The Classic of History (simplified Chinese: 书经; traditional Chinese: 書經; pinyin: Shūjīng; Wade–Giles: Shu-ching) is a compilation of documentary records related to events in ancient history of China. It is also commonly known as the Shàngshū (simplified Chinese: 尚书; traditional Chinese: 尚書, literally: Esteemed Documents), or simply Shū (simplified Chinese: 书; traditional Chinese: 書, colloquially: Documents). The title is translated in western texts variously as "Classic of History", "Classic of Documents", "Book of History", "Book of Documents". It is one of the Five Classics, and contains some of the earliest examples of Chinese prose.
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The Classic of History was compiled between the 6th and 4th centuries BC, traditionally by Confucius, and reportedly included over 100 chapters. It is referenced in several classic texts, such as the Mencius. Many more citations can be found in the bamboo slips texts from the tombs of Guodian, in Hubei, dated to around 300 BC.[1]
Most copies of the work were destroyed in the Burning of Books during the Qin dynasty. At the start of the succeeding Han dynasty, Fú Shēng (伏生) reconstructed part of the work from hidden copies. His version was known as the New Text (今文 jīn wén lit. "modern script") because it was written in the Han dynasty clerical script.[2] It originally consisted of 28 chapters, later expanded to 33 when Du Lin divided some chapters during the 1st century.
Another version was said to have been recovered from a wall of the home of Confucius in 186 BC by his descendent Kǒng Ānguó (孔安國). This version was written in the pre-Qin seal script, and known as the Old Text (古文 gǔ wén lit. "ancient script"). It contained some 16 additional chapters and was part of the Old Text Classics later championed by the scholar Liu Xin at the beginning of 1st century AD. Distribution of the Old Text during the Han dynasty was apparently limited, and it disappeared by the end of the Han dynasty.[2]
A version of the Old Text was allegedly rediscovered by the scholar Méi Zé (梅賾) during the 4th century, and presented to the imperial court of the Eastern Jin. His version consisted of the 33 chapters of the New Text with an additional 25 chapters, with a preface and commentary purportedly written by Kong Anguo.[2]
Since the Song Dynasty, starting from Wú Yù (吳棫), many doubts had been expressed concerning the provenance of the allegedly rediscovered Old Text chapters of the book. In the 16th century, Méi Zhuó (梅鷟) published a detailed argument that these chapters, as well as the preface and commentary, were forged in the 3rd century AD. Mei identified the sources from which the forger had cut and pasted text, and even suggested Huangfu Mi as a probable culprit. In the 17th century, Yan Ruoju's unpublished but widely distributed manuscript entitled Evidential analysis of the Old Text Documents convinced most scholars that the Old Text chapters were forged in the 3rd or 4th centuries.[2]
In July 2008, an unnamed alumnus of Tsinghua University donated a collection of 2100 bamboo slips to the University after obtaining them at auction in Hong Kong. According to Li Xueqin, leading the team studying the scripts, the collection dates from the Warring States period and came from the state of Chu. The collection includes some of the chapters of the New Text Classic of History, with minor textual differences, as well as several documents in the same style that are not included in the received text. It also includes a version of an Old Text chapter, confirming that the "recovered" version is a forgery.[3]
The collection consists of 58 chapters divided into parts devoted to pre-dynastic emperors (Yao and Shun), and to the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties. Each chapter is prefaced with a short introduction to the circumstances of the document.
| Part | Chapter | New Text |
Old Text |
Title | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 虞書 Book of Yu [Shun] |
1 | 1 | 堯典 | The Canon of Yao | |
| 2 | 2 | 舜典 | The Canon of Shun (originally a section under Yao) | ||
| 3 | 1 | 大禹謨 | The Counsels of Great Yu | ||
| 4 | 3 | 皋陶謨 | The Counsels of Gao Yao | ||
| 5 | 4 | 益稷 | Yi and Ji (originally a section under Gao Yao) | ||
| 夏書 Book of Xia |
6 | 5 | 禹貢 | The Tribute of [Great] Yu | |
| 7 | 6 | 甘誓 | The Speech at [the Battle of] Gan | ||
| 8 | 2 | 五子之歌 | The Songs of the Five Sons | ||
| 9 | 3 | 胤征 | The Punitive Expedition on [King Zhongkang of] Yin | ||
| 商書 Book of Shang |
10 | 7 | 湯誓 | The Speech of [King] Tang | |
| 11 | 4 | 仲虺之誥 | The Announcement of Zhonghui | ||
| 12 | 5 | 湯誥 | The Announcement of [King] Tang | ||
| 13 | 6 | 伊訓 | The Instructions of Yi [Yin] | ||
| 14–16 | 7–9 | 太甲 | King Taijia Part 1, 2 & 3 | ||
| 17 | 10 | 咸有一德 | The Common Possession of Pure Virtue | ||
| 18–20 | 8–10 | 盤庚 | King Pangeng Part 1, 2 & 3 | ||
| 21–23 | 11–13 | 說命 | The Charge to Yue [of Fuxian] Part 1, 2 & 3 | ||
| 24 | 11 | 高宗肜日 | The Day of the Supplementary Sacrifice of King Gaozong [Wuding] | ||
| 25 | 12 | 西伯戡黎 | The Chief of the West [King Wen]'s Conquest of [the State of] Li | ||
| 26 | 13 | 微子 | Prince Weizi | ||
| 周書 Book of Zhou |
27–29 | 14–16 | 泰誓 | The Great Speech Part 1, 2 & 3 | |
| 30 | 14 | 牧誓 | The Speech at [the Battle of] Muye | ||
| 31 | 17 | 武成 | The Successful Completion of the War [on Shang] | ||
| 32 | 15 | 洪範 | The Great Plan [of Jizi] | ||
| 33 | 18 | 旅獒 | The Hounds of [the Western Tribesmen] Lü | ||
| 34 | 16 | 金滕 | The Golden Coffer [of Zhou Gong] | ||
| 35 | 17 | 大誥 | The Great Announcement | ||
| 36 | 19 | 微子之命 | The Charge to Prince Weizi | ||
| 37 | 18 | 康誥 | The Announcement to Prince Kang | ||
| 38 | 19 | 酒誥 | The Announcement about Drunkenness | ||
| 39 | 20 | 梓材 | The Timber of Rottlera | ||
| 40 | 21 | 召誥 | The Announcement of Duke Shao | ||
| 41 | 22 | 洛誥 | The Announcement concerning Luoyang | ||
| 42 | 23 | 多士 | The Numerous Officers | ||
| 43 | 24 | 無逸 | Against Luxurious Ease | ||
| 44 | 25 | 君奭 | Lord Shi [Duke Shao] | ||
| 45 | 20 | 蔡仲之命 | The Charge to Cai Zhong | ||
| 46 | 26 | 多方 | The Numerous Regions | ||
| 47 | 27 | 立政 | The Establishment of Government | ||
| 48 | 21 | 周官 | The Officers of Zhou | ||
| 49 | 22 | 君陳 | Lord Chen | ||
| 50 | 28 | 顧命 | The Testamentary Charge | ||
| 51 | 29 | 康王之誥 | The Announcement of King Kang (originally a section under Testamentary) |
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| 52 | 23 | 畢命 | The Charge to the Duke of Bi | ||
| 53 | 24 | 君牙 | Lord Ya | ||
| 54 | 25 | 冏命 | The Charge to Jiong | ||
| 55 | 30 | 呂刑 | Marquis Lü on Punishments | ||
| 56 | 31 | 文侯之命 | The Charge to Marquis Wen [of Jin] | ||
| 57 | 32 | 費誓 | The Speech at [the Battle of] Fei | ||
| 58 | 33 | 秦誓 | The Speech of [the Duke Mu of] Qin | ||
As noted above, the Old Text chapters are generally considered forgeries dating from the 3rd or 4th centuries AD. The New Text chapters are believed to originate from various dates between the 11th and 4th centuries BC.[4]
The five announcements (誥 gào) and the Lord Shi and Testamentary Charge chapters in the Documents of Zhou are believed to record speeches of King Cheng of Zhou, as well as the Duke of Zhou and Duke of Shao, uncles of King Cheng who were key figures during his reign (late 11th century BC). They provide insight into the politics and ideology of the period, including the doctrine of the Mandate of Heaven, explaining how the once-virtuous Xia had become corrupt and were replaced by the virtuous Shang, who went though a similar cycle ending in their replacement by the Zhou. The language of these documents is archaic, closely resembling inscriptions found on Western Zhou bronzes, and differs in grammar and vocabulary from that typical of prose from the classical age of Chinese literature such as The Analects or The Mencius.[5]
On the other hand, New Text chapters that are purported to date from high antiquity (e.g., the Canons of Yao and Shun) are more similar in language to classical texts, and likely date from the Spring and Autumn or Warring States periods.
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