| Spring and Autumn Annals | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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.svg) Chunqiu inseal script (top) and regular script (bottom) characters | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chinese | 春秋 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | springs and autumns | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Vietnamese name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vietnamese alphabet | Kinh Xuân Thu | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hán-Nôm | 經春秋 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Korean name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hangul | 춘추 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hanja | 春秋 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Japanese name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kanji | 春秋 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kana | しゅんじゅう | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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TheSpring and Autumn Annals is an ancient Chinese chronicle that has been one of the coreChinese classics since ancient times.The Annals is the official chronicle of theState of Lu, and covers a 242-year period from 722 to 481 BCE. It is the earliest surviving Chinese historical text to be arranged inannals form.[1] Because it was traditionally regarded as having been compiled byConfucius—after a claim to this effect byMencius—it was included as one of theFive Classics of Chinese literature.
TheAnnals 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 theWarring States period (475–221 BCE), a number of commentaries to theAnnals were created that attempted to elaborate on or find deeper meaning in the brief entries in theAnnals. TheZuo 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]
TheSpring and Autumn Annals was likely composed in the 5th century BC.[1] By the time ofConfucius, 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] TheAnnals was not the only work of its kind, as many other Eastern Zhou states also kept annals in their archives.[2]
TheAnnals is a succinct scribal record that has around 18,000 total words, 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/sentences 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 (zhōng), meaning 'a plague of insects'—probablylocusts.[a][1]
Some modern scholars have questioned whether the entries were ever originally intended as a chronicle for human readers, and have suggested that theAnnals entries may have been intended as "ritual messages directed primarily to the ancestral spirits".[1]
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. TheBook of Han vol. 30 lists five commentaries:
No text of theZou orJia commentaries has survived. The surviving commentaries are known collectively as theThree Commentaries on the Spring and Autumn Annals (春秋三傳;Chūnqiū Sānzhuàn). Both theBook of Han and theRecords of the Grand Historian provide detailed accounts of the origins of the three texts.
TheGongyang andGuliang 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 ofWarring States. They are based upon different editions of theSpring and Autumn Annals, and are phrased as questions and answers.
TheZuo 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 thestate of Lu. In the 3rd-century AD, the Chinese scholarDu Yu interpolated theZuo Zhuan with theAnnals so that each entry of theAnnals was followed by the corresponding passages of theZuo Zhuan. Du Yu's version of the text was the basis for the "Right Meaning of theAnnals" (春秋正義Chūnqiū zhèngyì) which became the imperially authorised text and commentary on theAnnals in 653 AD.[4]
During the late Han dynasty, there was a saying that theGuoyu was an "Outer Commentary" to theSpring and Autumn Annals.[5]
There is also theChunqiu shiyu from the Mawangdui tombs detailing less information and some say shiyu was the teacher's name who wrote it.[6]
TheAnnals is one of the core Chinese classics and had an enormous influence onChinese intellectual discourse for nearly 2,500 years.[1] This was due toMencius' assertion in the 4th century BC that Confucius himself edited theAnnals, an assertion which was accepted by the entire Chinese scholarly tradition and went almost entirely unchallenged until the early 20th century.[7] TheAnnals' 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 historiographerLiu Zhiji believed theCommentary of Zuo was far superior to theAnnals, andSong dynasty prime ministerWang Anshi famously dismissed theAnnals as "a fragmentary court gazette" (斷爛朝報;duànlàn cháobào).[1] Some Western scholars have given similar evaluations: the French sinologistÉdouard Chavannes referred to theAnnals as "an arid and dead chronicle".[1]
TheAnnals have become so evocative of the era in which they were composed that it is now widely referred to as theSpring and Autumn period.[1]
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
