The
Classic of History ( ) is a
compilation of documentary records related to events in ancient
history of China. It is also commonly known as the
Shàngshū ( , literally: Esteemed
Documents), or simply
Shū ( ,
colloquially: Documents). The title is translated in western texts
variously as
"Classic of History",
"Classic of
Documents",
"Book of History",
"Book of
Documents".
Compilation
The book consists of 58 chapters (including eight subsections), of
which 33 are generally considered authentic works of the
6th century BC. The first five chapters of
the book purport to preserve the sayings and recall the deeds of
such illustrious emperors as
Yao and
Shun, who reigned during
legendary age; the next 4 are devoted to the
Xia Dynasty, the historicity of which has not
been definitively established; the next 17 chapters deal with the
Shang Dynasty and its collapse. The
blame for this is placed on the last Shang ruler, who is described
as oppressive, murderous, extravagant, and lustful. The final 32
chapters cover the
Zhou Dynasty until
the reign of
Duke Mu of Qin. It
contains examples of early Chinese prose, and is generally
considered one of the
Five Classics.
The Classic of History is possibly the earliest narrative of China,
and may predate the
Historiai of
Herodotus as a history by a century.
Many citations of the
Shangshu can be found in the bamboo
slips texts from the tombs of Guodian, in Hubei
, dated to
the 300 BC. In July 2008, Zhao Weiguo, an alumnus of
Tsinghua University
donated a collection of 2100 bamboo slips to his
alma mater after obtaining them through auction in Hong
Kong
. The
previous owner and the slips' whereabouts have not been revealed.
In the
collection, the Shangshu
is one of the historical books.
According to expert Li Xueqin, the collection
dates to the Warring States Period from Hubei, the
homeland of Chu.
Transmitting of texts
In the transmission of the book, there are three main variations:
the New Text version, the
Old Text
version, and the forged Old Text version.
- The first, transmitted by Fu Sheng after the fall of the
Qin Dynasty, was a New Text version in
33 chapters (originally 29 or 28, but some chapters have been
divided by Du Lin during the 1st
century), which had lost more than 72 chapters of the
original.
- The second version was an Old Text version found by Prince
Liu Yu and transmitted by Kong Anguo during the last half of the 2nd century BC, which added some 16 new
chapters and were part of the Old Text Classics later championed by
the scholar Liu Xin during the beginning of
1st century, the chapters were lost
during the later times.
- The third, was a forged version of the Old Text with 26
chapters (including one preface), which had been allegedly
rediscovered by the scholar Mei Ze during the
4th century, and presented to the
imperial court of the Eastern
Jin. His version consists of 59 chapters which stemmed from
both 33 extended chapters (originally Fu Sheng's 29 chapters, if
including The Great Speech) and the final 26 chapters added. By
then most of the versions of Old Text had been lost since
then.
Since the
Song Dynasty, starting from
Zhu Xi, many doubts had been expressed
concerning the provenance of the existing Old Text chapters of the
book, but it was not until
Yan Ruoju's
research and the definitive conclusions he drew in his unpublished
but widely distributed manuscript entitled
Evidential analysis
of the Old Text Documents that the question was considered
settled by the
17th century.
Contents
Document of Yu [Shun] The Canon of Yao
舜典 The Canon of Shun
(originally a section under Yao)
大禹謨 The Counsels of Great Yu
皋陶謨 The Counsels of Gaotao
益稷 Yi and Ji
(originally a section under Gaotao)
禹貢 Document of Xia [Dynasty] The Tribute of [Great] Yu
甘誓 The Speech at [the Battle of] Gan
五子之歌 The Songs of the [King Taikang's] Five Brothers
胤征 The
Punitive Expedition[on
King Zhongkang] of Yin
湯誓 Document of Shang [Dynasty] The Speech of [King] Tang
仲虺之誥 The Announcement of Zhonghui
湯誥 The Announcement of [King] Tang
伊訓 The Instructions of Yi [Yin]
太甲上中下 King Taijia Part 1, 2 & 3
咸有一德 The Common Possession of Pure Virtue
盤庚上中下 King Pangeng Part 1, 2 & 3
說命上中下 The Charge to Yue [of Fuxian] Part 1, 2 & 3
高宗肜日 The Day of the Supplementary Sacrifice of King Gaozong
[Wuding]
The Chief of the West [King Wen]'s Conquest of [the State of]
Li
Prince Weizi
Document of Zhou [Dynasty] The Great Speech Part 1, 2 &
3
The Speech at [the Battle of] Muye
The Successful Completion of the War [on
Shang]
The Great Plan [of Jizi]
The Hounds of [the Western Tribesmen]
Lu
The Golden Coffer [of Zhou Gong]
The Great Announcement
The Charge to Prince Weizi
The Announcement to Prince Kang
The Announcement about Drunkenness
The Timber of Rottlera
The Announcement of Duke Shao
The Announcement Concerning Luoyang
The Numerous Officers
Against Luxurious Ease
Lord Shi [Duke Shao]
The Charge to Cai Zhong
The Numerous Regions
The Establishment of Government
The Offices of Zhou
Lord Chen
The Testamentary Charge
The Announcement of King Kang
(originally a section under Testamentary)
The Charge to the Duke of Bi
Lord Ya
The Charge to Jiong
Marquis Lü on Punishments
The Charge to Marquis Wen [of Jin]
The Speech at [the Battle of] Fei
The Speech of [the Duke Mu of] Qin
| ## |
| Chinese |
Translation
New Text version; "forged" Old Text version |
| 01 (01) |
虞書 |
堯典 |
|
|
| 02 (02) |
|
|
| 03 (01) |
|
|
| 04 (03) |
|
|
| 05 (04) |
|
|
| 06 (05) |
夏書 |
|
|
|
| 07 (06) |
|
|
| 08 (02) |
|
|
| 09 (03) |
|
|
| 10 (07) |
商書 |
|
|
|
| 11 (04) |
|
|
| 12 (05) |
|
|
| 13 (06) |
|
|
| 14 (07-09) |
|
|
| 15 (10) |
|
|
| 16 (08-10) |
|
|
| 17 (11-13) |
|
|
| 18 (11) |
|
|
| 19 (12) |
| 西伯戡黎 |
|
| 20 (13) |
| 微子 |
|
| 21 (14-16) |
|
周書 |
泰誓上中下 |
|
|
| 22 (14) |
| 牧誓 |
|
| 23 (17) |
| 武成 |
|
| 24 (15) |
| 洪範 |
|
| 25 (18) |
| 旅獒 |
|
| 26 (16) |
| 金滕 |
|
| 27 (17) |
| 大誥 |
|
| 28 (19) |
| 微子之命 |
|
| 29 (18) |
| 康誥 |
|
| 30 (19) |
| 酒誥 |
|
| 31 (20) |
| 梓材 |
|
| 32 (21) |
| 召誥 |
|
| 33 (22) |
| 洛誥 |
|
| 34 (23) |
| 多士 |
|
| 35 (24) |
| 無逸 |
|
| 36 (25) |
| 君奭 |
|
| 37 (20) |
| 蔡仲之命 |
|
| 38 (26) |
| 多方 |
|
| 39 (27) |
| 立政 |
|
| 40 (21) |
| 周官 |
|
| 41 (22) |
| 君陳 |
|
| 42 (28) |
| 顧命 |
|
| 43 (29) |
| 康王之誥 |
|
| 44 (23) |
| 畢命 |
|
| 45 (24) |
| 君牙 |
|
| 46 (25) |
| 冏命 |
|
| 47 (30) |
| 呂刑 |
|
| 48 (31) |
| 文侯之命 |
|
| 49 (32) |
| 費誓 |
|
| 50 (33) |
| 秦誓 |
|
References
External links