describes the causal relationship of historical events, but it is not as universal and complete as Zuozhuan. The ins and outs of many events in Guoyu are all sketchy, with the emphasis on large paragraphs of discussion texts. But Guoyu also has a vivid and dramatic narrative. For example, the first four volumes of Today are about Jin Xiangong's struggle for power and position, the plot of offering concubines, the unjust death of Prince Shen Sheng and the exile of his son Zhong Er, all of which are ups and downs and colorful. Among them, there are virtual plots, such as "Night Cry" (Yi), "Night Cry" by my son, and their slanders, which are not known to the third party. Obviously, they are sympathetic fictions of the author, depicting an evil and insidious character. There are also wonderful descriptions, such as drinking with Li Ke, a courtier in the DPRK, singing and dancing to hint at Li Ke, killing the son of Prince Li for Qi, and Li Ke calling for neutrality and self-protection in the middle of the night (today). The description is meticulous, concrete and vivid, showing distinct personality characteristics. There are even some funny episodes, which are vividly written. If he was demoted, he was content to live under the fence of sending people, and his wife Chiang Kai-shek and the deceased courtiers carried him drunk ("Today Four"). Zuo Zhuan only wrote Huan Zai's "going one by one", and Guoyu also wrote a dialogue in which criminals scolded each other, which was humorous and interesting, and wrote a narrative of being exiled for a position, showing a vivid picture of the complicated political struggle in the Spring and Autumn Period, portraying a series of vivid characters and reflecting the narrative achievements of Guoyu.
Due to the characteristics of national history, Guoyu sometimes focuses on a person's words and deeds when describing a country's major events, such as Yu Jin San, Yu Jin Si, Jin Wengong, Yu Jin Qi, Fu Cha, Yu Yue Shang and so on. This way of focusing on one person tends to transition to biography. However, a person's events are not organically combined into a complete biography, but only a collection of materials and a combination of independent short stories, rather than an independent biography. In short, because Guoyu focuses on memorizing words, although it has certain characteristics in narration and characterization, its literary achievements are still slightly inferior to Zuozhuan.