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Xia, Shang, Zhou, Qin, Han, Three Kingdoms, WesternJin, Eastern-Jin, Northern and Southern, Sui, Tang, Five Dynasties, Song, Liao, Jin, Yuan, Ming, Qing 夏, 商, 周, 秦, 汉, 三国, 西晋, 东晋, 南北朝, 隋, 唐, 五代, 宋, 辽, 金, 元, 明, 清
Chinese Civilization for Five Thousand Years: Xia 夏, Shang 商, Zhou 周, Qin 秦, Han 汉, Three Kingdoms 三国, Western Jin 西晋, Eastern Jin 东晋, Northern and Southern 南北朝, Sui 隋, Tang 唐, Five Dynasties 五代, Song 宋, Liao 辽, Jin 金, Yuan元, Ming 明, Qing 清
A Brief Chinese Chronology 中国历史年代简表
(摘自商务印书馆出版，北京外国语学院英语系"汉英词典"编写组编，80年10月第1版"汉英词典") I, Xia Dynasty 夏朝 (c21th-c.16th century B.C)
II, Shang Dynasty 商朝 (c16th-11th century B.C.) III, Zhou Dynasty 周朝 1, Western zhou 西周 (c11th-771 B.C.) 2, Eastern Zhou 东周 (770-256 B.C.) 1), Spring and Autumn Period 春秋 (770-476 B.C) 2), Warring States 战国 (475-211 B.C) IV, Qin Dynasty 秦朝 (221-207 B.C.) V, Han Dynasty 汉朝 (206 B.C.-220) 1, Western Han 西汉 (206 B.C.-24) 2, Eastern Han 东汉 (25-220) VI, Three Kingdoms 三国 (220-280) 1, Wei 魏 (220-265) 2, Shu Han 蜀汉 (221-263) 3, Wu 吴 (222-280) VII, Western Jin Dynasty 西晋 (265-316) VIII, Eastern Jin Dynasty 东晋 (3170420) IX, Northern and Southern Dynasties 南北朝 1, Southern Dynasty 南朝 1), Song 宋 (420-479) 2), Qi 齐 (479-502) 3), Liang 梁 (502-557) 4), Chen 陈 (557-589) 2, Northern Dynasties 北朝 1), Northern Wei 北魏 (386-534) 2), Eastern Wei 东魏 (534-550) 3), Northern Qi 北齐 (550-556) 4), Western Wei 西魏 (535-556) 5), Northern Zhou 北周 (557-581) X, Sui Dynasty 隋朝 (581-618) XI, Tang Dynasty 唐朝 (618-907) XII, Five Dynasties 五代 1, Later Liang 后梁 (907-923) 2 ,Later Tang 后唐 (923-936) 3, Later Jin 后晋 (936-946) 4, Later Han 后汉 (947-950) 5, Later Zhou 后周 (951-960) XIII, Song Dynasty 宋朝 1, Northern Song Dynasty 北宋 (960-1127) 2, Southern Song Dynasty 南宋 (1127-1279) XIV, Liao Dynasty 辽朝 (916-1125) XV, Jin Dynasty 金朝 (1115-1234) XVI, Yuan Dynasty 元朝 (1271-1368) XVII, Ming Dynasty 明朝 (1368-1644) XVIII,Qing Dynasty 清朝 (1644-1911) Historical relics on Neolith Era and Hemudu Sites is the origination of Chinese civilization. Bronze Wares on Xia, shang, Zhou Dynasty incarnate the most ancient dynasty.
新石器时代文物, 河姆渡文化遗址是中华五千年文明的起源, 夏商周时期的青铜器, 是最早王朝的浓缩。 1. The Yangshao Culture located along the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, decorated with a string pattern. The Yangshao culture (Chinese: 仰韶文化; pinyin: Yǎngsháo wénhuà) was a Neolithic culture that existed extensively along the central Yellow River in China. The Yangshao culture is dated from around 5000 BC to 3000 BC. The culture is named after Yangshao, the first excavated representative village of this culture, which was discovered in 1921 in Henan Province. The culture flourished mainly in the provinces of Henan, Shaanxi and Shanxi. Phases
Among the numerous overlapping phases of the Yangshao culture, the most prominent phases, typified by differing styles of pottery, include: Banpo phase, approximately 4800 BC to 4200 BC, central plane Miaodigou phase, circa 4000 BC to 3000 BC, successor to Banpo Majiayao phase, approximately 3300 BC to 2000 BC, in Gansu, Qinghai Banshan phase, approximately 2700 BC to 2300 BC, successor to Majiayao Machang phase, approximately 2400 BC to 2000 BC 2. The Hemudu culture (河姆渡文化) (5000 BC to 4500 BC) was a Neolithic culture that flourished just south of the Hangzhou Bay in Jiangnan in modern Yuyao, Zhejiang, China. The site at Hemudu was discovered in 1973. Hemudu sites were also discovered on the islands of Zhoushan. Material Culture The Hemudu culture co-existed with the Majiabang culture as two separate and distinct cultures, with cultural transmissions between the two. Two major floods caused the nearby Yaojiang River to change its course and inundated the soil with salt, forcing the people of Hemudu to abandon its settlements. The Hemudu people lived in long, stilt houses. The Hemudu culture is one of the earliest cultures to cultivate rice. Most of the artifacts discovered at Hemudu consist of animal bones, exemplified by hoes made of shoulder bones used for cultivating rice. The culture also produced lacquer wood. The remains of various plants, including water caltrop, Nelumbo nucifera, acorns, beans, Gorgon euryale and bottle gourd, were found at Hemudu. The Hemudu people likely domesticated pigs, water buffalo and dogs. The people at Hemudu also fished and hunted, as evidence by the remains of bone harpoons and bows and arrowheads. Music instruments, such as bone whistles and wooden drums, were also found at Hemudu. The culture produced a thick, porous pottery. The distinct pottery was typically black and made with charcoal powder. Plant and geometric designs were commonly painted onto the pottery; the pottery was sometimes also cord-marked. The culture also produced carved jade ornaments, carved ivory artifacts and small, clay figurines. Environment Fossilized amoeboids and pollen suggests Hemudu culture emerged and developed in the middle of the Holocene Climatic Optimum. A study of a sea-level highstand in the Ningshao Plain from 7000 -- 5000BP shows that there may have been stabilized lower sea levels at this time followed by, from 5000 to 3900 BP, frequent flooding. 3. The Liangzhu culture (Chinese: 良渚文化; pinyin: liángzhǔ wénhuà) (3400-2250 BC) was the last Neolithic jade culture in the Yangtze River Delta of China. Its area of influence extended from Lake Tai in the north to Nanjing and Shanghai in the east and Hangzhou in the south. The culture was highly stratified, as jade, silk, ivory and lacquer artefacts were found exclusively in elite burials, while pottery was more commonly found. The type site at Liangzhu was discovered in Yuhang County, Zhejiang and initially excavated by Shi Xingeng in 1936.
Advanced agriculture included irrigation, paddy rice cultivation and aquaculture. Houses were often constructed with stilts on rivers or shorelines. The jade from this culture is characterized by finely-worked large ritual jades, commonly incised with the taotie motif. The most exemplary artefacts from the culture were its cong (cylinders). The largest cong discovered weighed 3.5 kg. Bi (discs) and Yue axes (ceremonial axes) were also found. Jade pendants were also found, designed with engraved representations of small birds, turtles and fish. Many Liangzhu jade artefacts had a white milky bone-like aspect due to its tremolite rock origin and influence of water-based fluids at the burial sites, although jade made from actinolite and serpentine were also commonly found. An neolithic alter from the Liangzhu culture, excavated at Yaoshan in Zhejiang, demonstrate that religious structures were elaborate and made of carefully positioned piles of stones and rock walls, indicating that religion was of considerable importance. The alter has three levels, the highest being a platform of rammed earth. Three additional platforms were paved with cobblestones. There are the remains of a stone wall. On the alter are twelve graves in two rows. Notes:
1. The Xia Dynasty (Chinese: 夏朝; pinyin: xià cháo; Wade-Giles: hsia-ch'ao), ca. 2070 BC--1600 BC, of China is a quasi-legendary dynasty and the first to be described in the Records of the Grand Historian and unofficial Bamboo Annals, which record the names of seventeen kings over fourteen generations lasted 431 or 471 years. The dynasty was preceded by the mythological Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, and followed by the Shang Dynasty. 2. Yǔ (Chinese: 禹 (21st century BC), born Sì Wénmìng Chinese: 姒文命), often regarded with legendary status as Yu the Great (大禹 Dà-Yǔ), was the first ruler and founder of the Xia Dynasty. He was born the year 2059 B.C., said to be on the Year of the Tiger. Occasionally identified as one of The Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, he is best remembered for teaching the people flood control techniques to tame China's rivers and lakes. Yu established his capital at Yang City (阳城). According to the Bamboo Annals, in the second year of his reign, the prime minister of the previous king of Shun died. In the 5th year, he held the first meeting with all the leaders of the states (诸侯) at Tushan (涂山). In the 8th year, he held a second meeting with all the leaders of states at Kuaiji (会稽), and in order to reinforce his hold on the throne, killed one of northern leaders, Fangfeng (防风氏). Yu and the flood During China's Great Flood, Yu's father, Gun (鯀), was assigned by King Yao (堯) to tame the raging waters. Gun built earthen dikes all over the land in the hope of containing the waters. But the earthen dikes collapsed everywhere and the project failed miserably. Gun was executed by King Shun (舜), to whom Yao had handed the rulership. Shun recruited Yu as successor to his father's flood-control efforts. Instead of building more dikes, Yu began to dredge new river channels, to serve both as outlets for the torrential waters, and as irrigation conduits to distant farm lands. Yu spent a backbreaking thirteen years at this task, with the help of some 20,000 workers. For this engineering feat, Yu has been remembered as an examplar of perseverance and determination and revered as the perfect civil servant. Stories continue to dwell on his single-minded dedication. In spite of passing his own house three times during those thirteen years, he never once stopped in for a family visit, reasoning that a personal reunion would distract him from dealing with the public crisis at hand. King Shun was so impressed by Yu's engineering work and diligence that he passed the throne to Yu instead of to his own son, following King Yao's example in rewarding merit. At the end of Great Yu's life, however, his ministers favoured passing the throne to Yu's son, Qi (啟), instituting a hereditary monarchy. This created China's first hereditary dynasty, the Xia Dynasty (ca.2070-1060). 3. Yinxu (Chinese: 殷墟; pinyin: Yīnxū; literally "Ruins of Yin") is the ruins of the last capital of China's Shang Dynasty (1766 BC - 1050 BC). The capital served 255 years for 12 kings in 8 generations. It is famous as the original source of oracle bones and oracle bone script, the earliest recorded form of Chinese writing. Archaeological discoveries The first excavations at Yinxu were lead by Li Chi of the Institute of History and Philosophy from 1928-37. They uncovered the remains of a royal palace, several royal tombs, and more than 100,000 oracle bones that show the Shang had a well-structured script with a complete system of written signs. Since 1950 ongoing excavations by the Archeological Institute of the Chinese Social Sciences Academy have uncovered evidence of stratification at the Hougang site, remains of palaces and temples, royal cemeteries, oracle bone inscriptions, bronze and bone workshops and the discovery of the Shang city on the north bank of the Huang River.One of the largest and oldest sites of Chinese archaeology, excavations here have laid the foundation for work across the country. Excavation sites At 30km² this is the largest archaeological site is China and excavations have uncovered over 80 rammed-earth foundation sites including palaces, shrines, tombs and workshops. From these remains archaeologists have been able to confirm that this was the spiritual and cultural center of the Yin Dynasty. Burial pit at Tomb of Lady Fu HaoThe best preserved of the Shang Dynasty royal tombs unearthed at Yinxu is the In 1988 after archaeologists' proposal Yinxu became the listed as the oldest of the seven Historical capitals of China and in 2006 the site was inscribed on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. Wu Ding (Chinese: 武丁, born Zi Zhao, Chinese: 子昭) was a Shang Dynasty King of China.
His is the first historically verifiable name in the history of Chinese dynasties. The records of later historians that recorded his reign were long thought to be little more than legends until contemporary records of his reign were discovered in oracle script inscriptions on bones unearthed at the ruins of his capital Yinxu in 1899. In the 6th year of his father's reign, he was ordered to live at He (Chinese: 河) and study at Ganpan (Chinese: 甘盘). These early years spent among the common people allowed him to become familiar with their daily problems. In the Records of the Grand Historian he was listed by Sima Qian as the twenty-second Shang king, succeeding his father Xiao Yi (Chinese: 小乙). He was enthroned in the year of Dingwei (Chinese: 丁未) with Gan Pan (Chinese: 甘盘) as his prime minister and Yin (Chinese: 殷) as his capital. He cultivated the allegiance of neighbouring tribes by marrying one woman from each of them. His favoured consort Fu Hao entered the royal household through such a marriage and took advantage of the semi-matriarchal slave society to rise through the ranks to military general and high priestess. In the 3rd year of his reign he had vivid dreams about the way to rule his kingdom. He went on to ordered his prime minister to edit the book of ruling in the 6th year of his reign. He also ordered all the people must support their elders. In the 12th year of his regime, he promoted Shangjiawei to a position of power to exercise control over the Qi (Chinese: 契) people. In the 25th year of his reign, his son Zu Ji (Chinese: 祖己) died at a remote area after he exiled him. His mother died before and the new wife of Wu Ding does not like Zi Xiao. In the 29th year of his reign, he conducted rituals in honour of his ancestor King Tang, the first king of the Shang Dynasty, at the Royal Temple. Angered by the presence of a wild chicken standing on one of the ceremonial bronze vessels, he condemned his vassals and wrote an article called Gao Zong Tong Day (Chinese: 高宗肜日). In the 32nd year of his reign, he sent troops to Guifang (Chinese: 鬼方) and after 3 years of fighting he conquered it. The Di (Chinese: 氐) and Qiang (Chinese: 羌) barbarians immediately sent envoys to Shang to negotiate. His armies went on to conquer Dapeng (Chinese: 大彭) in the 43th year of his reign, and Tunwei (Chinese: 豕韦) in the 50th year of his reign. He died in the 59th year of his reign according to all the sources available. Widely regarded one of best kings of the Shang Dynasty, he was given the posthumous name Wu Ding (Chinese: 武丁) and was succeeded by his son Zu Geng (Chinese: 祖庚). The oracle script inscriptions on the bones unearthed at Yinxu alternatively record that he was the twenty-first Shang king. 1. King Wen (Chinese: 周文王; pinyin: Zhōu Wén Wáng) (1099--1050 BC) was the founder of the later Zhou Dynasty. The Zhou state was located in the Wei River valley in present day Shaanxi Province. At one point, King Zhou of Shang, fearing Wen's growing power, imprisoned him. However, many officals respected Wen for his honourable governing. So they gave King Zhou many gifts, and requested Wen 's release. These gifts included gold, horses and women. Zhou agreed, and Wen was released. King Wen planned the conquest of the current dynasty in power, the Shang Dynasty, but he died before he could accomplish this. His family name was Ji (Chinese: 姬; pinyin: jī). He married TaiSi (Chinese: 太姒; pinyin: Tàisì) and had at least two sons, Zhou Gong Dan and Zhou Gong Wu (Chinese: 周公武; pinyin: Zhōu Gōng Wǔ). His second son became King Wu of Zhou and completed his fathers wishes by defeating the Shang army at their capital. He eventually became the first king of the new Zhou dynasty. King Wen is also known for his contributions to the Yi Jing, a manual of divination. King Wen is attributed with having stacked the eight trigrams in their various permutations, to create the sixty-four hexagrams. He is also said to have written the judgements which are appended to each hexagram (the line statements are attributed to his son, the Duke of Zhou. The most commonly used sequence of the sixty four hexagrams is attributed to King Wen and is usually referred to as the King Wen sequence. 2. King Wu of Zhou (Chinese: 周武王; pinyin: zhōu wŭ wáng) or King Wu of Chou was the first sovereign of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty. Various sources quoted that he died at the age of 93, 54 or 43. Zhou Gong Dan was one of his brothers. King Wu was the second son of King Wen of Zhou. After ascending to the throne, King Wu tried to accomplish his father's dying wish: the defeat of the Shang Dynasty. King Wu used many wise government officials--most notably Prime Minister Jiang Ziya, a man evidentially declared as "the master of strategy"--resulting in the Zhou government growing far stronger as the years elapsed. In 1048 BC, King Wu called for a meeting of the surrounding dukes at Meng Jin. More than 800 dukes came to the meeting. In 1046 BC, seeing that the Shang government was in a shambles, King Wu launched an attack along with many neighboring dukes. In the Battle of Muye, Shang forces were destroyed, and King Di Xin of Shang set his palace on fire and burned himself to death. Following the victory, King Wu established many smaller feudal states under the rule of his brothers and generals. He died three years later in 1043 BC. 3. Jiang Ziya (Chinese: 姜子牙, Pinyin: Jiāng Zǐyá) (dates of birth and death unknown), a Chinese semi-mythological figure, resided next to the Weishui River about 3,000 years ago. The region was the feudal estate of King Wen of Zhou. Jiang Ziya knew King Wen was very ambitious so he hoped to get his attention. He often went angling at the Weishui River, but he would fish in a bizarre way. He hung a straight hook, with no bait, three feet above the water. He over and over again said to himself, "Fish, if you are desperate to live, come and gulp down the hook by yourself." In a little while his outlandish way of fishing was reported to King Wen, who sent a soldier to bring him back. Jiang noticed the soldier coming, but did not care about him. Jiang just continued with his fishing, and was soliloquising, "Fishing, fishing, no fish has been hooked—but shrimp is up to tomfoolery." The soldier reported this back to King Wen, who became more interested in Jiang. King Wen sent a bureaucrat to invite Jiang this time. But Jiang again paid no attention to the invitation. He simply carried on fishing, saying, "Fishing, fishing, the big fish has not been hooked—but a small one is up to mischief." Then King Wen realized Jiang might be a great genius so he went to invite Jiang personally, and brought many magnificent gifts with him. Jiang saw the king's earnest desire so Jiang decided to work for him. Jiang aided King Wen and his son in their overthrow of the Shang Dynasty; they established the Zhou Dynasty in its stead. Jiang was given the title (hao) of Taigong so people called him Jiang Taigong. His treatise on military strategy, Six Secret Teachings, is considered one of the Seven Military Classics of Ancient China. Jiang Ziya's seventh generation descendant (his great-grandson's great-grandson's son) was Jiang Chi (姜赤). Jiang Chi had a great-grandson named Shi (傒), who was given a piece of land in Shandong province called "Lu" (盧). He took his surname from the land. All Chinese with the last name Lu (盧) can trace their ancestry back to Jiang Ziya. ------------------------------------------------- I. Xia Dynasty 夏朝 (c21th-c16th century B.C.) II. Shang Dynasty 商朝 (c16th-11th century B.C.) III. Zhou Dynasty 周朝 1. Western zhou 西周 (c11th-771 B.C.) II. Contention of a Hundred Schools of Thought 二. 百家争鸣 Contention of a hundred schools of thought 百家争鸣: Confucius 孔子, Lao-tzu 老子, Mohist 墨家, Legalist 法家, etc. (during of Spring and Autumn 春秋 and Warring States 战国 Periods, 770-721 B.C.). The appearance of Confucius' Confuciusist made the significant change of Chinese social form. 孔子儒家思想的出现, 成为中国社会形态的重大转变 1. Confucius (Chinese: 孔夫子; pinyin: Kǒng Fūzǐ; Wade-Giles: K'ung-fu-tzu), lit. "Master Kung,"551 BCE -- 479 BCE) was a Chinese thinker and social philosopher, whose teachings and philosophy have deeply influenced Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and Vietnamese thought and life. His philosophy emphasized personal and governmental morality, correctness of social relationships, justice and sincerity. These values gained prominence in China over other doctrines, such as Legalism (法家) or Taoism (道家) during the Han Dynasty. Confucius' thoughts have been developed into a system of philosophy known as Confucianism (儒家). It was introduced to Europe by the Jesuit Matteo Ricci, who was the first to Latinise the name as "Confucius." His teachings may be found in the Analects of Confucius (論語),
a collection of "brief aphoristic fragments", which was compiled many
years after his death. Modern historians do not believe that any
specific documents can be said to have been written by Confucius, but
for nearly 2,000 years he was thought to be the editor or author of all
the Five Classics such as the Classic of Rites (editor), and the Spring
and Autumn Annals (春秋) (author). According to Chinese legend, he annotated the 64 hexagrams and completed the classic of I Ching, established the Rites of Zhou, and created the Yayue of Chinese classical music. Notes: 1. Mencius (Romanization; 孟子, pinyin: Mèng Zǐ; Wade-Giles: Meng Tzu; most accepted dates: 372 -- 289 BCE; other possible dates: 385 -- 303/302 BCE) was a Chinese philosopher who was arguably the most famous Confucian after Confucius himself. View on human nature His translator James Legge finds a close similarity between Mencius' views on human nature and those in Bishop Butler's Sermons on Human Nature. The Four Beginnings The feeling of commiseration is the beginning of humanity; the feeling of shame and dislike is the beginning of righteousness; the feeling of deference and compliance is the beginning of propriety; and the feeling of right and wrong is the beginning of wisdom. Men have these Four Beginnings just as they have their four limbs. Having these Four Beginnings, but saying that they cannot develop them is to destroy themselves. " View on politics Educated in the state of Qi, Xun Zi was associated with the Confucian school, but his philosophy has a more pragmatic flavour compared to Confucian optimism; some scholars attribute it to the divisive times. Man's Nature is Evil While Xunzi is a Confucianist, he disembarks from the arguments of previous Confucians here: Confucius claimed that some people (but not all, and not even Confucius himself) were born with the ability to love learning and act in accordance with the Way. Mencius believed that all people were inherently good and that it was negative environmental influences which caused immorality in people. But Xunzi picks apart Mencius's argument in his writing. Mencius, whom Xunzi refers to by name, does not understand the difference between nature and conscious practice. The former is inherent, as sight is to the eye or hearing is to the ear: one cannot be taught to see. However conscious thought is something which must be taught and learned: Now it is the nature of man that when he is hungry he will desire satisfaction, when he is cold he will desire warmth, and when he is weary he will desire rest. This is his emotional nature. And yet a man, although he is hungry, will not dare to be the first to eat if he is in the presence of his elders, because he knows that he should yield to them, and although he is weary, he will not dare to demand rest because he knows that he should relieve others of the burden of labor. For a son to yield to his father or a younger brother to relieve his elder brother - acts such as these are all contrary to man's nature and run counter to his proper forms enjoined by ritual principles. However, the flaw with Xunzi's argument is as follows: if human nature is naturally evil, how did the sage kings come to invent the idea of goodness and morality? Xunzi recognizes the apparent flaw and argues that, just as a potter consciously creates a pot (an object and action not part of his own nature), so does a sage consciously create the rituals and regulations to be followed if morality is the goal. These creations are not part of one's nature, but rather stem from a departure from nature. Xunzi states that "every man who desires to do good does so precisely because his nature is evil... Whatever a man lacks in himself he will seek outside" as the sage kings did when they referenced their personal experiments and ideas to create a means toward morality. According to Xunzi, if people were naturally good, then leaving peoples and governments without laws and restrictions would cause no harm or disorder. Xunzi does not believe this state of affairs to be possible. Xunzi believed that all people are
born with the capacity to become good. For example, great kings like
Yao and Shun were born no different from thieves like Robber Zhi or the
tyrant Jie: that is, all four possessed the same nature at birth. Any man in the street [can become a Yu]. 3. Zhuangzi (Traditional: 莊子; Simplified: 庄子, Pinyin: Zhuāng Zǐ, Wade-Giles: Chuang Tzŭ, lit. "Master Zhuang") was an influential Chinese philosopher who lived around the 4th century BCE during the Warring States Period, corresponding to the Hundred Schools of Thought philosophical summit of Chinese thought. His name is sometimes spelled Chuang Tsu, Chuang Tzu, Zhuang Tze, Chouang-Dsi, or Chuang Tse. The beliefs Zhuangzi's thought can also be considered a precursor of relativism in systems of value. His relativism even leads him to doubt the basis of pragmatic arguments (that a course of action preserves our lives) since this presupposes that life is good and death bad. In the fourth section of "The Great Happiness" (至樂 zhìlè, chapter 18), Zhuangzi expresses pity to a skull he sees lying at the side of the road. Zhuangzi laments that the skull is now dead, but the skull retorts, "How do you know it's bad to be dead?" 4. Sun Tzu (Chinese: 孫子; pinyin: Sūn Zǐ) ("Master Sun") is an honorific title bestowed upon Sūn Wǔ (孫武; c. 544 BC -- 496 BC), the author of The Art of War, an immensely influential ancient Chinese book on military strategy. He is also one of the earliest realists in international relations theory. In the author's name, Sūn Wǔ, the character wu, meaning "military", is the same as the character in wu shu, or martial art. Sun Wu also has a courtesy name, Chang Qing (長卿; Cháng Qīng). The only surviving source on the life of Sun Tzu is the biography written in the 2nd century BC by the historian Sima Qian, who describes him as a general who lived in the state of Wu in the 6th century BC, and therefore a contemporary of one of the great Chinese thinkers of ancient times—Confucius. According to tradition, Sun Tzu was a member of the shi. The shi were landless Chinese aristocrats who were descendants of nobility who lost their dukedoms during the territorial consolidation of the Spring and Autumn Period. Unlike most shi, who were traveling academics, Sun Tzu worked as a mercenary (similar to a modern military consultant). According to tradition, King Helü of Wu hired Sun Tzu as a general approximately 512 BC after finishing his famous military treatise. What is now known as the The Art of War was titled Sun Tzu; naming a work after the author was common in China prior to the Qin era. After his hiring, the kingdom of Wu - which had previously been considered a semi-barbaric state - went on to become the most powerful state of the period by conquering Chu, one of the most powerful states in the Spring and Autumn Period. Sun Tzu, always wanting a peaceful and quiet life, suddenly disappeared when King Helu finally conquered Chu. As a result, his exact date of death remains unknown. Fame of treatise However, Singaporean writer Wee Chow-Hou argued in his book Sun Zi Binga - Selected Insights and Applications that the direct translation of the title of the writings by Sun Tzu to be somewhat inaccurate, since there doesn't seem to be an advocacy of actual battles; rather a set of philosophies on what to do in times of conflict. Indeed it seems that actual war was never advocated; rather how to strategically avoid war and yet still remain control of a tight situation with an adversary. Historicity The Art of War has been one of the
most popular combat collections in history. Ancient Chinese long viewed
this book as one of the entrance test materials, and it is one of the
most important collections of books in the Chinese literature. It is
said that Mao Zedong and Joseph Stalin both read this book while in war. Legalism Comparison with Confucianism and Taoism His philosophy was very influential on the first King of Qin and the first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, becoming one of the guiding principles of the ruler's policies. After the early demise of the Qin Dynasty, Han Fei's philosophy was officially vilified by the following Han Dynasty. Despite its outcast status throughout the history of imperial China, Han Fei's political theory continued to heavily influence every dynasty afterwards, and the Confucian ideal of a rule without laws was never again realized. Han Fei's philosophy experienced a renewed interest under the rule of the Communist Party during the leadership of Mao Zedong, who personally admired some of the principles laid out in it. Han Fei's entire recorded work is
collected in the Han Feizi, a book containing 55 chapters. It is also
important as the only surviving source for numerous anecdotes from the
Warring States Period. |