Zhan Guo Ce

The Zhan Guo Ce was a renowned ancient Chinese historical work and compilation of sporadic materials on the Warring States Period compiled between 3rd century to 1st century BCE. It is an important literature in the research of Warring States Period as it accounts the strategies and political views of the School of Negotiation and reveals the historical and social characteristics of the period.

History

The author of ''Zhan Guo Ce'' still cannot be verified, it is generally deemed, since Zhang Xincheng's argument, that the book was not written by a single author at one time. It was thought to be composed by Su Qin and his fellows before obtained by . It is interesting to note that 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 as an apocryphal scriptures was perhaps the compiler of the Catalogue of Siku Quanshu, but he provided no warrant for it.

The six versions of written works from the School of Negotiation 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 Negotiation were in poor condition, comprised of 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 from the Han Dynasty tomb at near the city of Changsha in 1973 and edited and published in Beijing in 1976 as ''Zhanguo Zonghengjia Shu'' ". 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''. 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'' , the personal name of Emperor Gao of Han.

Content

The ''Zhan Guo Ce'' recounts the history of the Warring States from the conquest of the 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:

##		Translation	Context Identical with Manwangdui Chapters
01	东周策	Strategies of Eastern Zhou	Nil
02	西周策	Strategies of Western Zhou
03	秦策	Strategies of	Chapter 19/Qin 3:2
04
05
06
07
08	齐策	Strategies of	Nil
09
10
11
12
13
14	楚策	Strategies of	Chapter 23/Chu 4:13
15
16
17
18	赵策	Strategies of	Chapter 21/Zhao 1:9 Chapter 18/Zhao 4:18
19
20
21
22	魏策	Strategies of	Chapter 15/Wei 3:3 Chapter 16/Wei 3:8
23
24
25
26	韩策	Strategies of	Chapter 23/Han 1:16
27
28
29	燕策	Strategies of	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 and Wei	Nil
33	中山策	Strategies of

Comparison in original Chinese

Manwangdui texts, "Xujia spoke to the Marquis of Rang" :
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" :
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" :

Alternative English titles

Alternative English titles include:
* ''Stratagems of the Warring States'',
* ''Intrigues of the Warring States'',
* ''Chronicles of the Warring States'',
* ''Records of the Warring States'',
* ''Record of the Warring States'',
* ''Annals of the Warring States'',
* ''The Strategies of the Warring States'',
* ''Strategies of the Warring States'',
* ''Strategics of the Warring States'',
* ''Collection of Strategies of the Warring States'',
* ''Book of Warring States'',
* ''Legends of the Warring States''

Bibliography

* Liu, Jianguo . ''Distinguishing and Correcting the pre-Qin Forged Classics''. Xi'an: Shaanxi People's Press. ISBN 7-224-05725-8.
* He, Jin . ''An Analysis of Zhan Guo Ce''. Beijing: Peking University Press. ISBN 7-301-05101-8.
* Miao, Wenyuan . ''Encyclopedia of China'', 1st ed.
*''Chan-kuo Ts'e'' . . Revised edition. Translated and annotated with an introduction by J. I. Crump. University of Michigan Center for Chinese Studies. ISBN 978-0-89264-122-2.
*Crump, J. I. . ''Intrigues of the Warring States: Studies of the Chan-kuo Ts'e''. University of Michigan Press. Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 64-17440.
*Crump, J. I. . ''Legends of the Warring States: Persuasions, Romances, and Stories from Chan-Kuo Tse'' . Center for Chinese Studies, The University of Michigan. ISBN 0-89264-129-0 . ISBN 0-89264-127-4 .
*Hawkins, David. Review of ''Intrigues of the Warring States''. ''JAOS''. 86 : 1.
*He, Jianzhang . ''Zhan Guo Ce Zhu Yi'' . Zhonghua Shuju . ISBN 978-7101006223 .
*Lan, Kaixiang . ''Zhan Guo Ce Ming Pian Shang Xi'' . Beijing Shiyue Wenyi Chubanshe .
*Meng, Qingxiang . ''Zhan Guo Ce Yi Zhu'' . Heilongjiang Renmin Chubanshe . Tongyi Shuhao 10093·701.
*Qian, Guoqi . Zhan Guo Ce Ping Jie . In Wei Liangtao , ''Shi Zhu Ying Hua '' Vol. 1, pp. 157-239. Zhongguo Qingnian Chubanshe . ISBN 7500637462.
*Wang, Shouqian . ''Zhan Guo Ce Quan Yi'' . Guizhou Renmin Chubanshe . ISBN 7221041326.
*Xiong, Xianguang . ''Zhan Guo Ce Yan Jiu Yu Xian Yi'' . Zhongqing Chubanshe . ISBN 7536600208.
*Zhao, Pijie . ''Zhan Guo Ce Xian Yi'' . Renman Minxue Chubanshe .
*Zhu, Youhua . ''Zhan Guo Ce Xian Yi'' . Shanghai Guji Chubanshe .