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 a unique inside view of a state undergoing change from one form of administration to another; the event which defines the difference between Spring and Autumn and the following Warring States period (05c to 03c). It also gives a detailed picture, not only of Lu itself, but also, as it goes on, increasingly of the other Spring and Autumn states. The period is of ongoing interest, not only for students of social and political structures and their changes, but also because the last third of it contains the life and work of Confucius. This is the world out of whcih all that later development came.
The book concludes with sketches of 24 individuals - rulers and their wives, officers and their schemes, and even one enemy general from Chu. These together suggest the richness of the text, not only for modern statecraft theory, but also in merely human interest.
The usual term for the CC is "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 ever popular Dzwo Jwan. But before turning to it, let readers consider the final two 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, deceiving not only its own audience, but many modern people as well. It is that second deception which has produced not only scholarly confusion, but international tragedy, in modern times.
Cover
General Background
The Ruler and the Families: Consolidation, 33
The Ruler and the Families: Competition, 00
The Ruler and the Families: Crisis,
Looking Forward
Appendix: The Dzwo Jwan, 163
End Matter
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