Alternative English titles include
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2 Format 3 Literary Criticism 4 Bibliography 5 External Links |
Title and Versions
The author of ZGC still cannot be verified. In late Western Han Dynasty, six versions of written works from the school of negotiations were discovered by Liu Xiang during his editing and proofreading of imperial literary collection. Those works of political view and diplomatic strategies from the school of negotiation were in poor condition, comprised of confusing contents and missing words. Liu Xiang proofread and edited them into the new book Zhan Guo Ce; ZGC is therefore not written by a single author at a time.
Signifcant contents of ZGC were lost in subsequent centuries. Zeng Gong of the Northern Song Dynasty reclaimed some lost chapters, proofread and edited the modern version. Some writings on cloths were excavated from the Han Dynasty tomb at Mawangdui (py) or Ma-wang Tui (wg) near the city of Changsha in 1973 and edited and published in Beijing in 1976 in the 27 chapter Zhan guo zong heng jia shu (py) or Chan-kup Tsung-heng-chia Shu (wg) (works from the school of negotiations during the Warring States Period) (201 pp.), 11 of which was found to be similar to the contents in ZGC and the Records of the Grand Historian. That publication appeared in Taiwan in 1977 as the Bo-shu Zhan Guo Ce (py) or Po-shu Chan-kuo Ts'e (wg).
Format
ZGC recounts the history from the conquest of the Fan clan by the Zhi clan in 490 BC up to the failed assassination of Qin Shihuangdi by Gao Jianli in 221 BC.
The book comprises of approximatly 120,000 words in 497 sections of 33 chapters (卷). The twelve ce are:
Sophisticated intellectual contents of ZGC mainly discloses intellectual inclination of followers of school of negotiations and illustrated the intellectual prosperity and multicultural aspects of the period. Most important of the progreessive political views emphasized talents, skills and expertise.
Literary achievement of ZGC is also outstanding - it signifies a new era in the development of ancient Chinese literature. Among other aspects, character description, language usage and metaphorical stories demonstrates strong and clear literary quality. ZGC greatly influenced the format of the Record of the Grand Historian.
ZGC has been credited for its literary value. Nevertheless its intellectual aspects have also been disputed, mainly due to its stress in fame and profit and confliction against imminent Confucian ideology. Emphasis in historical contribiutions from the school of negotiation was overdone, devaluing its historical importance.
Bibliography
External Links