TheZhan Guo Ce (W-G:Chan-kuo T'se), also known inEnglish as theStrategies of the Warring States orAnnals of the Warring States, is an ancient Chinese text that contains anecdotes of political manipulation and warfare during theWarring States period (5th to 3rd centuries BC).^[1] It is an important text of the Warring States period as it describes the strategies and political views of theSchool of Diplomacy and reveals the historical and social characteristics of the period.

The author ofZhan Guo Ce has not yet been verified: it is generally deemed, after Zhang Xincheng, that the book was not written by a single author at one time. It is thought to have been composed bySu Qin and his peers, and was originally compiled by Han dynasty scholarLiu Xiang.^[2]

Unlike many of the pre-Qin classics, the authenticity ofZhan Guo Ce, along with theShijing,Mozi,Yulingzi andGongsun Longzi had never been questioned since theWestern Han period. The earliest to assert the texts were apocryphal scriptures was perhaps the compiler of theAnnotated Bibliography of theComplete Library of the Four Treasuries, but he provided no warrant for it. In 1931, Luo Genze put forward an argument that the book was composed by Kuai Tong (Chinese:蒯通) in his two papers based on six conclusions which he drew, a contemporary ofHan Xin. This argument had been seconded by Jin Dejian (1932) and Zu Zhugeng (1937), but by 1939 it was refuted by Zhang Xincheng.^[3]

The six versions of written works from the School of Diplomacy were discovered by Liu Xiang during his editing and proofreading of the imperial library collection. Those works of political views and diplomatic strategies from the School of Diplomacy were in poor condition, with confusing contents and missing words. Liu Xiang proofread and edited them into the new book under the titleZhan Guo Ce; it was therefore not written by a single author at one time.

Significant contents ofZhan Guo Ce were lost in subsequent centuries.Zeng Gong of the NorthernSong dynasty reclaimed some lost chapters, proofread and edited the modern version. Some writings oncloth wereexcavated from theHan dynasty tomb atMawangdui near the city ofChangsha in 1973 and edited and published inBeijing in 1976 asZhanguo Zonghengjia Shu (Chinese:戰國縱橫家書, "Works from the School of Diplomacy During the Warring States Period)". The book contained 27 chapters, 11 of which were found to be similar to the contents inZhan Guo Ce and theRecords of the Grand Historian. That publication appeared inTaiwan in 1977 as theBoshu Zhanguoce (Chinese:帛書戰國策). The texts were written in between the style ofSeal script andClerical script. The transcript was probably composed around 195 BC before its burial, as the text tend to avoid using the wordbang (邦), the personal name ofEmperor Gao of Han,^[4] to circumventnaming taboo. According toJames Legge's translation of theBook of Rites it shares a story with theLost Book of Zhou mentioned in theRites.

TheZhan Guo Ce recounts the history of the Warring States from the conquest of theFanclan by theZhi clan in 490 BC up to the failedassassination ofQin Shi Huang byGao Jianli in 221 BC.

The chapters take the form of anecdotes meant to illustrate various strategies and tricks employed by the Warring States. With the focus thus being more on providing general political insights than on presenting the whole history of the period, there is no stringent year-by-year dating such as that found in the precedingSpring and Autumn Annals. Stories are sorted chronologically by under which ruler they take place, but within the reign of a single king there is no way to tell if the time elapsed between two anecdotes is a day or a year.

The book comprises approximately 120,000 words, and is divided into 33 chapters and 497 sections. The twelve dynasties the strategies pertain to are:

The book does not emphasize the historical facts or fiction, but appears to be an extensive collection of anecdotes with little bearing to the chronological order of chapter and narration. Since the 12th century, it has been widely debated whether the book should be considered a historical documentation from writer Chao Gongwu and Gao Sisun, and there have been attempts to categorize the book into a different genus. This lasted until 1936 where scholars like Zhong Fengnian demonstrated that the book was written as a handbook of diction from the School of Diplomacy, and not intended to be a compilation of historical facts.^[6]

The moral aspects have been disputed due to its stress on power politics, warfare, and its conflicts withConfucian ideology.^[1] The book appears to overemphasize the historical contributions from the School of Diplomacy, devaluing the book's historical importance.

The book's distinctive style and content broke new ground decoding the tactics of power politics. Its witty and humorous approach, combined with "refined rhetoric and vigorous literary style", makes it a literary gem that surpassed its historical significance.^[1]

• Crump, James I., Jr. (1970, 1996).Chan-Kuo Ts'e. Oxford: Clarendon Press; revised edition, University of Michigan Center for Chinese Studies.ISBN 978-0-89264-122-2
• Crump, J. (2022).Legends of the Warring States: Persuasions, Romances, and Stories from Chan-kuo Ts'e (Michigan Monographs In Chinese Studies Book 83). U OF M CENTER FOR CHINESE STUDIES. ISBN 978-0892641291
• Hu, Mingyuan (2022).Oratory and Democracy in China: Four Dialogues from the Annals of the Warring States. London and Paris: Hermits United.ISBN 978-1-7391156-0-9
• Bonsall, Bramwell Seaton (1920s?).Records of the Warring StatesArchived 2021-11-08 at theWayback Machine. (A typescript translation made while studying for a London University D. Lit.)

^ a: See HKUL Digital Initiatives^[1] for G. W. Bonsall translation.

• Tsien, Tsuen-hsuin (1993). "Chan Kuo Ts'e 戰國策". InLoewe, Michael (ed.).Early Chinese Texts: A Bibliographical Guide(PDF). Berkeley: Society for the Study of Early China; Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California Berkeley. pp. 1–11.ISBN 1-55729-043-1.

ChineseWikisource has original text related to this article:

Zhan Guo Ce (in Chinese)

Listen to this article (12 minutes)

This audio file was created from a revision of this article dated 26 February 2006 (2006-02-26), and does not reflect subsequent edits.

(Audio help ·More spoken articles)

• English translation of ZGC by B. S. BonsallArchived 2021-11-08 at theWayback Machine
• A photoshot of He Jin's book
• Stratagems of the Warring States 《戰國策》 Chinese text with matching English vocabulary

• Chinese history texts
• 3rd-century BC history books
• Warring States period
• Han dynasty texts

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Articles containing Chinese-language text
• Pages with plain IPA
• Articles containing traditional Chinese-language text
• Webarchive template wayback links
• Articles with hAudio microformats
• Spoken articles