The Zhan Guo Ce (simplified Chinese: 战国策; traditional Chinese: 戰國策; pinyin: Zhàn Guó Cè; Wade–Giles: Chan-kuo Ts'e; literally "Strategies of the Warring States") is a renowned ancient Chinese historical work and compilation of sporadic materials on the Warring States Period compiled between the 3rd to 1st centuries BCE.[1][2] It is an important text of the Warring States Period as it accounts the strategies and political views of the School of Diplomacy and reveals the historical and social characteristics of the period.
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The author of Zhan Guo Ce has not yet been verified: it is generally deemed, after Zhang Xincheng, that the book was not written by a single author at one time. It is thought to have been composed by Su Qin (simplified Chinese: 苏秦; traditional Chinese: 蘇秦; pinyin: Sū Qín, d. 284 BCE) and his peers before being obtained by Liu Xiang. Unlike most of the pre-Qin classics, the authenticity of Zhan Guo Ce, along with the Shijing, Mozi, Yulingzi and Gongsun Longzi had never been questioned since the Western Han period. The earliest to assert the texts were apocryphal scriptures was perhaps the compiler of the Annotated Catalogue of the Siku Quanshu, but he provided no warrant for it.[1] In 1931, Luo Genze put forward an argument that the book was composed by Kuai Tong (Chinese: 蒯通) in his two papers based on six conclusions which he drawn, a contemporary of Han Xin. Although this argument had been seconded by Jin Dejian (1932) and Zu Zhugeng (1937), but by 1939 it was refuted by Zhang Xincheng.[3]
The six versions of written works from the School of Diplomacy were discovered by Liu Xiang during his editing and proofreading of the imperial literary collection. Those works of political views and diplomatic strategies from the School of Diplomacy were in poor condition, with confusing contents and missing words. Liu Xiang proofread and edited them into the new book under the title Zhan Guo Ce; it was therefore not written by a single author at one time.
Significant contents of Zhan Guo Ce were lost in subsequent centuries. Zeng Gong of the Northern Song Dynasty reclaimed some lost chapters, proofread and edited the modern version. Some writings on cloth were excavated from the Han Dynasty tomb at Mawangdui near the city of Changsha in 1973 and edited and published in Beijing in 1976 as Zhanguo Zonghengjia Shu (Chinese: 戰國縱橫家書, "Works from the School of Diplomacy During the Warring States Period)". The book contained 27 chapters, 11 of which were found to be similar to the contents in Zhan Guo Ce and the Records of the Grand Historian. That publication appeared in Taiwan in 1977 as the Boshu Zhanguoce (Chinese: 帛書戰國策). The texts were written in between the style of Seal script and Clerical script. The transcript was probably composed around 195 BCE before its burial, as the text tend to avoid using the word bang (邦), the personal name of Emperor Gao of Han.[4]
The Zhan Guo Ce recounts the history of the Warring States from the conquest of the Fan clan by the Zhi clan in 490 BC up to the failed assassination of Qin Shi Huang by Gao Jianli in 221 BC.
The book comprises approximately 120,000 words, and is divided into 33 chapters and 497 sections. The twelve strategies are:
| ## | Chinese | Translation | Context Identical with Manwangdui Chapters[5] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | 东周策 | Strategies of Eastern Zhou | Nil |
| 02 | 西周策 | Strategies of Western Zhou | |
| 03 | 秦策 |
Strategies of Qin |
Chapter 19/Qin 3:2 |
| 04 | |||
| 05 | |||
| 06 | |||
| 07 | |||
| 08 | 齐策 | Strategies of Qi | Nil |
| 09 | |||
| 10 | |||
| 11 | |||
| 12 | |||
| 13 | |||
| 14 | 楚策 | Strategies of Chu | Chapter 23/Chu 4:13 |
| 15 | |||
| 16 | |||
| 17 | |||
| 18 | 赵策 | Strategies of Zhao | Chapter 21/Zhao 1:9 Chapter 18/Zhao 4:18 |
| 19 | |||
| 20 | |||
| 21 | |||
| 22 | 魏策 | Strategies of Wei | Chapter 15/Wei 3:3 Chapter 16/Wei 3:8 |
| 23 | |||
| 24 | |||
| 25 | |||
| 26 | 韩策 | Strategies of Han | Chapter 23/Han 1:16 |
| 27 | |||
| 28 | |||
| 29 | 燕策 | Strategies of Yan | Chapter 05/Yan 1:5 and Yan 1:12 Chapter 20/Yan 1:11 Chapter 04/Yan 2:4 |
| 30 | |||
| 31 | |||
| 32 | 宋、卫策 | Strategies of Song and Wei | Nil |
| 33 | 中山策 | Strategies of Zhongshan |
Manwangdui texts, "Xujia spoke to the Marquis of Rang" (Chapter 15):[6]
华军，秦战胜魏，走孟卯，攻大粱（梁）。须贾说穰侯曰：“臣闻魏长吏胃（谓）魏王曰：…《周书》曰：‘唯命不为常。’此言幸之不可数也。夫战胜暴子，割八县之地，此非兵力之请（精）也，非计虑之攻（工）也，夫天幸为多今有（又）走孟卯，入北宅，以攻大粱（梁），是以天幸自为常也。知（智）者不然。臣闻魏氏悉其百县胜甲以上，以戎（戍）大粱（梁），臣以为不下卅万。以卅万之众，守七仞之城，臣以为汤武复生，弗易攻也。夫轻倍（背）楚、赵之兵，陵七刃（仞）之城，犯卅万之众，而志必举之，臣以为自天地始分，以至于今，未之尝有也。攻而弗拔，秦兵必罢（疲），陶必亡，则前功有必弃矣。…
Received texts, "Qin defeated Wei at Hua, put Mang Mao to flight, and besieged Daliang" (Wei 3:3):[6]a[›]
秦败魏于华，走芒卯而围大梁。须贾为魏谓穰侯叶：“臣闻魏氏大臣父兄皆谓魏王曰：…《周书》曰：‘维命不于常。’此言幸之不可数也。夫战胜睾子，而割八县，此非兵力之精，非计之工也，天幸为多矣。今又走芒卯，入北地，以攻大梁，是以天幸自为常也。知者不然。“臣闻魏氏悉其百县胜兵，以止戍大梁，琛以为不下三十万。以三十万之众，守十仞之城，臣以为虽汤、武复生，弗易攻也。夫轻信楚、赵之兵，陵十仞之城，戴三十万之众，而志必举之，臣以为自天下之始分以至于今，未尝有之也。攻而不能拔，秦兵必罢，阴必亡，则前功必弃矣。…
Manwangdui texts, "Spoke to the king of Yan" (Chapter 20):[7]
胃（谓）燕王曰：“夫列在万乘，奇（寄）质于齐，名卑而权轻。奉万乘助齐伐宋，民劳而实费。夫以宋加之淮北，强万乘之国也，而齐兼之，是益齐也。九夷方一百里，加以鲁卫，强万乘之国也，而齐兼之，是益二齐也。夫一齐之强，燕犹弗能支，今以三齐临燕，其过（祸）比大。唯（虽）然，夫知（智）者之【举】事，因过（祸）【而为】福，转败而为功。齐紫，败素也，贾（价）十倍。句浅栖会稽，其后残吴，霸天下。此皆因过（祸）为福，转败而为功。…
Received texts, "Qi attacked Song, Song was hard pressed" (Yan 1:11):[7]a[›]
齐伐宋，宋急。苏代乃遗燕昭王书曰：“夫列在万乘，而寄质于齐，名卑而权轻。秦、齐助之伐宋，民劳而实费。破宋，残楚淮北，肥大齐，雠强国，国弱也。此三者，皆国之大败也，而足下行之，将欲以除害取信于齐也。而齐未加信于足下，而忌燕也愈甚矣。然则足下之事齐也，失所为矣。夫民劳而实费，又无尺寸之功，破宋肥雠，而世负其祸矣。足下以宋加淮北，强万乘之国也，而齐并之，是益一齐也。北夷方七百里，加之以鲁、卫，此所谓强万乘之国也，而齐并之，是益二齐也。夫一齐之强，而燕犹不能支也，今乃以三齐临燕，其祸必大矣。“虽然，臣闻知者之举事也，转祸而为福，因败而成功者也。齐人紫败素也，而贾十倍。越王勾践栖于会稽，而后残吴霸天下。此皆转祸而为福，因败而为功者也。…
ZGC displays the social aspects and scholastic habitat of the Warring States Period. Not just a brilliant historical work, it is an excellent historical literature and novel. Major events and historical information of the period are represented in objective and vivid descriptions. Detailed records of speeches and deeds by followers of the School of Diplomacy reveal the mental makeup and intellectual expertise of the characters. Acts of righteousness, bravery and determination by numerous characters are also recorded.
Sophisticated intellectual contents of ZGC mainly reveal the intellectual inclination of the followers of the School of Diplomacy and illustrate the intellectual wealth and multicultural aspects of the period.
The literary achievement of the ZGC is also outstanding - it signifies a new era in the development of ancient Chinese literature. Among other aspects, character description, language usage and metaphorical stories demonstrate rich and clear literary quality. ZGC greatly exerts influence on the format of the later Record of the Grand Historian.
Nevertheless, its intellectual aspects have also been disputed, mainly due to its stress on fame and profit and its conflicts with Confucian ideology. The book appears to overemphasize the historical contributions from the School of Diplomacy, devaluing the book's historical importance.
The book does not emphasize the historical facts or fiction, but appears to be an extensive collection of anecdotes with little bearing to the chronological order of chapter and narration. Since the 12th century, it has been widely debated whether the book should be considered a historical documentation from writer Chao Gongwu and Gao Sisun, and there have been attempts to categorize the book into a different genus. This lasted until 1936 where scholars like Zhong Fengnian demonstrated that the book was written as a handbook of diction from the School of Diplomacy, and not intended to be a compilation of historical facts. [8]
Alternative English titles include:
^ a: See HKUL Digital Initiatives[1] for G. W. Bonsall translation.