Zuo Tradition / Zuozhuan 左傳: Commentary on Spring and Autumn Annals

Translators:
Stephen W. Durrant; Wai-yee Li; David Schaberg

Publication Date: 
July 2016

Publisher:
University of Washington Press

Abstract:

Zuo Tradition (Zuozhuan; sometimes called The Zuo Commentary) is China's first great work of history. It consists of two interwoven texts - the Spring and Autumn Annals (Chunqiu 春秋, a terse annalistic record) and a vast web of narratives and speeches that add context and interpretation to the Annals. Completed by about 300 BCE, it is the longest and one of the most difficult texts surviving from preimperial times. It has been as important to the foundation and preservation of Chinese culture as the historical books of the Hebrew Bible have been to the Jewish and Christian traditions. It has shaped notions of history, justice, and the significance of human action in the Chinese tradition, perhaps more so than any comparable work of Latin or Greek historiography with respect to Western civilization. 

This translation, accompanied by the original text with an introduction and annotations, will finally make Zuozhuan accessible to all.


Table of Contents:

Chronology of dynasties

Volume One
Lord Yin
Lord Huan
Lord Zhuang
Lord Min
Lord Xi
Lord Wen
Lord Xuan

Volume Two
Lord Cheng
Lord Xiang

Volume Three
Lord Zhao
Lord Ding
Lord Ai

Place-name index

Personal name index