Works of Gong Mu (Volume 4)

Author: Gong Mu / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2001-08-01
Features: The Book of Han·Treatise on the Arts and Literature records: “Strategies of the Warring States in thirty-three chapters was compiled and standardized by Liu Xiang of the Han Dynasty.” Liu Xiang’s Preface states: “The stratagems of the Warring States, which I examined, were disorganized and mixed. There were also eight chapters on states, which were insufficient. I arranged the state-specific chapters roughly in chronological order, supplemented the missing parts, eliminated duplicates, and obtained thirty-three chapters. The original text had many errors and omissions, with characters like ‘Zhao’ miswritten as ‘Xiao’ and ‘Qi’ as ‘Li,’ and such errors were numerous. The original manuscript was titled either Strategies of the Warring States, State Affairs, Short and Long, Stories and Discourses, The Long Book, or The Rectified Book. I believed that the strategists of the Warring States, who advised their respective states, should be titled Strategies of the Warring States. The events following the Spring and Autumn Period and ending with the rise of the Chu and Han dynasties spanned 245 years, all of which were standardized and recorded in bamboo slips for writing.”
From this, we can see that Liu Xiang merely eliminated duplicates and compiled the chapters, naming the book. Later generations mistakenly attributed it to Liu Xiang, even claiming it was the work of his own school. This is a misunderstanding. Later scholars such as Mou Mo of the Qing Dynasty and Luo Genze and Zhu Ziqing of the modern era have the book was compiled by Cuo Tong during the Qin and Han periods. However, even Cuo Tong could only edit and supplement, based on stratagems and discourses from the Warring States period. According to the Book of Han, Su Qin had a book of thirty-one chapters, Zhang Yi had ten, and other strategists also had their own writings. These books were undoubtedly important sources for standardizing Strategies of the Warring States.
Notably, in late 1973, the bamboo slips titled Strategies of the were unearthed from Tomb No. 3 at Mawangdui in Changsha. Of the twenty-seven chapters, ten appeared in Strategies of the Warring States, eight in the Records of the Grand Historian, and after removing duplicates, only eleven were recorded elsewhere, with the remaining sixteen being lost works. Additionally, it preserved fourteen letters and dialogues about Su Qin, only two of which were previously recorded. This confirms that before Liu Xiang compiled Strategies of the Warring States, there were indeed many small pamphlets recording the discourses of Warring States strategists. Thus, even though Strategies of the Warring States was compiled later, it must still be considered a product of the pre-Qin period.
The thirty-three chapters of Strategies of the Warring States include one each from the Eastern and Western Zhou and Zhongshan states, five from Qin, six from Qi, four each from Chu and Zhao, three each from Han and Yan, and one combined chapter from Song and Wei. Given that the chapters were largely written by Warring States strategists, their style tends to be elaborate and persuasive, with a preference for vivid analogies and metaphors, which is natural. This is not only because they needed such skills to debate and persuade but also because they traveled widely, gained extensive knowledge, and mastered the vivid languages of different regions.
Therefore, Strategies of the Warring States contains many allegories. As a unique literary form, allegories had fully matured by the late Warring States period. Thus, the allegories in Strategies of the Warring States are generally lively, concise, profound, witty, and wise, making them worthy of attention.
The allegories in Strategies of the Warring States differ significantly from those in other Zi classics, such as Mencius, Zhuangzi, Han Feizi, and the Rites of the Lu Family. While the allegories in these works each have their own characteristics, they share a common purpose: to explain the ideological systems of various schools, bearing the distinct colors of their respective schools. In contrast, the allegories in Strategies of the Warring States were often impromptu remarks made by strategists in political and diplomatic settings. This may be related to the ideological characteristics of the strategists. During that time, the strategists were a school with little influence from Confucianism. Many of them were politically opportunistic, shifting alliances between Qin and Chu, adapting to circumstances without firm principles or loyalty to a single ruler, and lacking a complete ideological system. As a result, their allegories lack the systematic coherence and internal connections found in other Zi classics. The purpose of these allegories was purely to enhance the vividness, interest, and novelty of their persuasive arguments, enabling them to move rulers through vivid analogies and metaphors. Thus, these allegories are highly imaginative and persuasive. For example: P538-539