The
Lüshi Chunqiu () is an encyclopedic
Chinese classic text compiled around 239 BCE under the patronage of the
Qin Dynasty Chancellor
Lü Buwei. In the evaluation of Michael Carson and 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, which are unknown elsewhere. It is also one of the longest of the early texts, extending to something over 100,000 characters. To the usual description of its language as 'homogeneous' there must be added the qualifications that there is considerable borrowing from other texts with differing grammatical characteristics, and the fact that in different parts of the book there are different patterns of word usage. (1993:324)
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. His son Zheng (政, who the
Shiji suggests was actually Lü's son) eventually became the first emperor
Qin Shi Huang in 221 BCE. When Zhuangxiang died in 247 BCE, Lü Buwei 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" (tr. Knoblock and Riegel 2000:13). In 239 BCE, he, in the words of the Shiji
Lü exhibited the completed encyclopedic text at the market gate in
Xianyang, the capital of Qin, with a thousand measures of gold hung above it, supposedly offered to any traveling scholar who could "add or subtract even a single character."
The
Yiwenzhi (藝文志 "Bibliographical Treatise") of the
Hanshu history lists the
Lüshi Chunqiu as belonging to the
Zajia (雜家/杂家 "Mixed School"), within the
Hundred Schools of Thought framework. 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 (春秋 lit. "spring and autumn") meaning "annals; chronicle" in a classical reference to the
Confucianist Chunqiu "
Spring and Autumn Annals", which chronicles the
State of Lu history from 772–481 BCE.
The
Lüshi Chunqiu text comprises 26
juan (巻 "scrolls; books") in 160
pian (篇 "sections"), and is divided into three major parts; the
Ji (
Chinese: 紀, "The Almanacs"). Books 1-12 correspond to the months of the year, and list 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 (
Chinese: 覧, "The Examinations"). Books 13–20 each have 8 sections corresponding to the
64 Hexagrams in the
Yijing. This is the longest and most eclectic part, giving quotations from many early texts, some no longer extant, and the
Lun (
Chinese: 論, "The Discourses"). Books 21–26 mostly deal with rulership, excepting the final four sections about agriculture. This part resembles the
Lan in composition.
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 advisors
- Need for a ruler to practice quiescence
- The attack on Qin practices
- Facilitating trade and commerce
- Encouraging economy and conservation
- Lightening of taxes and duties
- Emphasis on filial piety and loyalty. (2000:46-54)
The
Lüshi chunqiu is an invaluable compendium of early Chinese thought and civilization.
