Explanation of Guiguzi

Author: Chen Puqing
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-05-01
Features: Guiguzi is a figure in ancient Chinese history who is both real and shrouded in a mysterious aura. His work, Guiguzi, is a book of unique value and rich in mysticism. The Suqin Biography and Zhangyi Biography in the Records of the Grand Historian state that Guiguzi was the teacher of Suqin and Zhangyi. The Sui Book·Bibliography lists Guiguzi in the category of "Diplomats" with three volumes, noting: "Guiguzi, a native of Chu, retired to Guiguzi during the Zhou Dynasty." The Records of the Grand Historian and the Sui Book consider Guiguzi to be a hermit who lived during the Warring States period and studied the art of persuasion, leaving no real name behind. This indicates that Guiguzi was a real historical figure. During the Wei and Jin dynasties, Taoism included Guiguzi in its canonical works. In the early Eastern Jin Dynasty, Ge Hong's Baopuzi·Xialian listed 137 Taoist classics, including Guiguzi. Later, Taoism further elevated Guiguzi to the status of a true immortal in the Taoist cave abodes, known as the "Mysterious and Subtle," even claiming that he was born in the era of the Yellow Emperor, Xuanxu, and lived through the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties, following Laozi west out of the Hangu Pass. During the Eastern Zhou period, he returned to China, retired to Guiguzi, and trained hundreds of disciples, living for hundreds of years among the people before vanishing without a trace. Over time, more and more legends about Guiguzi emerged. In the historical novel The Romance of the Warring States by Feng Menglong of the Ming Dynasty, chapters 87 to 90 tell the story of him taking Suqin, Zhangyi, Sun Bin, and Pang Juan as his disciples. Some books say he led his disciple Fan Li to help King Goujian of Yue restore his kingdom, while others claim that the Nine Heavens Immortal is his younger sister, and so on. All this has shrouded Guiguzi in a mysterious aura. To study Guiguzi, one must first understand the era in which it was written. The Guiguzi, as it is known today, is divided into 12 inner chapters and 9 outer chapters. Some scholars doubt that Guiguzi is a spurious work. After careful research, we conclude that the inner chapters of Guiguzi, except for the Fuyan chapter, which may have been mixed in from the Guanzi, are all works from the pre-Qin period, written by Master Guiguzi and his disciples. The great Western Han scholar Liu Xiang already quoted Guiguzi's words on the art of persuasion in Shuanyuan·Shanshuo, with a citation of over 100 characters. This shows that at least some parts of Guiguzi were already popular in the Western Han Dynasty. Moreover, the ideological content and linguistic style of Guiguzi are characteristic of pre-Qin works. The outer chapters of Guiguzi may have been written and compiled by people from the Tang Dynasty. Guiguzi is the only surviving work of the Warring States diplomats, pioneering the art of persuasion and rhetoric in China. It proposed philosophical and political ideas distinct from other schools such as Confucianism, Taoism, and Legalism. It has been understood and applied from different perspectives throughout history, influencing religious figures, military strategists, and practitioners of divination.