Historical Prose of the Pre-Qin Period

Historical essays of the pre-Qin period

During the Spring and Autumn and the Warring States Periods, society changed rapidly, with the decline of the slave-owning aristocracy and the gradual rise of the landowning class. At that time, the writings that recorded the speeches of the ministers of various countries and the emerging class of "scholars", as well as the political, diplomatic and military activities of the vassal states, were historical essays. The representative works include the chronicle Zuo Zhuan, the country-specific Guoyu, and the Strategies of the Warring States, which recorded the words of the strategists and ministers.

Zuo Zhuan is said to have been written by Zuo Qiu Ming, a historian of the state of Lu at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period. It is a chronicle of events, starting from the year of Duke Yin of Lu and ending in the 27th year of Duke Ai of Lu. The content of the book covers many aspects of politics, military, economy, culture and diplomacy between the Zhou Dynasty and the vassal states. For the social reality at that time, such as the internal contradictions of the ruling group, the ruler's brutality, as well as the frequent wars of the vassals, etc., made a relatively true reflection and quite specific narrative, has important historical value. Some complex historical events are often written in a euphemistic and methodical way, showing different characters, and the language is simple and vivid, with high artistic value.

The Guoyu is an earlier country history, which describes the historical facts of Zhou, Lu, Qi, Jin, Zheng, Chu, Wu, Yue and other countries, *** twenty-one volumes. It is said to have been written by Zuo Qiu Ming of the State of Lu in the late Spring and Autumn Period, but modern scholars mostly believe that it was compiled and edited by scholars of the Warring States Period on the basis of the original materials recorded by the historians of various countries in the Spring and Autumn Period. The Guoyu (《国语》) is more of a record of speech than a chronicle, recounting the remarks of many historical figures during the Spring and Autumn Period, and is written in a simple, plain, and concise style.

The Strategies of the Warring States (战国策), which is a miscellaneous history of various countries, mainly describes the speeches and activities of the strategists during the Warring States period. The author is unknown. At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, it was organized and compiled by Liu Xiang, and was named "Strategies of the Warring States". The whole book includes twelve states' strategies, including Eastern Zhou, Western Zhou, Qin, Qi, Chu, Zhao, Wei, Han, Yan, Song, Wei, Zhongshan, and so on, ****33 articles. It mainly records the historical facts about politics, diplomacy and military affairs of various countries. The strategists of the Warring States period of strategists lobbying countries to open up the words and deeds of the record is particularly specific. The Warring States Strategy has a vivid language, insightful arguments, writing people, making good use of fables and metaphors to illustrate abstract truths, and has a strong artistic charm and literary interest.