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The Guliangzhuan 谷梁传 is a commentary to the Confucian Classic Chunqiu 春秋 "Spring and Autumn Annals". It is traditionally attributed to Guliang Chi 谷梁赤 (also called Guliang Xi 谷梁喜 or Guliang Shu 谷梁淑) from the state of Lu 鲁 who had obtained the Chunqiu annals from Confucius' disciple Zixia 子夏 and wrote a commentar to it. The book is in fact the result of a commentary tradition which found its final codification at the beginning of the Former Han period 前汉 (206 BCE-8 CE). During the reign of Emperor Xuan 汉宣帝 (r. 74-49 BCE) it became part of the Confucian Canon that built the curriculum in the National University (taixue 太学).

The Gongyangzhuan 公羊传 is a commentary to the Confucian Classic Chunqiu 春秋 "Spring and Autumn Annals". It is said to have been written by Gongyang Gao 公羊高, a disciple of Zixia 子夏, who was himself a disciple of Confucius. During the reign of Emperor Jing 汉景帝 (r. 157-141 BCE) of the Han period 汉 (206 BCE-220 CE) it was declared a part of the Confucian Canon to be studied in the National University (taixue 太学). The most important professor (boshi 博士 "erudite") for the Gongyang commentary to the Chunqiu classic was Gongsun Hong 公孙弘 who taught during the reign of Emperor Wu 汉武帝 (r. 141-87 BCE). No less important was his predecessor Dong Zhongshu 董仲舒, an expert on the Chunqiu who also wrote the sub-classic Chunqiu fanlu 春秋繁露 "Rich Dew of Spring and Autumn".

The Zuozhuan 左传 "Commentary of Zuo" is a commentary and parallel version to the chronicle Chunqiu 春秋 "Spring and Autumn Annals". It is attributed to a certain Zuo Qiuming 左丘明. The Zuozhuan commentary as a very narrative text became so important for the interpretation and later use of the Chunqiu that it is commonly merged with the latter to the unit Chunqiu-Zuozhuan. It was, with even more stress on the commentary, called Zuoshi chunqiu 左氏春秋 "Spring and Autumn of Master Zuo".