Zuo Zhuan (Chinese: 左傳), or Chunqiu Zuo Zhuan, sometimes translated as the Chronicle of Zuo or the Commentary of Zuo (also Tso), is among the earliest Chinese works of narrative history, covering the period from 722 to 468 BCE. It is one of the most important sources for understanding the history of the Spring and Autumn Period (Chunqiu). Together with the Gongyang Zhuan and Guliang Zhuan, the work forms one of the surviving Three Commentaries on the Spring and Autumn Annals.
Zuo Zhuan is traditionally attributed to Zuo Qiuming, as a commentary to the Spring and Autumn Annals. Most notable modern scholars of this book such as Yang Bojun (楊伯峻) hold that the work was compiled during the Warring States Period, with a compilation date not later than 389 BCE.
Liang Qichao (梁启超) further proposed from internal and comparative textual analyses that the extant editions of Zuo Zhuan and Guoyu derive from a pre-Liu Xiang edition of "Guoyu" that originally had passages from the two. The neatly delineated, chronologically complementary distribution of accounts between the two was to him evidence that Liu Xiang extracted historical accounts parallel to those in the Annals to compile what was to be called the Zuo Zhuan; accounts lacking a Chunqiu parallel were left in Guoyu in the original format under chapters by state; hence the name, organization, and text of the Guoyu 國語, or Discourse of States, that we have today.
The book contains the earliest reference to weiqi (the board game of go) in the 25th Year of Duke Xiang of Lu (548 BCE in the Gregorian calendar)
With its vivid and concise language, Zuo Zhuan is also a gem of classical Chinese prose. This work and the Shiji or Records of the Grand Historian, were regarded as the ultimate models by many generations of prose stylists in ancient China.
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