Zuo Qiuming

Zuo Qiuming

Zuo Qiuming (about 502 BC ~ 422 BC). Xiaoying, a vassal of the state of Lu, was born in the state of Qiu and named Ming. Because his father was appointed as Zuo's historian, he was called Zuo Qiuming. (for a long time, because the records of Zuo Qiuming, the author of Zuo's biography in the pre Qin and Han Dynasties were very limited, scholars of past dynasties argued endlessly about the name of Zuo Qiuming. It is said that the compound surname Zuo Qiu is named Ming, and that the single surname Zuo is named Qiu Ming. However, according to historical records, Zuo Qiu Ming is a descendant of Jiang Ziya, and his lineage sun Qiu (Qiu) is more reliable, and his collateral lineage Zuo remains to be considered.)

In the late spring and Autumn period of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, Xiaoying was a vassal of the state of Lu. At the end of the spring and Autumn period, historians, writers, thinkers, Essayists and militarists. He was a historian of the state of Lu. He wrote Zuo Zhuan (also known as Zuo's spring and Autumn Annals) and Guo Yu for the purpose of analyzing the spring and Autumn Annals. He was blind when he wrote Guo Yu. The two books recorded many important historical events of the Western Zhou Dynasty and the spring and Autumn Annals, and preserved valuable original materials. Due to the detailed historical materials and vivid writing, it has aroused the interest and research of scholars at all times and in all over the world. Confucius and Sima Qian both respected Zuo Qiuming as a "gentleman". There are many imperial titles in the past dynasties, such as Jingshi in Tang Dynasty, Xiaqiu Bo and Zhongdu Bo in Song Dynasty, and Xianru and Xianxian in Ming Dynasty. Qiuming middle school was built in Feicheng of Shandong Province to commemorate Zuo Qiuming.

Zuo Qiuming is the founder of Chinese traditional historiography. Qiu Shantui is the founder of Chinese historiography. It is known as "the ancestor of hundreds of Chinese characters and the ancestor of ancient Chinese prose". Zuo Qiuming's thought was Confucianism, which reflected the interests and demands of the people at that time.

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Life of the characters

Generation history

According to later studies, Zuo Qiuming was the grandson of Jiang Taigong, the founder of Qi, the grandson of Zuo Shi Yixiang of Chu, and the son of Lu Taishi Cheng. After the establishment of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the Duke of Zhou was enfeoffed as princes, and Jiang Taigong was granted the title of Qi for his meritorious service in destroying business, and all of them were in Yingqiu (Changle was granted at first, then moved to boxing, and then moved to Linzi). After Jiang Taigong died, his eldest son, Ding Gong, succeeded to the throne. His youngest son, Yin Yiying, lived in Yingqiu and changed his surname to Qiu.

After Ding Gong died, AI Gong ascended the throne. At this time, the monarch of Ji Kingdom did not agree with him, so he slandered the king of Zhou, provoked the relationship between AI Gong and the king of Zhou, and the king of Zhou cooked AI Gong in anger. AI Gong's younger brother Jing was made a vassal, namely Hu Gong. The younger brother of AI Gong and his mother, Shan, did not agree with Hu Gong. He organized his party to lead the troops of Yingqiu to kill Hu Gong. He stood up as the king of the country for the sake of offering him. At that time, Lou Jia, a descendant of India, was forced to take part in the court battle with the mountain. Although the struggle was successful, he was fratricidal and charged with regicide. Fearing that it would harm him, Lou Jia left Qi and went to Chu to become the Zuo historian of Chu. At that time, the official position was often inherited by the son after the death of the father, so the ancients often took the official position as their surname.

Lou Jia and his descendants served as Zuo historiographers of Chu for generations, so they changed the surname of Qiu to Zuo and settled down in Chu for a long time. Loujia's sun Yixiang of twelve dynasties, known as "Zuoshi Yixiang" in history, was an outstanding historian in the spring and Autumn period and had a high political status in the state of Chu. He who depends on each other has a son. During the period of Chengren Zuoshi, civil strife occurred in the state of Chu for the monarchy: the Duke of Chu killed his monarch, and then he was killed by the Duke.

In 506 BC, the emperor of Zhou led the princes to attack the state of Chu. In order to preserve the ancient books, he led his sons and grandchildren to leave the state of Chu and came to the state of Lu. He settled in shihengheng fish village in Feicheng and became the Grand Historian of the state of Lu. Yixiang gave the ancient books to the state of Lu for preservation. In order to make future generations not forget their ancestors, he took the surname as the word "Qiu" of his ancestors. His son, who was also well versed in history, was appointed as the supreme historian of the state of Lu, and became his son Zuo Qiuming. Later, Zuo Qiuming inherited his father's position and succeeded him as the supreme historian of the state of Lu. Zuo Qiuming read a large number of ancient books, such as astronomy, geography, literature, history and so on. He served as the left historian of the state of Lu. He performed his duties with due diligence and had both ability and political integrity.

Participating in and discussing state affairs

Both Zuo Qiuming and Confucius were born in the late spring and Autumn period. He once went to Zhoushi together with Confucius to support him in politics, which was highly praised by Confucius. Coupled with Zuo Qiuming's noble character and magnanimous mind, he was deeply respected by the Marquis of Lu.

As a Taishi, Zuo Qiuming was very concerned about the state's political affairs and actively participated in the discussion of state affairs. If Duke Lu Ding wanted to appoint Confucius as his situ, he planned to consult Sanhuan and ask Zuo Qiuming for advice in advance. Zuo Qiuming said: "Confucius is the great sage of today. When a sage is in power, it is difficult for a man who makes mistakes to keep his official position. You want to appoint Confucius, but you want to discuss with Sanhuan. How can they support you? " "How do you know they won't agree?" Lu Dinggong asked Zuo Chuming smiles and replies, "once upon a time, there was a man in Zhou Dynasty who liked fur coats very much and also liked delicious meat. He wanted to make a valuable fur coat, so he went to discuss with the fox and asked for fur directly from the fox; he wanted to make a delicious sacrifice, so he went to discuss with the sheep and asked for mutton directly from the sheep. Before they finished speaking, the fox and the sheep went into hiding. Therefore, five years later, the man did not make a fur coat; ten years later, he did not make a sacrifice. In fact, the reason is very simple, that is, Zhou People's strategy is not right. You plan to appoint Confucius as your situ, but you call Sanhuan to discuss it. It's the same reason that you discuss with the fox about making fur coats and the sheep about sacrificing animals. "

Zuo Qiuming said this because Confucius advocated weakening Sanhuan and strengthening monarchical power. He once proposed to Duke Lu Ding to "fall into the three capitals". The "three capitals" refer to the three strongholds of Sanhuan: Feiyi of Jisun, Fuyi of shusun and Chengyi of mengsun. Sandu was the private stronghold of Sanhuan against Gongshi. Because Sanhuan lived in the capital of the state, and his family was in charge of the capital, the "three capitals" were also a threat to Sanhuan. Confucius once caused Duke Lu to demolish his uncle sun's Fuyi through lobbying. In this way, Zuo Qiuming calmly analyzed the reason why Sanhuan would not support Duke Lu's appointment of Confucius, and saw the contradiction between Sanhuan and Confucius. Therefore, when Duke Lu asked for his own opinions, he used two parables to illustrate that he suggested avoiding Sanhuan and directly appointing Confucius. So Duke Lu Ding followed Zuo Qiuming's advice and appointed Confucius without Sanhuan's consent.

Compiling history books

In order to write history, Zuo Qiuming and Confucius went to the Zhou Dynasty to look up the archives of the Zhou Tai Shi. After returning to Lu, Confucius wrote the concise spring and Autumn Annals, while Zuo Qiuming wrote the voluminous Zuo Zhuan. The state of Lu is the fiefdom of Duke Zhou. It is said that Duke Zhou governed rites and music. Many rites and music systems and documents of the previous dynasties were preserved in the state of Lu, so the state of Lu has always been known as "the state of rites and music". After the fall of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the culture of Zhoushi disappeared in the west, but remained quite intact in the eastern Lu state. At that time, all kinds of documents and archives of the state of Lu belonged to the collection of Taishi. Since Zuo Qiuming was the Taishi of the state of Lu, he naturally mastered the most abundant literature resources of the Central Plains in the spring and Autumn period. Therefore, it is not difficult to understand that Zuo Qiuming was able to write such an unprecedented historical masterpiece as Zuo Zhuan. The compilation of Zuo Zhuan is the greatest achievement in Zuo Qiuming's career as a historian. It plays an important role in the history of Chinese thought, history, literature and academy.

In the 41st year of King Jing of Zhou Dynasty (about 479 BC), Zuo Qiuming, in his later years, had something wrong with his eyes and had to resign to return home. After Zuo Qiuming resigned and returned to his hometown, he established Zuoshi bookstore and began to compile Zuozhuan and Guoyu. Zuo Qiuming was blind when he compiled Guoyu. However, his strong sense of historical mission cheered him up. He recorded what he had seen and heard in the past few decades, the important news of various feudal lords and the words that kings and ministers were easy to gain and lose, and integrated them into the famous historical work Guoyu. Guoyu is the earliest national history in China. Together with Zuozhuan, it has become a perfect historical and cultural masterpiece.

Character achievement

Zuo Qiuming and Confucius lived at the same time, Confucius and his likes and dislikes, called him a gentleman, is a noble, respected Confucian, sages. Zuo Qiuming's works and academic thoughts are an important part of Confucian culture. Zuozhuan is a well-known military work and one of the classics of Chinese history.

literature

It is said that Zuo Qiuming wrote two great literary works, Zuo Zhuan and Guoyu. Chunqiu Zuoshi Zhuan mostly interprets Chunqiu with historical facts, starting from 722 B.C. in the first year of Lu Yingong and ending in 468 B.C. in the 27th year of Lu aigong. It mainly records events and contains speeches. The narration is detailed and the words are vivid and concise, which comprehensively reflects the social and historical features at that time. It is not only an important Confucian classic, but also the first complete chronicle history book in China, which is also popular in literature Very high achievement. Guoyu records the historical facts of the Zhou royal family and the states of Lu, Qi, Jin, Zheng, Chu, Wu and Yue from the end of the Western Zhou Dynasty to the spring and Autumn period (about 967-453 B.C.), focusing on the statements of the monarchs and ministers. It is the earliest national history book in China. Working hard day and night for more than 30 years, a spring and autumn Zuo's biography with more than 180000 words has been finalized. Its historical, literary, scientific and technological, and military values are immeasurable, and it has been highly praised by historians and scholars of past dynasties. Zuo Zhuan has a very detailed record of historical events, which is generally complete from beginning to end. In addition, Zuozhuan absorbed the advantages of other historical styles, organized the historical materials of other historical styles according to the chronological order, and made the chronological historical books basically mature. Therefore, Zuozhuan is the first real chronological historical work in China. Not only that, in historical compilation, Zuozhuan also expanded the capacity of chronological historical books: it is full of changes in the general pattern of chronological events, and sometimes it is intended to write a book

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