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Lushi Chunqiu

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Chinese annals compiled in 239 BC
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Lushi Chunqiu
An Edo period (1603-1868) edition
AuthorLu Buwei
Original titleLu Shi Chun Qiu
LanguageChinese
GenreChinese classics
Publication placeChina
Lushi chunqiu
Traditional ChineseLu Shi Chun Qiu
Simplified ChineseLu Shi Chun Qiu
Literal meaning"Mr. Lu's Spring and Autumn [Annals]"
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinLushi chunqiu
Wade-GilesLu3-shih4 Ch'un1-ch'iu1
IPA[lysr tshw@ntchjoU]
Wu
RomanizationLiu-zy Tshen-chieu
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationLeuih-sih Cheun-chau
JyutpingLeoi5-si6 Ceon1-cau1
IPA[loY.si tshon.tshaw]
Southern Min
Hokkien POJLu-si Chhun-chhiu
Eastern Min
Fuzhou BUCLu-se Chung-chiu
Middle Chinese
Middle ChineseLjo-dZje tchwin-tshjuw
Old Chinese
Baxter-Sagart (2014)*[r]?a k.d@? thun tshiw

The Lushi Chunqiu (simplified Chinese: Lu Shi Chun Qiu ; traditional Chinese: Lu Shi Chun Qiu ; lit. 'Lu's Spring and Autumn'), abbreviated Lulan Lu Lan "Lu Survey",[1][2] also known in English as Master Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals,[3][4] is an encyclopedic Chinese classic text compiled around 239 BC under the patronage of late pre-imperial Qin Chancellor Lu Buwei. In the evaluation of Michael Loewe, "The Lu shih ch'un ch'iu is unique among early works in that it is well organized and comprehensive, containing extensive passages on such subjects as music and agriculture, unknown elsewhere." One of the longest early texts, it extends to over 100,000 words.[5]

Combining ideas from many different 'schools', it was traditionally classified as 'Syncretist', though there was no school that called itself Syncretist.[6][7] Almost certainly written for review by Qin authorities, or those who were going to come into a position of authority,[5] Yuri Pines considered it more moral leaning than the Strategies of the Warring States.[8]

Dating

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Terminologies in the text still supported a traditional late pre-imperial Warring States period compilation in 2021.[9][10] Earlier scholarship considered the listed date of circa 239 BCE satisfactory without disagreement,[11][12] generally accepting it as a legitimate pre-Qin dynasty text.[12]

The earliest and "most instructive" direct reference to the Lushi Chunqiu is in the early Han Shiji;[5] the abbreviated title Lulan also derives from the Shiji (ch.130).[1] But the early Han text Huainanzi also makes extensive use of the Lushi Chunqiu.[13] The much later Han Gao You is the Lushi Chunqiu's earliest and most well known commentator.[1]

Early linguistic investigations were performed by Richard Wilhelm and Naito Torajiro,[14] with Michael F. Carson (1980) discussing "some characteristic features of grammar and style in a third century b.c. text".[1]

Translations

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Before John Knoblock and Jeffrey Riegel's translation (2001), Michael Loewe (1993) states that the only complete translation (into a European language) was Richard Wilhelm's (German) translation, "Fruhling und Herbst des Lu Bu we; aus dem Chinesischen verdeutscht und erlautert; Jena: Eugen Diederichs, 1928; reprinted, with a new preface by Hellmut Wilhelm, 1971."[5]

There were also several Japanese translations; "Kokuyaku kambun taisei, no. 20, 1924, edited by Fujita Toyohachi; Kambun sosho, 1928, edited by Okada Masayuki; Chugoku koten shinsho, 1976, edited by Uchino Kumaichiro and Nakamura Shohachi.'[15]

Lu Buwei background

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It is not known what part Lu Buwei played in the Lushi Chunqiu's compilation, with most of it "probably" composed by the scholars he is said to have recruited.[12] The postface of the text says that he "succeeded in studying what the Yellow Sovereign used to instruct the Zhuanxu Sovereign";[16] i.e. that he engaged in study intending to produce a compendium for the upcoming emperor,[17] as "instructions in the methods of kingship for a young ruler", most likely as a guide to conduct.(Lewis)[18]

The Shiji (chap. 85, p. 2510) biography of Lu Buwei has the earliest information about the Lushi Chunqiu. Lu was a successful merchant from Handan who befriended King Zhuangxiang of Qin. The king's son Zheng, who the Shiji suggests was actually Lu's son, eventually became the first emperor Qin Shi Huang in 221 BC.

When Zhuangxiang died in 247 BC, Lu was made regent for the 13-year-old Zheng. In order to establish Qin as the intellectual center of China, Lu "recruited scholars, treating them generously so that his retainers came to number three thousand".[19] In 239 BC, he, in the words of the Shiji:[20]

... ordered that his retainers write down all that they had learned and assemble their theses into a work consisting of eight "Examinations", six "Discourses", and twelve "Almanacs", totaling more than 200,000 words.

According to the Shiji, Lu exhibited the completed text at the city gate of Xianyang, capital of Qin, and above it a notice offering a thousand measures of gold to any traveling scholar who could add or subtract even a single word.[citation needed]

The Hanshu Yiwenzhi listed the Lushi Chunqiu as belonging to the Zajia (Za Jia ; Za Jia ; 'mixed school'), within the philosophers' domain (Zhu Zi Lue ), or Hundred Schools of Thought. Although this text is frequently characterized as "syncretic", "eclectic", or "miscellaneous", it was a cohesive summary of contemporary philosophical thought, including Legalism, Confucianism, Mohism, and Daoism.

Contents

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The title uses chunqiu (Chun Qiu ; spring and autumn) to mean 'annals; chronicle' in a reference to the Confucianist Spring and Autumn Annals, which chronicles the State of Lu history from 722-481 BC.

The text comprises 26 juan (Juan ; 'scrolls', 'books') in 160 pian (Pian ; 'sections'), and is divided into three major parts.

  1. The Ji (Ji ; 'Almanacs') comprises books 1-12, which corresponds to the months of the year, and lists appropriate seasonal activities to ensure that the state runs smoothly. This part, which was copied as the Liji chapter Yueling, takes many passages from other texts, often without attribution.
  2. The Lan (Lan ; 'Examinations') comprises books 13-20, which each have 8 sections. This is the longest and most eclectic part, giving quotations from many early texts, some no longer extant.
  3. The Lun (Lun ; 'Discourses') comprises books 21-26, which mostly deal with rulership, except for the final four sections about agriculture. This part resembles the Lan in composition.

Integrity of the text

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The composition's features, measure of completeness (i.e. the veracity of the Shiji account) and possible corruption of the original Annals have been subjects of scholarly attention. It has been mentioned that the Almanacs have much greater integrity and thematic organization than the other two parts of the text.

The Yuda (Yu Da ) chapter of the Examinations, for example, contains text almost identical to the Wuda (Wu Da ) chapter of the Discourses, though in the first case it is ascribed to Jizi (Ji Zi ), and in the second to Confucius.

Major positions

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Admitting the difficulties of summarizing the Lushi Chunqiu, John Knoblock and Jeffrey Riegel list 18 major points:

  1. Affirmation of self-cultivation and impartiality
  2. Rejection of hereditary ruler over the empire
  3. Stupidity as the cause of hereditary rule
  4. Need for government to honor the concerns of the people
  5. The central importance of learning and teachers
  6. Support and admiration for learning as the basis of rule
  7. Non-assertion on the part of the ruler
  8. Primary task for a ruler is to select his ministers
  9. Need for a ruler to trust the expertise of his advisers
  10. Need for a ruler to practice quiescence
  11. The attack on Qin practices
  12. Just warfare
  13. Respect for civil arts
  14. Emphasis on agriculture
  15. Facilitating trade and commerce
  16. Encouraging economy and conservation
  17. Lightening of taxes and duties
  18. Emphasis on filial piety and loyalty.[21]

The Lushi chunqiu is an invaluable compendium of early Chinese thought and civilization.

Impartialist militarism

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While an invaluable compendium "accommodating diverse textual traditions", a militarist section of the work takes a "multiplicity of views" as dangerous to the Qin state if listened to too much, though it withholds judgment of Laozi, Confucius, Mozi, Yang Zhu, or Sun Bin, resorting to a "military model" comparable to the Art of War rather than an ideology. Likely not considering it useful as a comparative, in the early Han, Sima Tan didn't include militarism as a school. But militarism is a major viewpoint of the Qin, that is, its stratocracy.[22]

If one listens to the views of the many, then there is no day that the state will be free of danger. How to know who is right? Lao Dan [Laozi) values the soft, Confucius values humanity, Mo Di values the inexpensive, Guan Yin values clarity, Zi Liezi values vacuity, Chen Pian values things equally, Yang Sheng [Yang Zhu] values himself, Sun Bin values strategic configuration, Wang Liao values being ahead, Ni Liang values being behind.

To unify the ears [of one's troops], use metal drums. To unify their minds, make standards and commands the same. To unify their intelligence, keep the wise from being crafty and the stupid from being clumsy. To unify their strength, keep the brave from going ahead and the cowardly from lagging behind.

While the Lushi Chunqiu considers learning and teachers of central importance as if its fifth major point, as noted under Major Positions, John Knoblock includes filial piety as its last major point, and wu wei as its seventh. But "Affirmation of self-cultivation and impartiality" is its first position. While the work does encourage the ruler to listen to ministers, its own priorities consist of such mundane positions as facilitating agriculture, trade and commerce, thrift, and reducing taxes.[23]

Although Qin's Shang Yang, the Han Feizi or Sima Qian's Li Si in the Shiji are less tolerant, Yuri Pines (Stanford Encyclopedia) analysis of them is similar to Smith, discussing some of the same material. The much earlier Shang Yang was anti-intellectual but did not actually care about the content of doctrines. Not "adoring" a martial spirit, he was concerned with recruiting farmers and soldiers, inculcating militarist regulations rather than values. Li Si isn't specifically anti-Confucian, so much as he is simply authoritarian. Opposing the "discourses of the former kings" in favor of teaching law in Chapter 49, the Han Feizi's Chapter 50 resorts to simply having the king promulgate and prohibit doctrines, whatever they may be. By comparison, they cared more about state control, but still not doctrinal unity. Despite the later term Chinese Legalism, they do not provide an ideological alternative.[24][25]

Daoistic syncretism

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While stratocracy represented in the Lush Chunqiu may not specifically favor Laozi, Hansen (Stanford Encyclopedia) argues China's officialdom as becoming more Huang-Lao "Daoistic", lacking in Zhuangzi influences.[26] Though the Confucian archivists classify the Lushi Chunqiu as Zajia ("Syncretist") rather than Daojia ("Daoism") or Fajia ("Legalism"), in the terms of old scholarship, the work incorporates a "Daoist-Legalist" fusion comparable to Shen Buhai, Shen Dao, Han Fei, Guanzi and the Mawangdui Huangdi sijing. With an example from the chapter "Ren shu", the work demonstrates that a philosophy promoting the wu wei reduced activity of the ruler goes back to the Warring States period.[27]

While the Lushi Chunqiu does incorporate a selection from Shen Buhai's doctrine,[28] Shen Buhai or the Han Feizi by comparison do not literally promote the ruler's inactivity.[29] Ren shu says:

To follow is the method of the ruler; to act is the way of the minister. If (the ruler) acts, he will be troubled, if he follows, he will find peace. To follow the winter when it produces cold and the summer when it produces heat, why should the ruler do anything? Therefore to say: "The way of the ruler is to have no knowledge and no action, but still he is more worthy than those who know and act," that is to get the point."

Correction bounty

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The Shiji tells that after Lu Buwei presented the finished Lushi Chunqiu for the public at the gate of Xianyang and announced that anyone could correct the book's content would be awarded 1000 taels of gold for every corrected word. This event lead to the Chinese idiom "One word [is worth] a thousand gold" (Yi Zi Qian Jin ).

None of the contemporary scholars pointed out any mistakes in the work, although later scholars managed to detect a number of them. It is believed that Lu's contemporaries were able to detect the book's inaccuracies, but none dared to openly criticize a powerful figure like him.

Reception

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Scholar Liang Qichao (1873-1929) stated: "This book, through the course of two thousand years, has had no deletions nor corruptions. Moreover, it has the excellent commentary of Gao You. Truly it is the most perfect and easily read work among the ancient books."[30] Liang's position, mildly criticized afterwards,[by whom?] was dictated by the lack of canonical status ascribed to the book.

References

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Footnotes
  1. ^ a b c d Carson & Loewe 1993, p. 327.
  2. ^ Yang 2013, p. 212; Zhu 2024, p. 129.
  3. ^ Sellman, James D. (2002), Timing and Rulership in Master Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals, Albany: State University of New York Press.
  4. ^ Sellman, James D. (1998), "Lushi Chunqiu", Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Taylor & Francis, doi:10.4324/9780415249126-G057-1.
  5. ^ a b c d Carson & Loewe 1993, p. 324-324.
  6. ^ Liu 1995, p. xvi.
  7. ^ Lundahl 1992. p130
  8. ^ Pines 2009, p. 144.
  9. ^ Jiang 2021, p. 13.
  10. ^ Tao Jiang names Daode Dao De , Xingming Xing Ming , and Jingshen Jing Shen as late Warring States terminologies, earlier discussed by Xiaogan Liu 1994: p14. In this case, Xingming is different from the Han Feizi's "form and name" Xingming, though it does have a related ming-shi "name and reality" doctrine: Goldin 2005. p185
  11. ^ Smith 2003; Liu 1995, p. ix.
  12. ^ a b c Carson & Loewe 1993, p. 324.
  13. ^ Major 2010, p. 26-27.
  14. ^ Carson & Loewe 1993, p. 326-327.
  15. ^ Carson & Loewe 1993, p. 329-330.
  16. ^ Lewis 1999, p. 303; Ritchie 2010, p. 45 refers back to knoblock translation p.1,16,19.
  17. ^ Ritchie 2010, p. 45.
  18. ^ Lewis 1999, p. 303.
  19. ^ Knoblock and Riegel (2000:13)
  20. ^ Knoblock and Riegel (2000:14)
  21. ^ Knoblock and Riegel (2000:46-54)
  22. ^ Smith 2003, p. 132.
  23. ^ Knoblock and Riegel (2000:46-54)
  24. ^ Pines 2023.
  25. ^ Smith 2003, p. 133.
  26. ^ Hansen 2025.
  27. ^ Creel 1982, p. 52; Lundahl 1992, p. 129-130.
  28. ^ Goldin 2005, p. 94; Goldin 2005a, p. 94.
  29. ^ Pines 2024, p. 70-72,127.
  30. ^ Stephen W. Durrant, "The Cloudy Mirror", p.80
Works cited
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