Ancient China in Context
Spring and Autumn:
A Chinese Military Revolution
E Bruce Brooks and A Taeko Brooks
The Spring and Autumn Chronicle of the state of Lu, the Chun/Chyou (CC) gives an eyewitness account of the 08th to 06th centuries: an otherwise almost undocumented period in Chinese history. It gives an inside view of a state undergoing change: in its structure (from a palace state to a bureaucratic state), and from one form of warfare (the chariots pictured here) to another (the slower infantry). This change made possible the more effective warfare of the Warring States period, leading eventually to the unified Empire, into which all the states had been absorbed.
The chronicle gives not only a detailed picture of goings-on in modest-sized Lu, but also of the court intrigues of the great states, Chi and Jin. We know, in surprising detail, what problems they faced, and what they were doing about them. The Spring and Autumn period is of interest, not only for students of social and political structures, but also because the last third of it is the background of the life and work of Confucius.
The book begins with a general introduction, and continues with profiles of each of the twelve rulers of Lu, and of individuals who made an important contribution during each of their reigns.
The CC is said to be "dry as dust." Those who want their ancient China served up with plenty of sex and violence will find it done that way in the Dzwo Jwan. But before turning to it, consider the concuding essays in this book, which show that the Dzwo Jwan has its own theory of history, and that it rewrites the real history along those lines, deceiving not only its own audience, but many modern people as well: the comic-book public of ancent and modern times.
Cover
Orientation, 11
The First Phase (9722-0660), 23
The Second Phase (0659-0573), 00
The Third Phase (0572-0468), 00
Appendix: The Dzwo Jwan, 163
End Matter, 179
Contact The Project / Exit to Sinology Home Page
