The Lüshi Chunqiu (), abbreviated Lülan 吕览 "Lu Survey", also known in English as Master Lü's Spring and Autumn Annals,.. is an encyclopedic Chinese classic text compiled around 239BC under the patronage of late pre-imperial Qin Chancellor Lü Buwei. One of the longest early texts, it extends to over 100,000 words.
Incorporating ideas from the "full range" of intellectual traditions dating back from the late Warring States period, in the evaluation of Michael Loewe, "The Lü shih ch'un ch'iu is unique among early works in that it is well organized and comprehensive, containing extensive passages on such subjects as music and agriculture, unknown elsewhere."
Combining ideas from many different 'schools', it was traditionally classified as 'Syncretist', though there was no school that called itself Syncretist.Lundahl 1992. p130 Almost certainly written for review by Qin authorities, or those who were going to come into a position of authority, Yuri Pines considered it more moral leaning than the Strategies of the Warring States.
Dating Early linguistic investigations of the Lushi Chunqiu were performed by Richard Wilhelm and Naitō Torajirō, with Michael F. Carson (1980) discussing "some characteristic features of grammar and style in a third century b.c. text". Early scholarship considered the listed late Warring States period date of circa 239 BCE satisfactory without disagreement, generally accepting the Lushi Chunqiu as a legitimate pre-Qin dynasty text.
At the turn of the millennium, it was still accepted as completed "about two decades before Qin Shihuangdi united the empire". It's Almanacs have a postface that can be dated to 239 BCE, and were likely completed first. The other two halves would seem completed in haste of after the death of Lu Buwei in 235 BCE, not completely adhering to the plan outlined in the postface.References Roth 2003: 203; Knoblock and Reigel 2000: 27–32).
The earliest and "most instructive" direct reference to the Lushi Chunqiu is in the early Han Shiji; though the earlier Han text Huainanzi also makes extensive unattributed use of the Lushi Chunqiu. The abbreviated title Lülan also derives from the Shiji (ch.130). The much later Han Gao You is the Lushi Chunqiu's earliest and most well known commentator.
As claimed in the Shiji's Lu Buwei biography, it is, in comparison with the Zhuangzi or Guanzi, a "project" written according to an "overarching plan", and clearly designed with specific internal divisions in mind. In this sense, it more closely resembles later early Han works like the Shiji and Huainanzi, but has a different formatting. Rather than the Inner and Outer chapters format later said to have been given to Huainanzi and Zhuangzi, it has large internal divisions, called examinations 覽 (eight chapters), discourses 論 (six chapters), and almanacs 紀 (twelve chapters).
Dating arguments Alongside Warring States period language, the Lushi Chunqiu displays Warring States attitudes considering it impossible to disband the army, whereas the Han dynasty came to consider itself superior based on peace. Though highly composite, sinologist Scott Cook (2021) argued that it's political position aligns with late Warring States Xunzi philosophy. It also makes significant quotation and reuse of the Zhuangzi, including concepts of a Yielding Kingship, though not to the degree of the Huainanzi.
Chinese scholarship still argued a traditional late pre-imperial Warring States dating in 2021, relying on terminology taking compounds like "dao-de" as late.Tao Jiang names Daode 道德, Xingming 性命, and Jingshen 精神 as late Warring States terminologies, earlier discussed by Xiaogan Liu 1994: p14. In this case, Xingming is different from the Han Feizi's "form and name" Xingming, though it does have a related ming-shi "name and reality" doctrine: Goldin 2005. p185 Becoming a title for Laozi, earlier figures like Mencius do not use the term "dao-de", or "way and virtue". But this is synonymous with an argument that the Inner Chapters of the Zhuangzi are early as lacking the terms. The Lushi Chunqiu can be used to argue that some Outer and Misccelaneous Zhuangzi chapters date back to at least the late Warring States period.
Lu Buwei background It is not known what part Lu Buwei played in the Lushi Chunqiu's compilation, with most of it "probably" composed by the scholars he is said to have recruited. The postface of the text says that he "succeeded in studying what the Yellow Sovereign used to instruct the Zhuanxu Sovereign"; i.e. that he engaged in study intending to produce a compendium for the upcoming emperor, as "instructions in the methods of kingship for a young ruler", most likely as a guide to conduct.(Lewis)
The Shiji (chap. 85, p. 2510) biography of Lü Buwei has the earliest information about the Lüshi Chunqiu. Lü was a successful merchant from Handan who befriended King Zhuangxiang of Qin. The king's son Zheng, who the Shiji suggests was actually Lü's son, eventually became the first emperor Qin Shi Huang in 221BC.
When Zhuangxiang died in 247BC, Lü was made regent for the 13-year-old Zheng. In order to establish Qin as the intellectual center of China, Lü "recruited scholars, treating them generously so that his retainers came to number three thousand".Knoblock and Riegel (2000:13) In 239BC, he, in the words of the Shiji:Knoblock and Riegel (2000:14)
According to the Shiji, Lü exhibited the completed text at the city gate of Xianyang, capital of Qin, and above it a notice offering a thousand measures of gold to any traveling scholar who could add or subtract even a single word.
The Hanshu Yiwenzhi listed the Lüshi Chunqiu as belonging to the Zajia (; 'mixed school'), within the philosophers' domain (), or Hundred Schools of Thought. Although this text is frequently characterized as "syncretic", "eclectic", or "miscellaneous", it was a cohesive summary of contemporary philosophical thought, including Legalism, Confucianism, Mohism, and Daoism.
Contents The title uses chunqiu () to mean 'annals; chronicle' in a reference to the Confucianist Spring and Autumn Annals, which chronicles the State of Lu history from 722–481 BC.
The text comprises 26 juan () in 160 pian (), and is divided into three major parts. The Ji () comprises books 112, which correspond to the months of the year, and lists appropriate seasonal activities to ensure that the state runs smoothly. This part, which was copied as the Liji chapter Yueling, takes many passages from other texts, often without attribution. The Lan () comprises books 1320, which each have 8 sections. This is the longest and most eclectic part, giving quotations from many early texts, some no longer extant. The Lun () comprises books 2126, which mostly deal with rulership, except for the final four sections about agriculture. This part resembles the Lan in composition.
Integrity of the text The composition's features, measure of completeness (i.e. the veracity of the Shiji account) and possible corruption of the original Annals have been subjects of scholarly attention. It has been mentioned that the Almanacs have much greater integrity and thematic organization than the other two parts of the text.
The Yuda () chapter of the Examinations, for example, contains text almost identical to the Wuda (務大) chapter of the Discourses, though in the first case it is ascribed to Jizi (季子), and in the second to Confucius.
"Encyclopedic" tradition Lu Buwei's traditional Biography in the Shiji says the Lushi Chunqiu was compiled to provide a “complete account of Heaven and Earth, the myriad things, and the affairs of past and present". Lü Buwei "ordered his retainers to record what they had learned... Proclaiming that it embraced Heaven and Earth, the myriad things and all events old and new, he called it Lüshi chunqiu”. Hence, traditionalist Liu Xiaogan sees the Lüshi chunqius objective as to make an encyclopedic work that collected what others had said.
Sinologist Scott Cook acknowledges its statement inasmuch as the Lushi Chunqiu's composite nature is a hallmark of the text. But it does not present individual schools; its comprehensive philosophy is "consciously selected and amalgamated" from disparate positions, the work (or Lu Buwei) aiming to harmonize its various voices. Cook tried to demonstrate that its musical chapters graft "Orthodox Confucian philosophy" onto a "Laoist metaphysical" worldview."
Though not the "true" enormous encyclopedias associated with the Tang dynasty onward, Huainanzi translator John Major took the Lushi Chunqiu and Huainanzi as forming an "encyclopedic" tradition together with the Guanzi and Shiji. Intended for rulers, though they do have philosophical bias, the Huainanzi would arguably intend to represent a compendium of contemporary ideas and views. It uses the Lushi Chunqiu for ideas including topography and the origin of music, albeit for its own political argument.
Inasmuch as the Huiananzi reflects early Han dynasty intellectual life, it suggests a strong continued relevance for the Lushi Chunqiu into the early Han dynasty before it was sidelined by Confucian and other classics. The Lushi Chunqiu's ideologically militarist components in particular would not have remained relevant as the Han dynasty progressed. The Huainanzi otherwise makes more prominent use of the Tao te Ching and Zhuangzi, with the Tao te Ching earlier named a classic under Emperor Jing of Han.
Major positions Admitting the difficulties of summarizing the Lüshi Chunqiu, John Knoblock and Jeffrey Riegel list 18 major points: Affirmation of self-cultivation and impartiality Rejection of hereditary ruler over the empire Stupidity as the cause of hereditary rule Need for government to honor the concerns of the people The central importance of learning and teachers Support and admiration for learning as the basis of rule Non-assertion on the part of the ruler Primary task for a ruler is to select his ministers Need for a ruler to trust the expertise of his advisers Need for a ruler to practice quiescence The attack on Qin practices Just warfare Respect for civil arts Emphasis on agriculture Facilitating trade and commerce Encouraging economy and conservation Lightening of taxes and duties Emphasis on filial piety and loyalty.Knoblock and Riegel (2000:46–54) The Lüshi chunqiu is an invaluable compendium of early Chinese thought and civilization.
Ch.84 Examining the Present Hu Shih made an early dating argument that the Lushi Chunqiu continued to be edited during the Qin dynasty by Li Si, particularly the chajin (察今) chapter. Chajin or "Examining the Present" mainly argues that "When the ages change and the times move on, changing the regulations is fitting", which can be found in the Qin-associated Han Feizi (Ch. "Wudu").
"Changing with the times" characterizes Warring States thought. It can also be found in the Zhuangzi (Ch. "Tianyun"). The Lushi Chunqiu shares content with nearly half it's chapters. Though some of the Zhuangzi is considered to be from the Han dynasty, arguably, none of these examples are of Qin or Han dynasty derivation.
Ch.95 Relying on methods Wu wei Although the Tao te Ching was popular by the late Warring States period, Laozi's approach to government is more "non-interventionist". In comparison with Xun Kuang's subordination of punishment under moral government, later-termed "Huang-Lao Daoism" includes penal law in a secondary place under "laissez-faire" government. But this more characteristic of the early Han dynasty.