In this blog post, we’ll focus on ‘In Search of the Chinese Classic ‘Records of the Warring States’: How to Read the Spring and Autumn Period, the Warring States Period, and the Qin Unification’ to naturally summarize and examine—in a single sentence—the background, main content, and the core meanings and impressions revealed throughout the text.
The Contemporaneity of Eastern and Western Classics
This time, we’ll focus on Eastern classics—specifically, Chinese history. Western literature begins with mythology. Mythology is followed by epic poetry, and then novels and poetry emerge. First came Greek and Roman mythology, followed by epics such as the ‘Iliad’, ‘Odyssey’, and ‘Aeneid’.
The era when Homer wrote the ‘Iliad’ and ‘Odyssey’ to make people weep and laugh, and the era when Virgil moved people with the ‘Aeneid’, coincided almost exactly with China’s Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. To be more precise, the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods overlapped with the time when Rome grew from a small city-state into a vast empire.
Rome began as a small city-state in the 8th century BCE. The ‘Aeneid’ tells the story of the founding of that city-state. Rome passed through the periods of monarchy and republic before entering the imperial era, ruled by an emperor, in the 1st century BCE. The Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, which began in 770 BCE when the Zhou Dynasty moved its capital to Luoyang, ended in 221 BCE when Qin Shi Huang unified the empire. After achieving the feat of unifying the empire, Qin Shi Huang proclaimed himself emperor. The Kingdom of Qin thus became the Qin Empire.
Isn’t it fascinating that the seeds of great empires sprouted simultaneously in two regions so far apart and followed similar paths? It seems as though some invisible, immense force gave birth to human civilizations in various corners of the globe almost at the same time.
However, these civilizations are not all cut from the same cloth. They are incredibly diverse. Although they emerged around the same time, the Roman Empire and the Qin Empire were very different in character. Here’s how they differ from one another.
Mythology, History, and China’s Utopian Tradition
China also has a mythological era: the Age of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. However, the figures and gods that appear in Chinese mythology are very different from those in Greek and Roman mythology. The Greek and Roman gods have their own dwellings on the summit of Mount Olympus. These gods do descend into the human world and often sire offspring among humans. However, they do not live alongside humans. Zeus’s dwelling is on the summit of Mount Olympus.
In contrast, the Three Sovereigns of the “Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors” have no separate abode. They live right here in the human world. The Three Sovereigns are generally referred to as Suiren, Fuxi, and Shennong. In some cases, Nüwa is included instead of Suiren, and they are also recorded as the Heavenly Sovereign, Earthly Sovereign, and Human Sovereign. Among them, Suiren taught people how to make fire, Fuxi taught them how to catch fish, and Shennong taught them how to farm.
Chinese deities do not live in a separate world of their own; rather, they serve as leaders of humanity. The deities are the heads and the center of humanity. In China, because the deities have lived alongside humans from the very beginning, the distinction between mythology and history is very blurred.
This is particularly true of the Five Emperors. We commonly refer to the era of universal peace as the Era of Yao and Shun. Emperor Yao and Emperor Shun were the last of the Five Emperors. For reference, the rulers preceding Emperor Yao and Emperor Shun were the Yellow Emperor (Huangdi), Zhenxu, and Diku.
The Era of Yao and Shun refers to a time of peace and prosperity free from worry or anxiety—a kind of utopia. Under the leadership of the benevolent and wise Emperors Yao and Shun, the realm was united as one. There were no wars between nations, and all the people lived in abundance and happiness centered around Emperors Yao and Shun.
Chinese history begins with this utopian myth. The belief that utopia did not merely exist as a dream but had already existed in reality is precisely what has governed the land of China. The Zhou Dynasty stands at the boundary between such myth and history.
The Zhou Dynasty was a real state that existed in history, but it was also a state where the dream of the peaceful era ruled by Emperors Yao and Shun continued. The Zhou Dynasty was at the center of the Chinese mainland.
After about 300 years, the Zhou Dynasty began to fall into disarray. It started to decline during the reigns of the 10th King of Zhou, King Yu, and the 11th King of Zhou, King Xian, and by the time of the 13th King of Zhou, King Ping, it had effectively collapsed. The center of the vast Chinese continent had vanished. From then on, for about 550 years, the Chinese continent became a vast battlefield where various states vied to become the new center. We refer to this long period as the “Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods.”
The state that brought an end to this turbulent era and became the new center was the Qin Dynasty, and the figure who accomplished the great feat of unifying the empire was Qin Shi Huang. After unifying the empire, Qin Shi Huang proclaimed himself Emperor. He took one character from “Huang” (Emperor) of the Three Sovereigns and one from “Di” (Emperor) of the Five Emperors. By doing so, he declared that a new era of peace and prosperity had arrived following the unification of the empire.
The Qin Empire was built on the dream of establishing a new order on the Chinese mainland, which had been fragmented and plagued by constant conflict. It was a nation born from the dream of becoming a new, unifying center for the whole.
We refer to the rulers of China after the Qin Dynasty as “emperors,” and we also call the rulers of Rome “emperors.” On the surface, they appear identical. Both were empires, after all. However, their natures were very different. The Roman Empire began as a small city-state. Thus, the Roman Empire was built on the dream of starting small and growing great. It was an empire born of the dream of moving from a narrow space to a vast one. It was an empire born of the dream of expansion and conquest.
In contrast, the Qin Empire was built on the dream of unifying the whole and becoming a new center. It was an empire born of the dream of embracing and unifying the entire world.
The Roman Empire’s dream involves unknown lands to be conquered. The Qin Empire’s dream involves divided lands that must be united. What kind of dream do you want to have? Through what lens do you want to view the world? What kind of dream does the world need most right now?
The Scope of ‘The Chronicles of the Warring States’ and Recommended Reading
The title of this book is ‘The Chronicles of the Warring States’ (列國志)—literally, “Stories of Many States”—but in reality, it centers on the Qin Dynasty, which realized the dream of unifying the world. It would be too chaotic to write a text that truly lives up to the title ‘The Chronicles of the Warring States’. During the Zhou Dynasty, there were over 170 feudal states on the Chinese mainland—how could one possibly cover all their stories?
One has no choice but to distill the essential framework and develop the narrative from there. For those with the curiosity and ambition to explore the full picture, I recommend reading Shin Dong-jun’s ‘Veritable Records of the Warring States’ and Yoo Jae-ju’s ‘Commentary on the Warring States’ after finishing this book. They are quite substantial in length, though. ‘The Veritable Records of the Warring States’ consists of three volumes totaling 500 pages, while ‘A Critical Commentary on the Warring States’ comprises 13 volumes totaling 350 pages. They are masterpieces.
Shin Dong-jun’s book is a masterpiece that meticulously reconstructs the approximately 550-year history of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods based on historical records from China’s major historical texts: the ‘Zuo Zhuan’, ‘Zizhi Tongjian’, and ‘Shiji’. Meanwhile, Yoo Jae-ju’s ‘Commentary on the Warring States’ is a novel newly woven by the author based on those historical records.
‘The Warring States’ concludes with Qin Shi Huang unifying the empire. After Qin Shi Huang unified the empire, the Qin dynasty collapsed almost immediately. Following that, a struggle for hegemony erupted between the states of Chu and Han. If you’re curious about this follow-up story, I recommend reading ‘The Chronicles of Chu and Han’ (楚漢志).
You’ll learn why the Qin Dynasty, despite its great achievements, collapsed so quickly, and how Liu Bang (劉邦), the founder of the Han Dynasty, emerged victorious in his rivalry with the famous Xiang Yu (項羽). It has been adapted into novels, countless films, and TV dramas.
This “World Literature Collection” series no longer includes Chinese literature. Still, I really wanted to include the four volumes of China’s Four Great Classical Novels: ‘Romance of the Three Kingdoms’, ‘Journey to the West’, ‘Water Margin’, and ‘The Golden Lotus’. How eagerly I read these books as a child! How much joy they brought me in reading fiction! However, there’s no need for me to rewrite these books.
This is because countless editions have been published in a wide variety of formats. I encourage you to choose one of them and be sure to read it. If I had to recommend just one work from among them, I would choose ‘Journey to the West’.
It’s not because it’s more important or entertaining than the others. We know Sun Wukong, the protagonist of ‘Journey to the West’, all too well. Yet very few people have actually read the entire ‘Journey to the West’. They also overlook just how important the character of Tripitaka is. That’s a shame.
Let me offer one piece of advice. If you read ‘Journey to the West’ while thinking of it as a story similar to the “Quest for the Holy Grail” in Western medieval chivalric novels, you’ll discover a new kind of enjoyment. It will also be even more exciting if you read it while considering how it’s similar yet different.
