Zuo Zhuan

Zuo Zhuan in a later reprinted edition

The Zuo Zhuan (simplified Chinese: 左传; traditional Chinese: 左傳; Wade–Giles: Tso Chuan, pinyin: zuǒ zhuàn), sometimes translated as the Chronicle of Zuo or the Commentary of Zuo, is among the earliest Chinese works of narrative history and covers the period from 722 BCE to 468 BCE. It is one of the most important sources for understanding the history of the Spring and Autumn Period. Together with the Gongyang Zhuan and Guliang Zhuan, the work forms one of the surviving Three Commentaries on the Spring and Autumn Annals.

The Zuo Zhuan was traditionally attributed to Zuo Qiuming, as a commentary to the Spring and Autumn Annals, but many believe it was an independent work chronologically parallel to the Annals which was later spliced into it. Most notable modern scholars of this book such as Yang Bojun (楊伯峻) hold that the work was compiled during the Warring States Period, with a compilation date not later than 389 BCE.

Liang Qichao (梁启超) further proposed from internal and comparative textual analyses that the extant editions of Zuo Zhuan and Guoyu derive from a pre-Liu Xiang edition of "Guoyu" that originally had passages from the two. The neatly delineated, chronologically complementary distribution of accounts between the two was to him evidence that Liu Xiang extracted historical accounts parallel to those in the Annals to compile what was to be called the Zuo Zhuan; accounts lacking a Chunqiu parallel were left in Guoyu in the original format under chapters by state; hence the name, organization, and text of the Guoyu 國語, or Discourse of States, that we have today.

The book contains the earliest reference to weiqi (the board game of go) in the 25th Year of Duke Xiang of Lu (548 BCE in the Gregorian calendar)

With its vivid and concise language, the Zuo Zhuan is also a gem of classical Chinese prose. This work and the Shiji or Records of the Grand Historian, were regarded as the ultimate models by many generations of prose stylists in ancient China.

Contents

The Zuo Zhuan follows the sequence of 12 dukes of the State of Lu, starting in the first year of Duke Yin of Lu and finishing in the 27th year of Duke Ai of Lu. Altogether, the 18,000 character work records the history of the various vassal states of the Zhou Dynasty over a period of 254 years.

Contents of the Zuo Zhuan

Ruler of the State of Lu	Reign Duration (Years)	Period of Coverage
Duke Yin of Lu (鲁隐公)	11	722 – 712 BCE
Duke Huan of Lu (鲁桓公)	18	711 – 694 BCE
Duke Zhuang of Lu (鲁庄公)	32	693 – 662 BCE
Duke Min of Lu (鲁闵公)	2	661 – 660 BCE
Duke Xi of Lu (鲁僖公)	33	659 – 627 BCE
Duke Wen of Lu (鲁文公)	18	626 – 609 BCE
Duke Xuan of Lu (鲁宣公)	18	608 – 591 BCE
Duke Cheng of Lu (鲁成公)	18	590 – 573 BCE
Duke Xiang of Lu (鲁襄公)	31	572–542 BCE
Duke Zhao of Lu (鲁昭公)	32	541–510 BCE
Duke Ding of Lu (鲁定公)	15	509–495 BCE
Duke Ai of Lu (鲁哀公)	27	494–468 BCE

Note: The Zuo Zhuan contains an appendix starting in the fourth year of the reign of Duke Dao of Lu (463 BCE).

Three Commentaries on the Spring and Autumn Annals

Gongyang Zhuan | Guliang Zhuan

References

• Yang Qichao (1995). 중국고전학입문 中國古典學入門. Seoul: Hyongsong Sa. ISBN 9788973461110. 
• Yang Bojun (1990). The Annotation of Zuozhuan Chunqiu: On Preface. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju. ISBN 7-101-00262-5. 
• Burton Watson (1989). The Tso chuan : selections from China's oldest narrative history. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-06714-3. 

External links

• Chunqiu Zuozhuan Bilingual text of Zuo Zhuan with side-by-side Chinese original and English tranliteration
• Zuo Zhuan Fully searchable text (Chinese)
• The Zuozhuan Digital Concordance. by St. John Page and Isabel García Hidalgo, the English data is based on the full translation published by the 19th century English sinologist-missionary James Legge. Missing sections not covered by Legge were translated by Page and added to cover the full text.