The ''Chronicles of the Eastern Zhou Kingdoms'' () is a Chinese historical novel written by

Feng Menglong Feng Menglong (1574–1646), courtesy names Youlong (), Gongyu (), Ziyou (), or Eryou (), was a Chinese historian, novelist, and poet of the late Ming Dynasty. He was born in Changzhou County, now part of Suzhou, in Jiangsu Province. Life Fe ...

in the late

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peo ...

. Set in the

Eastern Zhou dynasty The Eastern Zhou (; zh, c=, p=Dōngzhōu, w=Tung1-chou1, t= ; 771–256 BC) was a royal dynasty of China and the second half of the Zhou dynasty. It was divided into two periods: the Spring and Autumn and the Warring States. History In 770 ...

, the novel starts from the Chinese kingdom beginning to break apart into smaller states and ends with the first unification of the land accomplished by

Qin Shi Huang Qin Shi Huang (, ; 259–210 BC) was the founder of the Qin dynasty and the first emperor of a unified China. Rather than maintain the title of " king" ( ''wáng'') borne by the previous Shang and Zhou rulers, he ruled as the First Empero ...

. It is one of the best-known historical novels regarding ancient China. The novel is based on classical texts such as the '' Zuo Tradition'' and the ''

Records of the Grand Historian ''Records of the Grand Historian'', also known by its Chinese name ''Shiji'', is a monumental history of China that is the first of China's 24 dynastic histories. The ''Records'' was written in the early 1st century by the ancient Chinese his ...

'' and some of the sacred classic books of China such as the ''

Book of Rites The ''Book of Rites'', also known as the ''Liji'', is a collection of texts describing the social forms, administration, and ceremonial rites of the Zhou dynasty as they were understood in the Warring States and the early Han periods. The ''Book ...

'' and the ''

Classic of Poetry The ''Classic of Poetry'', also ''Shijing'' or ''Shih-ching'', translated variously as the ''Book of Songs'', ''Book of Odes'', or simply known as the ''Odes'' or ''Poetry'' (; ''Shī''), is the oldest existing collection of Chinese poetry, c ...

''.

Translations

The novel has been translated into several languages, including Korean, Thai and Vietnamese. The Korean version was done in 2003. The Thai version was done in 1819 by a committee of senior public officers at the behest of King

Rama II Phra Phutthaloetla Naphalai ( th, พระพุทธเลิศหล้านภาลัย, 24 February 1767 – 21 July 1824), personal name Chim ( th, ฉิม), also styled as Rama II, was the second monarch of Siam under the Chakri ...

. The Vietnamese version was done in 1933 by Nguyễn Đỗ Mục. Erik Honobe has translated the first ten chapters into English
''The Rise of Lord Zhuang of Zheng''
ISBN 978-962-7255-48-2). Some chapters can be viewed on the website of '' Renditions''
Chapter 1
an
Chapter 5
,

Olivia Milburn Olivia Milburn (born 1976) is a sinologist, author and literary translator who specialises in Chinese cultural history and in Chinese minority groups. Life and career Milburn is a professor at the School of Chinese, Hong Kong University. Milburn ...

has translated 17 out of the original 108 chapters into English (''Kingdoms in Peril: A Novel of the Ancient Chinese World at War,'' ISBN 9780520380516).

References

Ming dynasty novels 17th-century Chinese novels Works by Feng Menglong Novels set in the Zhou dynasty Chinese historical novels Novels set in Henan Novels set in Shandong Novels set in Hebei Novels set in Shanxi Novels set in Hubei Novels set in Shaanxi Novels set in Jiangsu Novels set in Zhejiang Novels set in the 8th century BC Novels set in the 7th century BC Novels set in the 6th century BC Novels set in the 5th century BC Novels set in the 4th century BC Novels set in the 3rd century BC {{hist-novel-stub