The ''Guoyu'' (), usually translated ''Discourses of the States'', is an ancient Chinese text that consists of a collection of speeches attributed to rulers and other men from the
Spring and Autumn period
The Spring and Autumn period was a period in Chinese history from approximately 770 to 476 BC (or according to some authorities until 403 BC) which corresponds roughly to the first half of the Eastern Zhou period. The period's name derives fr ...
(771–476). It comprises a total of 240 speeches, ranging from the reign of
King Mu of Zhou
King Mu of Zhou (), personal name Ji Man, was the fifth king of the Zhou dynasty of China. The dates of his reign are 976–922 BC or 956–918 BC.
Life
King Mu came to the throne after his father King Zhao’s death during his tour to the Sout ...
(r. 956918) to the execution of the
Jin minister Zhibo in 453. ''Guoyu'' was probably compiled beginning in the 5th century BC and continuing to the late 4th century BC. The earliest chapter of the compilation is the ''Discourses of Zhou''.
Guoyu's author is unknown, but it is sometimes attributed to
Zuo Qiuming
Zuo Qiuming, Zuoqiu Ming or Qiu Ming (556–451 BCEZhou, Jixu (May 2011"Confucius and Lao Zi" Their Differing Social Foundations and Cultures ''Sino-Platonic Papers'' 211. p. 2 or 502 – 422 BCE) was a Chinese historian who was a contempo ...
, a contemporary of
Confucius
Confucius ( ; zh, s=, p=Kǒng Fūzǐ, "Master Kǒng"; or commonly zh, s=, p=Kǒngzǐ, labels=no; – ) was a Chinese philosopher and politician of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. C ...
; although as early as
Two Jins dynasty,
Fu Xuan objected to that attribution of authorship.
Kong Yingda
Kong Yingda (; 574 – 648), courtesy names Chongyuan () and Zhongda (), was a Chinese philosopher during the Sui and Tang dynasty. An amorous Confucianist, who is considered one of the most influential Confucian scholars in Chinese history. H ...
, ''True Meaning of Chunqiu Zuozhuan'' "vol. 60
p. 20 of 146
quote: "傅玄云：《國語》非丘明所作。凡有共說一事而二文不同，必《國語》虛而《左傳》實，其言相反，不可強合也。" translation: "Fu Xuan said: '′Discourses of the States′ was not authored by Qiu Ming. Wherever they both narrate one thing yet their wordings differ, certainly ′Zuo tradition′ s narrativeis authentic while ′Discourses of the States′ s narrativeis spurious. The contradictory wordings cannot be forcibly reconciled.' "
Contents
''Guoyu'' overlaps with the period, people, events in the
Zuo zhuan. It comprises eight books covering the Zhou court and seven of the feudal states, divided into 21 chapters:
References
Citations
Sources
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External links
''Guoyu''Original text in Chinese
Chinese text with matching English vocabulary
Chinese classic texts
Chinese history texts
5th-century BC history books
Works of unknown authorship
{{China-hist-book-stub