The Story of the Warring States (Illustrated Text)[Upper and Lower Volumes]

Author: (Ming) Feng Menglong, (Qing) Cai Yuangang revised
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: The Story of the Warring States is a renowned historical novel in China's classical literary treasury. As early as the Yuan Dynasty, there were vernacular versions of stories about the "Warring States." During the Jiajing and Longqing periods of the Ming Dynasty, Yu Shaoyu compiled a Chronicles of the Warring States. In the late Ming Dynasty, Feng Menglong revised and refined the Chronicles of the Warring States based on historical records, transforming it into a 108-chapter New Chronicles of the Warring States. During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, Cai Yuangang further revised the book and named it The Story of the Warring States. The Story of the Warring States depicts the history from the end of the Western Zhou Dynasty (789 BC) to the unification of the six states by Qin (221 BC), covering over 500 years of stories from the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. Its content is rich and complex. The history narrated in The Story of the Warring States is precisely such an era, with all the stories unfolding against this backdrop. The facts described in the book are drawn from four historical works: The Strategies of the Warring States, Zuo Zhuan, The Records of the States, and Records of the Grand Historian. These scattered historical stories and biographies are woven together in chronological order, creating a well-structured historical romance. Historians before the Qin and Han dynasties, for certain ideological reasons, sometimes omitted the narration and evaluation of historical events, hiding their meanings in the text. Without a keen insight, it is difficult to notice, let alone understand. The popular nature of this book lies in making the hidden meanings clear, so that everyone can see and understand the right and wrong, virtue and vice, loyalty and treachery, wisdom and folly, all laid bare under the open sky. This is the author's intention in writing the book and their contribution to future generations. The Story of the Warring States, like other historical books, takes the rise and fall of nations as its theme, exploring the causal relationships between the rise and fall of fate and human affairs. Through the rise and fall of characters' destinies, the author vividly tells people that whether a nation can uphold righteousness and appoint the capable is the fundamental basis for judging its future. He who wins the people wins the world. Righteousness is the elucidation of the will of heaven, and the will of heaven is the will of the people. When the people's will remains, the government flourishes; when the people's will fades, the government declines. This humanistic perspective holds progressive significance. Over the 500 years described in the book, heroes emerged one after another, like stars in the sky. Though many such figures appeared later in history, the people and events of this period were most prominent and typical, almost becoming the source of later theories on right and wrong, success and failure, and serving as standards and role models for future generations. Through rich and vivid plots, the novel praises the virtuous people, the kings and nobles who reward and punish fairly, and the ministers and generals who are loyal, brave, and wise. It also praises the heroes who act bravely for justice and are clever and decisive. In stark contrast to these positive characters, the novel also portrays some foolish, cruel, and licentious emperors and feudal lords, as well as greedy, treacherous, and cunning courtiers. The author's attitude of exposing and condemning them is naturally integrated into the progression of the plot.