The Spring and Autumn Annals (春秋; Chūnqiū) is an ancient Chinese chronicle that has been one of the core Chinese classics since ancient times. The Annals is the official chronicle of the State of Lu, and covers a 241-year period from 722 to 481 BC. It is the earliest surviving Chinese historical text to be arranged in annals form.[1] Because it was traditionally regarded as having been compiled by Confucius (after a claim to this effect by Mencius), it was included as one of the Five Classics of Chinese literature.
19th-century replica of Du Yu's 3rd-century AD annotated Annals
The Annals records main events that occurred in Lu during each year, such as the accessions, marriages, deaths, and funerals of rulers, battles fought, sacrificial rituals observed, celestial phenomena considered ritually important, and natural disasters.[1] The entries are tersely written, averaging only 10 characters per entry, and contain no elaboration on events or recording of speeches.[1]
During the Warring States period (475–221 BC), a number of commentaries to the Annals were created that attempted to elaborate on or find deeper meaning in the brief entries in the Annals. The Commentary of Zuo (左傳; Zuǒ Zhuàn), the best known of these commentaries, became a classic in its own right, and is the source of more Chinese sayings and idioms than any other classical work.[1]
The Spring and Autumn Annals was likely composed in the 5th century BC, and apart from the Bamboo Annals is the only such work to have survived from that period.[1] By the time of Confucius, in the 6th century BC, the term "springs and autumns" (chūnqiū春秋, Old Chinese *tʰun tsʰiw) had come to mean "year" and was probably becoming a generic term for "annals" or "scribal records".[1] The Annals was not the only work of its kind, as many other Eastern Zhou states also kept annals in their archives.[2]
The Annals is a succinct scribal record, with terse entries that record events such as the accessions, marriages, deaths, and funerals of rulers, battles fought, sacrificial records observed, natural disasters, and celestial phenomena believed to be of ritual significance.[1] The entries average only 10 characters in length; the longest entry in the entire work is only 47 characters long, and a number of the entries are only a single character long.[1] There are 11 entries that read simply *tung螽 (pinyin: zhōng), meaning "a plague of insects" (probably locusts).[a][1]
Some modern scholars have questioned whether the entries were ever originally intended as a chronicle for human readers, and have suggested that the Annals entries may have been intended as "ritual messages directed primarily to the ancestral spirits."[1]
Commentaries
Since the text of this book is terse and its contents limited, a number of commentaries were composed to annotate the text, and explain and expand on its meanings. The Book of Han vol. 30 lists five commentaries:
No text of the Zou or Jia commentaries has survived. The surviving commentaries are known collectively as the Three Commentaries on the Spring and Autumn Annals (春秋三傳; Chūnqiū Sānzhuàn). Both the Book of Han and the Records of the Grand Historian provide detailed accounts of the origins of the three texts.
The Gongyang and Guliang commentaries were compiled during the 2nd-century BC, although modern scholars had suggested they probably incorporate earlier written and oral traditions of explanation from the period of Warring States. They are based upon different editions of the Spring and Autumn Annals, and are phrased as questions and answers.
The Commentary of Zuo, also known as the Zuo Zhuan, composed in the early 4th-century BC, is a general history covering the period from 722 to 468 BC which follows the succession of the rulers of the State of Lu. In the 3rd-century AD, the Chinese scholar Du Yu interpolated the Zuo Zhuan with the Annals so that each entry of the Annals was followed by the corresponding passages of the Zuo Zhuan. Du Yu's version of the text was the basis for the "Right Meaning of the Annals" (春秋正義Chūnqiū Zhèngyì) which became the imperially authorised text and commentary on the Annals in 653 AD.[4]
Influence
The Annals is one of the core Chinese classics and had an enormous influence on Chinese intellectual discourse for nearly 2,500 years.[1] This was due to Mencius' assertion in the 4th century BC that Confucius himself edited the Annals, an assertion which was accepted by the entire Chinese scholarly tradition and went almost entirely unchallenged until the early 20th century.[5] The Annals' terse style was interpreted as Confucius' deliberate attempt to convey "lofty principles in subtle words" (微言大義; wēiyán dàyì).[1] Not all scholars accepted this explanation: Tang dynasty historiographer Liu Zhiji believed the Commentary of Zuo was far superior to the Annals, and Song dynasty prime minister Wang Anshi famously dismissed the Annals as "a fragmentary court gazette" (斷爛朝報; duànlàn cháobào).[1] Many Western scholars have given similar evaluations: the French sinologist Édouard Chavannes referred to the Annals as "an arid and dead chronicle".[1]
The Annals have become so evocative of the era in which they were composed that it is now widely referred to as the Spring and Autumn period.[1]
Translations
Russian translation, 1876
Legge, James (1872), The Ch'un Ts'ëw with The Tso Chuen, The Chinese Classics, Vol. V, Hong Kong: Lane, Crawford, & Co. (part 1 and part 2 at the Internet Archive; also with Pinyin transliterations here).
Couvreur, Séraphin (1914). Tch'ouen ts'ieou et Tso tschouan [Chunqiu and Zuozhuan] (in French). Ho Kien Fou: Mission Catholique. Reprinted (1951), Paris: Cathasia.
Malmqvist, Göran (1971). "Studies on the Gongyang and Guliang Commentaries". Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities. 43: 67–222.
Watson, Burton (1989). The Tso Chuan: Selections from China's Oldest Narrative History. New York: Columbia University Press.
Miller, Harry (2015). The Gongyang Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals: A Full Translation. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
^Du Yu states that the disastrous 螽 are related to 蚣蝑 zhōngxū "katydids".[3] Schuessler (2007) reconstructs 螽's Old Chinese pronunciation *C-juŋ and compares it to Burmeseကျိုင်kyuing "locust".
Cheng, Anne (1993). "Ch'un ch'iu 春秋, Kung yang 公羊, Ku liang 榖梁 and Tso chuan 左傳". In Loewe, Michael (ed.). Early Chinese Texts: A Bibliographical Guide. Early China Special Monograph Series. Vol. 2. Berkeley: Society for the Study of Early China; Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley. pp. 67–76. ISBN1-55729-043-1.
Wilkinson, Endymion (2012). Chinese History: A New Manual. Harvard-Yenching Institute Monograph Series 84. Cambridge, MA: Harvard-Yenching Institute; Harvard University Asia Center. ISBN978-0-674-06715-8.
External links
Works related to 春秋左氏傳 (Spring and Autumn Annals – Commentary of Zuo) at Wikisource
Works related to 春秋公羊傳 (Spring and Autumn Annals – Commentary of Gongyang) at Wikisource
Works related to 春秋穀梁傳 (Spring and Autumn Annals – Commentary of Guliang) at Wikisource
Full text of Spring and Autumn Annals (Chinese)
Chinese Literature – Spring and Autumn Annals Chinaknowledge.de
January 26, 2023
spring, autumn, annals, 春秋, chūnqiū, ancient, chinese, chronicle, that, been, core, chinese, classics, since, ancient, times, annals, official, chronicle, state, covers, year, period, from, earliest, surviving, chinese, historical, text, arranged, annals, form. The Spring and Autumn Annals 春秋 Chunqiu is an ancient Chinese chronicle that has been one of the core Chinese classics since ancient times The Annals is the official chronicle of the State of Lu and covers a 241 year period from 722 to 481 BC It is the earliest surviving Chinese historical text to be arranged in annals form 1 Because it was traditionally regarded as having been compiled by Confucius after a claim to this effect by Mencius it was included as one of the Five Classics of Chinese literature 19th century replica of Du Yu s 3rd century AD annotated Annals Spring and Autumn AnnalsChunqiu in seal script top and regular bottom Chinese charactersChinese nameChinese春秋Literal meaningspring and autumnTranscriptionsStandard MandarinHanyu PinyinChunqiuGwoyeu RomatzyhChuenchiouWade GilesCh un1 ch iu1IPA ʈʂʰwe n tɕʰjo ʊ WuSuzhouneseTshen tshoʏYue CantoneseYale RomanizationCheun chauJyutpingCeon1 cau1IPA tsʰɵ n tsʰɐ u Southern MinHokkien POJChhun chhiuTai loTshun tshiuMiddle ChineseMiddle Chinese tɕʰwin tsʰjuw Old ChineseBaxter 1992 tʰjun tsʰjiwBaxter Sagart 2014 tʰun tsʰiwVietnamese nameVietnamese alphabetKinh Xuan ThuHan Nom經春秋Korean nameHangul춘추Hanja春秋TranscriptionsRevised RomanizationChunchuJapanese nameKanji春秋KanaしゅんじゅうTranscriptionsRomanizationShunjuThe Annals records main events that occurred in Lu during each year such as the accessions marriages deaths and funerals of rulers battles fought sacrificial rituals observed celestial phenomena considered ritually important and natural disasters 1 The entries are tersely written averaging only 10 characters per entry and contain no elaboration on events or recording of speeches 1 During the Warring States period 475 221 BC a number of commentaries to the Annals were created that attempted to elaborate on or find deeper meaning in the brief entries in the Annals The Commentary of Zuo 左傳 Zuǒ Zhuan the best known of these commentaries became a classic in its own right and is the source of more Chinese sayings and idioms than any other classical work 1 Contents 1 History and content 2 Commentaries 3 Influence 4 Translations 5 See also 6 Note 7 References 7 1 Works cited 8 External linksHistory and content EditThe Spring and Autumn Annals was likely composed in the 5th century BC and apart from the Bamboo Annals is the only such work to have survived from that period 1 By the time of Confucius in the 6th century BC the term springs and autumns chunqiu 春秋 Old Chinese tʰun tsʰiw had come to mean year and was probably becoming a generic term for annals or scribal records 1 The Annals was not the only work of its kind as many other Eastern Zhou states also kept annals in their archives 2 The Annals is a succinct scribal record with terse entries that record events such as the accessions marriages deaths and funerals of rulers battles fought sacrificial records observed natural disasters and celestial phenomena believed to be of ritual significance 1 The entries average only 10 characters in length the longest entry in the entire work is only 47 characters long and a number of the entries are only a single character long 1 There are 11 entries that read simply tung 螽 pinyin zhōng meaning a plague of insects probably locusts a 1 Some modern scholars have questioned whether the entries were ever originally intended as a chronicle for human readers and have suggested that the Annals entries may have been intended as ritual messages directed primarily to the ancestral spirits 1 Commentaries EditSince the text of this book is terse and its contents limited a number of commentaries were composed to annotate the text and explain and expand on its meanings The Book of Han vol 30 lists five commentaries The Commentary of Zou 鄒氏傳 The Commentary of Jia 夾氏傳 The Commentary of Gongyang 公羊傳 The Commentary of Guliang 榖梁傳 The Commentary of Zuo 左氏傳 also known as 左氏春秋 No text of the Zou or Jia commentaries has survived The surviving commentaries are known collectively as the Three Commentaries on the Spring and Autumn Annals 春秋三傳 Chunqiu Sanzhuan Both the Book of Han and the Records of the Grand Historian provide detailed accounts of the origins of the three texts The Gongyang and Guliang commentaries were compiled during the 2nd century BC although modern scholars had suggested they probably incorporate earlier written and oral traditions of explanation from the period of Warring States They are based upon different editions of the Spring and Autumn Annals and are phrased as questions and answers The Commentary of Zuo also known as the Zuo Zhuan composed in the early 4th century BC is a general history covering the period from 722 to 468 BC which follows the succession of the rulers of the State of Lu In the 3rd century AD the Chinese scholar Du Yu interpolated the Zuo Zhuan with the Annals so that each entry of the Annals was followed by the corresponding passages of the Zuo Zhuan Du Yu s version of the text was the basis for the Right Meaning of the Annals 春秋正義 Chunqiu Zhengyi which became the imperially authorised text and commentary on the Annals in 653 AD 4 Influence EditThe Annals is one of the core Chinese classics and had an enormous influence on Chinese intellectual discourse for nearly 2 500 years 1 This was due to Mencius assertion in the 4th century BC that Confucius himself edited the Annals an assertion which was accepted by the entire Chinese scholarly tradition and went almost entirely unchallenged until the early 20th century 5 The Annals terse style was interpreted as Confucius deliberate attempt to convey lofty principles in subtle words 微言大義 weiyan dayi 1 Not all scholars accepted this explanation Tang dynasty historiographer Liu Zhiji believed the Commentary of Zuo was far superior to the Annals and Song dynasty prime minister Wang Anshi famously dismissed the Annals as a fragmentary court gazette 斷爛朝報 duanlan chaobao 1 Many Western scholars have given similar evaluations the French sinologist Edouard Chavannes referred to the Annals as an arid and dead chronicle 1 The Annals have become so evocative of the era in which they were composed that it is now widely referred to as the Spring and Autumn period 1 Translations Edit Russian translation 1876 Legge James 1872 The Ch un Ts ew with The Tso Chuen The Chinese Classics Vol V Hong Kong Lane Crawford amp Co part 1 and part 2 at the Internet Archive also with Pinyin transliterations here Couvreur Seraphin 1914 Tch ouen ts ieou et Tso tschouan Chunqiu and Zuozhuan in French Ho Kien Fou Mission Catholique Reprinted 1951 Paris Cathasia Malmqvist Goran 1971 Studies on the Gongyang and Guliang Commentaries Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities 43 67 222 Watson Burton 1989 The Tso Chuan Selections from China s Oldest Narrative History New York Columbia University Press Miller Harry 2015 The Gongyang Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals A Full Translation New York Palgrave Macmillan See also EditLushi Chunqiu Spring and Autumn Annals of Wu and YueNote Edit Du Yu states that the disastrous 螽 are related to 蚣蝑 zhōngxu katydids 3 Schuessler 2007 reconstructs 螽 s Old Chinese pronunciation C juŋ and compares it to Burmese က င kyuing locust References Edit a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Wilkinson 2012 p 612 Kern 2010 p 46 Du Yu 春秋經傳集解 Chunqiu Zuozhuan Collected Explanations Sibu Congkan First Series version vol 1 p 69 of 189 quote 螽 蚣蝑之屬為災 Cheng 1993 p 72 Cheng 1993 p 67 Works cited Edit Cheng Anne 1993 Ch un ch iu 春秋 Kung yang 公羊 Ku liang 榖梁 and Tso chuan 左傳 In Loewe Michael ed Early Chinese Texts A Bibliographical Guide Early China Special Monograph Series Vol 2 Berkeley Society for the Study of Early China Institute of East Asian Studies University of California Berkeley pp 67 76 ISBN 1 55729 043 1 Kern Martin 2010 Early Chinese literature Beginnings through Western Han In Owen Stephen ed The Cambridge History of Chinese Literature Volume 1 To 1375 Cambridge Cambridge University Press pp 1 115 ISBN 978 0 521 11677 0 Wilkinson Endymion 2012 Chinese History A New Manual Harvard Yenching Institute Monograph Series 84 Cambridge MA Harvard Yenching Institute Harvard University Asia Center ISBN 978 0 674 06715 8 External links Edit Works related to 春秋左氏傳 Spring and Autumn Annals Commentary of Zuo at Wikisource Works related to 春秋公羊傳 Spring and Autumn Annals Commentary of Gongyang at Wikisource Works related to 春秋穀梁傳 Spring and Autumn Annals Commentary of Guliang at Wikisource Full text of Spring and Autumn Annals Chinese Chinese Literature Spring and Autumn Annals Chinaknowledge de Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Spring and Autumn Annals amp oldid 1128296053, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
