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The Chunqiu 春秋 "Spring and Autumn annals"
The Chunqiu 春秋 "Spring and Autumn annals" is the chronicle of the state of Lu 魯 between 722 and 479. It is the oldest and the only surviving type of chronicles from the early Eastern Zhou period 東周 (770-221 BC). The book gained therefore such a highly position that the whole period was called the Spring and Autumn period (Chunqiu shidai 春秋時代). The entries do not only list the reign year of the individual dukes of Lu and the months but a mid-level headline is insert indicating the seasons, hence the title of the chronicle. The entries are very brief and concise and not easy to understand if knowledge of the historical background is lacking. A part of the entries is also missing.
The Spring and Autumn chronicle does not only speak of the events occurring in the state of Lu itself but it also records a lot of events which took place in other states of that period. It is therefore able to give a quite detailed picture of interstate activities during the early Eastern Zhou period, in peace and in wartime. Natural disasters and eclipses of the sun also occupy in important place among the records of the annals. The records of eclipses are of important means for the dating of events and the matching of the old Chinese with the Western calendar.
In ancient times the authorship of the annals was attributed to Confucius 孔子 himself who came from the state of Lu but this must be douted. Lu was certainly not the only state having the institution of a historiographical office. This is at least known for the states of Jin 晉, Qi 齊, Chu 楚 and Song 宋. The annals of the state of Chu had been called Taowu 檮杌, that of the state of Jin Cheng 乘. There are no fragments preserved of those annals. Of course Confucius knew the chronicle of Lu and its contents and held it in high esteem because it provided a lot of material for his interpretation of how a good government should work and what was to be avoided.
The Zuozhuan 左傳 "Commentary of Zuo [Qiuming]"
The tree commentaries (sanzhuan 三傳) written to the Chunqiu also contain the main text. There are only very small differences between the Chunqiu texts which proves that the text was standardized at a very early point of time. The shortness of the entries in the Chunqiu chronicle made it necessary to add interpretations. The most important of those supplements is the Zuozhuan 左傳, the commentary attributed to Zuo Qiuming 左丘明. The Zuozhuan commentary as a very narrative text became so important for the interpretation and later use of the Chunqiu that it is commonly merged with the latter to the unit Chunqiu-Zuozhuan. It was, with even more stress on the commentary, called Zuoshi chunqiu 左氏春秋 "The Chunqiu of Master Zuo".
Zuo Qiuming is said to have lived in the state of Lu in the early 6th century, as a contemporarian of Confucius. The book must in fact have been compiled later, during the Warring States period 戰國 (5th cent.-221 BC). While the shortness of the Chunqiu text can be explained by the method to write down a few words as a kind of aide-mémoire for a history transmitted orally, the narrative text of the Zuozhuan dates from a time when historiographers exactly wrote down what happened and what acting persons said in particular situations. This kind of historiography can also be found in the histories Guoyu 國語 "Discourses of the States" and the Zhanguoce 戰國策 "Stratagems of the Warring States", writing about history of the Spring and Autumn and the Warring States period, respectively. In the concept of Confucian historiography the Chunqiu was seen as the warp threads (gang 綱), whereas the Zuozhuan represented the filling threads (mu 目). These "filling threads" were probably added by early Confucian disciples of the state of Wei 魏. For the compilation of the Zuozhuan they made use of other sources unknown in the state of Lu, namely parts of the Book of Documents, as well as chronicles of other states, as the Zhouzhi 周志 "Records of Zhou" or the Zhengshu 鄭書 "The book of the state of Zheng". The Zuozhuan is extremely helpful to understand the short entries of the Chunqiu. For example, there is an entry of the first year of Duke Yin 魯隱公 (r. 722-712) providing not more information than that the baron of Zheng defeated the ruler of the statelet of Duan 段 at a place called Yan (Zheng bo ke Duan yu Yan. 鄭伯克段於鄢。). The Zuozhuan adds a more than 500 words long story of this event, going back a few years and describing the circumstances leading the battle and its result.
The Zuozhuan - often referred to as a "commentary" - is after all a different report of the same events as the Chunqiu annals with a few significant differences. First, it covers a longer period than the Chunqiu, that is until 463 B.C. The second, even more eye-catching, is the more narrative character of the Zuozhuan who makes a quite readable anecdote collection out of the dry, enigmatic charactered Chunqiu classic. There are many events reported in the Zuozhuan that are not mentioned at all in the Chunqiu and vice versa, so one can barely say the Zuozhuan is a commentary to the old annals. The problem does not come up in Chinese where the word zhuan 傳 "commentary" can also be read as chuan which means "tradition", "transmission". The title of Zuozhuan can thus also be interpreted as something like "the version of Zuo".
During the Han period 漢 (206 BC-220 AD) the Zuozhuan was ranked among the old text classics and did first not find its way into the canon of Confucian classics. The Zuozhuan was nevertheless very popular because of its rich fund of stories from antiquity. During the Western Jin period 西晉 (265-316) Du Yu 杜預 wrote a first commentary, the Chunqiu jingzhuan jijie 春秋經傳集解. He was also the first to merge the two texts into one inseparable unit. He thus contributed enormously to the status the Zuozhuan won over the two Han period Confucianist commentaries to the Chunqiu, the Gongyangzhuan and the Guliangzhuan. The Tang period 唐 (618-907) scholar Kong Yingda 孔穎達 wrote his famous shu 疏 commentaries to the classics and further cemented the unity of Chunqiu and Zuozhuan. The two most important Qing period 清 (1644-1911) commentaries are Hong Liangji’s 洪亮吉 Chunqiu-Zuozhuan gu 春秋左傳詁 and Liu Wenqi’s 劉文淇 Chunqiu-Zuozhuan jiu zhushu zheng 春秋左傳舊注疏證. The most recent commentary is Yang Bojun’s 楊伯峻 Chunqiu-Zuozhuan zhu 春秋左傳注.
The Gongyangzhuan 公羊傳 "Commentary by Gongyang [Gao]"
The Gongyangzhuan 公羊傳 commentary is said to have been written by Gongyang Gao 公羊高, a disciple of Zixia 子夏, who was himself a disciple of Confucius. During the reign of Emperor Han Jingdi 漢景帝 (r. 157-141 BCE) it was declared a classic to be studied in the Confucian state academy. The most important professor (boshi 博士 "erudite") for the Gongyang commentary to the Chunqiu classic was Gongsun Hong 公孫弘 who taught during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han 漢武帝 (r. 141-87 BCE). No less important was his predecessor Dong Zhongshu 董仲舒, an expert on the Chunqiu who also wrote the sub-classic Chunqiu fanlu 春秋繁露 "Rich Dew of Spring and Autumn".
The Gongyang commentary is based on a lot of older explanations to the events recorded in the Chunqiu chronicle. Although the names of Luzi 魯子, Gaozi 高子, Zi Shenzi 子沈子 and Zi Simazi 子司馬子 are mentioned nothing is known about their lives or their writings. What is certain is that there was a long tradition among the disciples of Confucius to interprete the Chunqiu annals with their own philosophy. The text obtained its final shape in the mid of the Former Han period, probably by the hands of Gongyang Shou 公羊壽 and Master Humu 胡毋生. It is thus a book of the new text classic tradition.
The Gongyang commentary works with a question-and-answer pattern to explain the political meaning of a certain event or action. All explanations fit into the Confucian concept of how an ideal government, based on ritual and etiquette, should be done. The Chunqiu was thus interpreted as an exemplary book to be read by a ruler who then was instructed on good government. Bad outcome of a battle is interpreted as a lack in etiquette or as a punishment for the evil deeds of a ruler in the past. The Gongyangzhuan has two main concepts of state and society, namely a great unity (da yi tong 大一統), and secondly, a historical development in three phases (san shi shuo 三世).
The commentaries to the entries of 37 years in the Chunqiu annals are missing.
The oldest commentary to the Gongyangzhuan is that of the Later Han period scholar He Xiu 何休. For his Chunqiu Gongyang jiegu 春秋公羊解詁 he had made use of older explanations written by the early Gongyang professor Humu. The next commentary was written by the Song period 宋 (960-1279) scholar Xu Yan 徐彥 (Gongyangzhuan shu 公羊傳疏). Both commentaries are unified in the Chunqiu Gongyangzhuan zhushu 春秋公羊傳注疏, with the zhu of He Xiu shu of Xu Yan. The Qing period scholar Chen Li 陳立 has written a summarizing commentary called Chunqiu Gongyang yishu 春秋公羊義疏.
The Guliangzhuan 穀梁傳 "Commentary by Guliang [Chi]"
The Guliangzhuan 穀梁傳 commentary is traditionally attributed to Guliang Chi 穀梁赤 (also called Guliang Xi 穀梁喜 or Guliang Shu 穀梁淑) from the state of Lu who obtained the Chunqiu annals from Confucius' disciple Zixia 子夏 and wrote a commentar to it. The book is in fact the result of a commentary tradition which found its final codification at the beginning of the Former Han period. During the reign of Emperor Xuandi 漢宣帝 (r. 74-49 BCE) it became part of the Confucian canon taught in the state academy.
Although the principle of commenting the entries of the Chunqiu annals and the objective to make a moral evaluation of the political events is the same as in the Gongyang commentary there are differences between the interpretation of the two.
During the Eastern Jin period 東晉 (317-420) Fan Ning 范寧 wrote a summary commentary to the Gulianzhuan called Chunqiu Guliangzhuan jijie 春秋穀梁傳集解. The Tang period scholar Yang Shixun 楊士勛 compiled another commentary. Both are united as Chunqiu Guliangzhuan zhushu 春秋穀梁傳注疏, with the zhu of Fan Ning and the shu of Yang Shixun. During the Qing period, Zhong Wenzheng 鍾文蒸 compiled the Guliang buzhu 穀梁補注.
The two commentaries by Gongyang and Guliang are two surviving of a whole of four. The two lost commentaries were written by Master Zou 鄒氏 and Master Xia 夾氏.
Sources:
Chen Jinsheng 陳金生 (1987). "Chunqiu Gongyangzhuan 春秋公羊傳", in: Zhongguo da baike quanshu 中國大百科全書, Zhexue 哲學, vol. 1, p. 104. Beijing/Shanghai: Zhongguo da baike quanshu chubanshe.
Chen Jinsheng 陳金生 (1987). "Chunqiu Guliangzhuan 春秋穀梁傳", in: Zhongguo da baike quanshu 中國大百科全書, Zhexue 哲學, vol. 1, p. 104. Beijing/Shanghai: Zhongguo da baike quanshu chubanshe.
Luo Shilie 羅世烈 (1992). "Chunqiu 春秋", "Gongyangzhuan 公羊傳", "Guliangzhuan 穀梁傳" , "Zuozhuan 左傳", in: Zhongguo da baike quanshu 中國大百科全書, Zhonguo lishi 中國歷史, vol. 1, pp. 125 f., 254 f., 260; vol. 3, p. 1638 f. Beijing/Shanghai: Zhongguo da baike quanshu chubanshe.
| Contents of the Chunqiu |
魯隱公 Duke Yin the Hidden 722-712
魯桓公 Duke Huan the Effector 711-694
魯莊公 Duke Zhuang the Dignified 693-662
魯閔（湣）公 Duke Min the Grievable 661-660
魯僖（釐）公 Duke Xi the Joyful 659-627
魯文公 Duke Wen the Cultured 626-609
魯宣公 Duke Xuan the Propagator 608-591
魯成公 Duke Cheng the Completer 590-573
魯襄公 Duke Xiang the Accomplisher 572-542
魯昭公 Duke Zhao the Prominent 541-510
魯定公 Duke Ding the Settler 509-495
魯哀公 Duke Ai the Lamentable 494-467
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Exemplarious translation:
The following examples from the first year of Duke Yin shall give an impression of the short character of the Chunqiu Annals, the exegetic character of the Gongyang and Guliang Commentaries and of Zuo's Tradition (in color). From the latter, we can see that it is indeed partially an own line of tradition, but partially a real commentary to the Chunqiu. Of the Gongyang and Guliang commentaries, only the first, second, and seventh entry of the first reign year are translated; nevertheless their interpretation is incorporated into the translation of the Annals text.
隱公元年(722 BC)
First year of Duke Yin the Hidden of Lu
經：元年．春．王正月．
Spring and Autumn Annals 1.1:
First year, spring, first month of the royal year (of Zhou).
傳：惠公元妃孟子．孟子卒．繼室以聲子．生隱公．宋武公生仲子．仲子生而有文在其手．曰為魯夫人．故仲子歸于我．生桓公而惠公薨．是以隱公立而奉之．
元年．春．王周正月．不書即位．攝也．
Zuo's Tradition 1.1:
Duke Hui the Benevolent had a primary consort named Mengzi. When Mengzi died, her rooms were inherited by Shengzi who gave birth to later duke Yin. Duke Wu the Martial of Song had a daughter named Zhongzi who held a writing in her hand when she was born. The writing said: "Make me a lady in the state of Lu." Thus, Zhongzi came to Lu and gave birth to later Duke Huan the Effector. When Duke Hui died, duke Yin ascended the throne and showed reverence to Duke Hui.
First year, spring, first month of the royal year of Zhou. The throne accession in not recorded in the Annals because Duke Yin did only act as Prince Regent, not as ruler.
- （公羊傳）元年者何？君之始年也。春者何？歲之始也。王者孰謂？謂文王也。 曷為先言王而後言正月？王正月也。何言乎王正月？大一統也。公何以不言即位？成公意也。何成乎公之意？公將平國而反之桓。曷為反之桓？桓幼而貴， 隱長而卑，其為尊卑也微，國人莫知。隱長又賢，諸大夫扳隱而立之。隱於是焉而辭立，則未知桓之將必得立也。且如桓立，則恐諸大夫之不能相幼君也， 故凡隱之立為桓立也。隱長又賢，何以不宜立？立適（＝嫡）以長不以賢，立子以貴不以長。桓何以貴？母貴也。母貴則子何以貴？子以母貴，母以子貴。
Gongyang's Commentary 1.1:
What does "first year" mean? It is the first year of Duke Yin's reign. What does "spring" mean? It is the begin of the year. Who is called "king"? King Wen of Zhou. Why do the Annals first say "king", and then "first month"? It means, that the Annals are oriented to the Zhou calendar established by King Wen. Why is this calendar with its begin of the year being used by the Annals? The Zhou calendar is used as an instrument of the world's unity. Why is Duke Yin's accession to the throne not recorded? To fulfil the Duke's wishes. What does this mean? The Duke should govern the state of Lu as Prince Regent and then hand the throne over to Duke Huan, his younger brother. Why should the throne be handed over to Huan? Huan was the younger but worthier, and Yin was the elder but of lower social status. But the common people in the state of Zhou did not know that the ranks of the two persons were slightly different. Because Duke Yin was the elder and was of capable character, the noblemen of Lu installed him as their ruler. At that time Yin refused to assume rulership, because he did not know if his younger brother would be able to follow him on the throne. But if Huan would have been selected as ruler, there would be the danger that the noblemen would not be willing to obey the minor ruler. Therefore, the throne accession of Duke Yin can be understood as throne accession in place of Duke Huan, as Prince Regent. Why was is not correct to install Yin as a regular ruler, although he was the older and more capable? The (son) of a legal wife is installed as ruler because of his age, not because of his capability. A son of a ruler in general is installed as follower because of his worthiness, not because of his age. Why was Duke Huan the worthier? Because his mother was worthy. Why is a son worthy if his mother is worthy? A son is worthy by the worthiness of his mother, and vice versa.
- （穀梁傳）雖無事，必舉正月，謹始也。公何以不言即位？成公志也。焉成之？言君之不取為公也。君之不取為公，何也？將以讓桓也。讓桓正乎？曰：不正。 《春秋》成人之美，不成人之惡。隱不正而成之，何也？將以惡桓也。其惡桓， 何也？隱將讓而桓弒之，則桓惡矣；桓弒而隱讓，則隱善矣。善則其不正焉， 何也﹖《春秋》貴義而不貴惠，信道而不信邪。孝子揚父之美，不揚父之惡。先君之欲與桓，非正也，邪也；雖然，既勝其邪心以與隱矣。己探先君之邪志，而遂以與桓，則貴成父之惡也。兄弟，天倫也。為子受之父，為諸侯受之君。 己廢天倫，而忘君父，以行小惠，曰小道也。若隱者，可謂輕千乘之國。蹈道，則未也。
Guliang's Commentary 1.1:
Although nothing happened, the first month has to be recorded to indicate the begin of the Duke's rule. Why then is the Duke's accession to the throne not recorded? To fulfil the duke's intention. What does this mean? Because he did not want to become duke and only acted as Prince Regent. Why this? He should cede the throne to Huan. Was this correct? No. The Annals want to complete the beauty of a person, not to support the faults of a person. Although Duke Yin did not behave correct, why then is he described in this formal and complete way? It is, to make clear that Duke Huan, his successor, was bad. Why was Duke Huan bad? After Duke Yin ceded the throne to Duke Huan, Duke Huan should murder him and therefore has been bad. Duke Yin was a good man because he was murdered by Duke Huan, although he had ceded the throne to him. What means, he was "good", but not behaved correct? The Annals esteem socially correct behaviour and not simple benevolence, they believe in the well guided and not in misbehaviour. A son which behaves with filial piety spreads the beauty of his father, not the evilness of his father. That the former duke gave preference to Huan and wanted him to become duce, was not correct. But this bad-minded intention was defeated, when the throne was occupied by Duke Yin. When Duke yin followed the bad-minded intention of his predecessor and wanted to hand over the throne to his younger brother Huan, he esteemed and fulfilled the bad side of his father. The relationship and sequence among older and younger brother is a heavenly order. A son has to follow his father, a nobleman his lord. Duke Yin's disrespect of the heavenly relationships was that he forgot the King's enfeoffment and his father's intention when he handed over the throne to his yonger brother, Duke Huan; it means to run upon the path of small-minded people, (not the Great univeral Way). A person like Duke Yin, you can say, does underesteem the importance of a state of a thousand chariots, like the state of Lu. We must first step on the Great Way before we can speak about other things.
經：三月．公及邾儀父盟于蔑．
Spring and Autumn Annals 1.2:
3rd month; the Duke hastened together with Yifu from (the small state of) Zhu to form a coalition at Mie.
傳：三月．公及邾儀父盟于蔑．邾子克也．未王命．故不書爵．曰儀父．貴之也．公攝位．而欲求好於邾．故為蔑之盟．
Zuo's Tradition 1.2:
3 month. The Duke hastened together with Yifu from Zhu to form a coalition at Mie. "Yifu from Zhu" is Zhu Kezi. Because he was not yet enfeoffed with a title by the King of Zhou, he is not entitled here, but instead he is called with his honorific style Yifu "Father of Normative Appearance". The coalition with Zhu was founded because Duke Yin acted as Prince Regent (for the later Duke Huan) and was searching for good relationship with other states.
- （公羊傳）三月．公及邾婁儀父盟于眛．及者何？與也．會及暨．皆與也．曷為或言會？或言及，或言暨．會，猶最也．及，猶汲汲也．暨，猶暨暨也．及，我欲之．暨，不得已者．儀父者何？邾婁之君也．何以名？字也．曷為稱字？褒之也．曷為褒之？為其與公盟也．與公盟者眾矣．曷為獨褒乎此？因其可褒而褒之．此其為可褒奈何？漸進也．眛者何？地期也．
Gongyang's Commentary 1.2:
Third Month. The Duke hastened together with Zhu Lou "Yifu" to form a coalition at Mei (!).
What does "hasten together" (ji 及) mean? It means "participate". Both "come together" (hui 會) and "meet" (jih 暨) mean "participate" too; but why do the Annals sometimes say "come together", sometimes "hasten together", and sometimes "meet"? (Note: although the text does not use these two words, the Gongyang Commentary explains all three terms here.) "Come together" (hui)
means "assemble"; "hasten together" (ji) means "urgently"; "meet" (jih)
means "find together". "Hasten together" (ji) means that both sides are willing to meet; "find together" (jih) means that there is no other way. Who is Yifu? He was the Lord of Zhu (or Zhulou). Why is he recorded with his style and not with his name? It is, to honour him. Why is he honoured here? Because he formed a coalition with the Duke. There are many nobles forming a coalition with the Duke; why then is only Yifu especially honoured here? Because he is worth being honoured. Why? Because his coalition with the Duke had the effect that he gradually made steps into the direction of the right cause. What is Mei? It is the point of meeting.
- （穀梁傳）三月．公及邾儀父盟于眛．及者何？內為志焉爾．儀，字也．父，猶傅也．男子之美稱也．其不言邾子，何也？邾之上古微，未爵命於周也．不日，其盟渝也．眛，地名也．
Guliang's Commentary 1.2:
Third month. The Duke hastened together with Yifu from Zhu to form a coalition at Mei (!).
What does "hastened together" mean? It means that the state of Lu was willing to meet with the state of Zhu. "Yi" is only the style of Yifu. "Fu" means, "mentor", and it is a beautiful addressing for a lower aristocrate. Why do the Annals not say "Viscount of Zhu"? Because he was at that stime still a small person and not yet enfeoffed by the King of Zhou. The day of the meeting is not recorded because the coalition treaty was changed later. Mei is the name of a place.
傳：夏四月．費伯帥師城郎．不書．非公命也．
Zuo's Tradition 1.3:
Summer, 4th month; the Count of Fei, a vassal of Lu, fortified the city of Lang with some troops. This event it not recorded in the Annals because it was he was not charged by the Duke.
經：夏.五月.鄭伯克段于鄢.
Spring and Autumn Annals 1.3:
Summer, 5th month; the Count of Zheng (Duke Zhuang of Zheng 鄭莊公) killed his younger brother Gongshu Duan 共叔段 at Yan.
(Zuo's Tradition 1.4 gives a lengthy account of the background of this entry.)
經：秋.七月.天王使宰咺來歸惠公仲子之賵.
Spring and Autumn Annals 1.4:
Autumn, 7th month, the Heavenly King of Zhou sent Chancellor Xuan to the court of Lu to present carriages and horses as burial offerings for the interment of late Duke Hui and Zhongzi, the mother of future Duke Huan (the Guliang Commentary falsely writes: mother of Duke Hui and second wife of Duke Xiao 孝公).
(Zuo's Tradition 1.5 explains some matters of mourning ritual.)
傳：八月．紀人伐夷．夷不告．故不書．有蜚．不為災．亦不書．惠公之季年．敗宋師于黃．公立．而求成焉．
九月．及宋人盟于宿．始通也．
Zuo's Tradition 1.6:
8th month; the people of Ji attacked the southern Yi barbarians. This event is not recorded in the Annals because the Yi did not make an official war declaration. The locust plague during this month is not recorded too, because it is not considered as a calamity. During the last reign year of late Duke Hui, we defeated the army of Song at Huangtu. After the enthronement of Duke Yin, we drew our attention to a peaceful relationship with Song.
In the 9th month, therefore, the Duke hastened together with the people of Song to form a coalition at Su. This was the begin of a friendly approach between Lu and Song.
經：九月.及宋人盟于宿 .
Spring and Autumn Annals 1.5:
9th month, some officials of Lu hastened together with the people of Song to form a coalition at Su.
傳：冬十月．庚申．改葬惠公．公弗臨．故不書．惠公之薨也．有宋師．太子少．葬故有闕．是以改葬．
Zuo's Tradition 1.7:
Winter, 10th month, day gengshen; the Duke did not attend the deferred burial of Duke Hui. This is also the reason why this event is not recorded in the Annals. During the original burial date, we had war with Song, and the Prince was still young, why the burial rites could not be performet correctly, and were deferred.
傳：衛侯來會葬.不見公.亦不書.
Zuo's Tradition 1.8:
The Marquis of Wei came to attend the burial of late Duke Hui. This event is not recorded in the Annals because the Marquis had no audience with Duke Yin.
(Zuo's Tradition 1.9 gives a short account about the war in Zheng.)
傳：新作南門．不書．亦非公命也．
Zuo's Tradition 1.10.:
The Southern Gate was newly erected. This event is not recorded in the Annals because it did not follow an offical command of the Duke.
經：冬.十有二月.祭伯來.
Spring and Autumn Annals 1.6:
Winter, 12th month, the Count of Cai came to the court of Lu.
傳：十二月．祭伯來．非王命也．
Zuo's Tradition 1.11.:
12th month; the Count of Cai came to the court of Lu without having received an official command by the King.
經：公子益師卒．
Spring and Autumn Annals 1.7:
The Duke's son, Yishi, died.
傳：眾父卒．公不與小斂．故不書日．
Zuo's Tradition 1.12.:
Zhongfu died. The day is not recorded because the Duke did not dress up his head in preparation for the funeral service.
- （公羊傳）公子益師卒．何以不日？遠也．所見異辭，所聞異辭，所傳聞異辭．
Gongyang's Commentary 1.7:
The Duke's son, Yishi, died. Why is the day not recorded? Because he was far away from home. Different people see different things, different people hear different things, and different people report different things.
- （穀梁傳）公子益師卒．大夫日卒，正也．不日卒，惡也．
Guliang's Commentary 1.7:
The Duke's son, Yishi, died. It is normal to record the day of an aristocrat's dead. The missing of the day in the Annals expresses the faults of Yishi.
Translated by Ulrich Theobald.
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Chinese literature according to the four-category system
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