Lüshi Chunqiu

The ''Lüshi Chunqiu'' (), also known in English as ''Master Lü's Spring and Autumn Annals'', is an encyclopedic Chinese classic text compiled around 239BC under the patronage of late pre-imperial Qin Chancellor Lü Buwei. In the evaluation of Michael Loewe, "The ''Lü 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.

Combining ideas from many different 'schools', the work is traditionally classified as ' Syncretist', though there was no school that called itself Syncretist.

Background

The ''Shiji'' (chap. 85, p. 2510) biography of Lü Buwei has the earliest information about the ''Lüshi Chunqiu''. Lü was a successful merchant from Handan who befriended King Zhuangxiang of Qin. The king's son Zheng, who the ''Shiji'' suggests was actually Lü's son, eventually became the first emperor Qin Shi Huang in 221BC. When Zhuangxiang died in 247BC, Lü was made regent for the 13-year-old Zheng. In order to establish Qin as the intellectual center of China, Lü "recruited scholars, treating them generously so that his retainers came to number three thousand". In 239BC, he, in the words of the ''Shiji'':

According to the ''Shiji'', Lü 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.

The '' Hanshu Yiwenzhi'' listed the ''Lüshi Chunqiu'' as belonging to the ''Zajia'' (; 'mixed school'), within the philosophers' domain (), 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

The title uses ''chunqiu'' () 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'' () in 160 ''pian'' (), and is divided into three major parts.
#The ''Ji'' () comprises books 112, 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.
#The ''Lan'' () comprises books 1320, which each have 8 sections. This is the longest and most eclectic part, giving quotations from many early texts, some no longer extant.
#The ''Lun'' () comprises books 2126, which mostly deals with rulership, except for the final four sections about agriculture. This part resembles the ''Lan'' in composition.

Integrity of the text

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'' () chapter of the Examinations, for example, contains text almost identical to the ''Wuda'' (務大) chapter of the Discourses, though in the first case it is ascribed to '' Jizi'' (季子), and in the second to Confucius.

Impartialist militarism

As with earlier scholarship, Kidder Smith (2003) considered the work reliably dated to the listed date of 239 BCE. Though "accommodating diverse textual traditions", the work includes a militarist viewpoint of the various ideologies incorporated within it that could be compared with the Art of War. Taking a "multiplicity of views" as dangerous to the Qin state, the works resorts to a "military model" without taking sides or explicitly synthesizing an ideological compromise, withholding judgment of Laozi, Confucius, Mozi or Yang Zhu. Though an ''invaluable compendium'', in this regard, the ruling ideological viewpoint of the late Qin state's encyclopedia is arguably representative of its own: it does not fully furnish one.

While considering ''learning'' and teachers of central importance as if its fifth major point, as noted under Major Positions, John Knoblock lists "Affirmation of self-cultivation and ''impartiality''" as its first position, including filial piety as its last major point, and wu wei as its seventh. While it does encourage the ruler to listen to ministers, its own ideology consists of such positions as emphasizing agriculture, facilitating trade and commerce, thrift, and reducing taxes.

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. 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. They cared about state control, not doctrinal unity. Despite the later term Chinese Legalism, they do not provide an ''ideological'' alternative.

Hansen ( Stanford Encyclopedia) argues China's ''officialdom'' as becoming more Huang-Lao (Laozi) "Daoistic", lacking in Zhuangzi influences. 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. While it does incorporate a selection from Shen Buhai's doctrine, Shen Buhai or the Han Feizi do not ''literally'' promote the ruler's inactivity. Ren shu says:

Major positions

Admitting the difficulties of summarizing the ''Lüshi Chunqiu'', John Knoblock and Jeffrey Riegel list 18 major points:
#Affirmation of self-cultivation and impartiality
#Rejection of hereditary ruler over the empire
#Stupidity as the cause of hereditary rule
#Need for government to honor the concerns of the people
#The central importance of learning and teachers
#Support and admiration for learning as the basis of rule
# Non-assertion on the part of the ruler
#Primary task for a ruler is to select his ministers
#Need for a ruler to trust the expertise of his advisers
#Need for a ruler to practice quiescence
#The attack on Qin practices
#Just warfare
#Respect for civil arts
#Emphasis on agriculture
#Facilitating trade and commerce
#Encouraging economy and conservation
#Lightening of taxes and duties
#Emphasis on filial piety and loyalty.
The ''Lüshi chunqiu'' is an invaluable compendium of early Chinese thought and civilization.

Correction bounty

The ''Shiji'' tells that after Lü Buwei presented the finished ''Lüshi 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 s wortha thousand gold" ().

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 Lü's contemporaries were able to detect the book's inaccuracies, but none dared to openly criticize a powerful figure like him.

Reception

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."Stephen W. Durrant, "The Cloudy Mirror", p.80 Liang's position, mildly criticized afterwards, was dictated by the lack of canonical status ascribed to the book.

References

;Footnotes

;Works cited
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* Knoblock, John and Riegel, Jeffrey. 2000. ''The Annals of Lü Buwei: A Complete Translation and Study''. Stanford: Stanford University Press. .
* Sellmann, James D. 2002. ''Timing and Rulership in Master Lü's Spring and Autumn Annals (Lüshi chunqiu)''. Albany: State University of New York Press.
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External links

呂氏春秋
complete text in Chinese

ChinaKnowledge entry

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lushi Chunqiu
Chinese classic texts
Chinese chronicles
Ancient Chinese philosophical literature
3rd-century BC history books
Encyclopedias in Chinese
Leishu