Category: Chinese Classics

１．天官冢宰
惟王建国，辨方正位，体国经野，设官分职，以为民民极。乃立天官冢宰，使帅 其属而掌邦治，以佐王均邦国。
治官之属：大宰，卿一人。小宰，中大夫二人。
宰夫，下大夫四人；上士八人，中士十有六人，旅下士三十有二人；府六人， 史十有二人，胥十有二人，徒百有二十人。

TIPSY IN THE FLOWERS' SHADE 醉花阴
Li Qingzhao李清照
Thin is the mist and thick the clouds, so sad I stay.
薄雾浓云愁永昼，
From golden censer incense smokes all day.
瑞脑消金兽。
The Double Ninth comes now again;
佳节又重阳，
Alone I still remain In the curtain of gauze, on pillow, smooth like jade,
玉枕纱厨，
Feeling the midnight chill invade.
半夜凉透。
At dusk I drink before chrysanthemums in bloom;
东篱把酒黄昏后，
My sleeves are filled with fragrance and with gloom.
有暗香盈袖。
Say not my soul Is not consumed. Should western wind uproll
莫道不消魂，
The curtain of my bower,
帘卷西风，
'Twould show a thinner face than yellow flower.
人比黄花瘦。

The Zhouli 周礼 "Rites of the Zhou" is a decription of the putative organisation of the government during the Western Zhou period 西周 (11th cent.-770 BCE). It is one of the three classics on rites (sanli 三礼) and one of the thirteen Confucian Classics. It was compiled during the Warring States period 战国 (5th cent.-221 BCE) and was known under the names of Zhouguan 周官 "The Offices of the Zhou" or Zhouguanjing 周官经 "Classic of the offices of the Zhou". Only during the Former Han period 前汉 (206 BCE-8 CE) it was given the name Zhouli by Liu Xin 刘歆. The book consists of six parts corresponding to the six ministries (liubu 六部) which, according to ancient cosmology, are correlated to Heaven, Earth, and the four seasons. There are 376 state officials in total, with subalters secretaries numbering many thousands. The Ministries, their cosmology and structure are:

The Way (dao) of nature and the life of non-activity. The chapters Qiwulun 齐物论, Xiaoyaoyou 逍遥游 and Dazongshi 大宗师 can be seen as the core parts of the book that reflect the most important philosophical thoughts of Zhuang Zhou. The Daoist says that the difference between right and wrong (shi fei 是非), this and that (bi ci 彼此), other objects and the self (wu wo 物我), or old and young (shou yao 寿夭), is irrelevant in an absolute sense. This is because the natural Way, the Dao 道, is equally included in all objects and conditions. Furthermore, situation and status change permanently, which makes it all the more difficult to establish comparisons or clear boundaries. The smallness of a sparrow and the monstrous dimension of the leviathan are only perceivable in comparison to each other, but not in an objective sense. Distinctions arise from the existance of expectations (you dai 有待) in a man's mind, and from a conciousness of a self (you ji 有己). The philosopher who is able to make himself free of such scales and relative comparisons, will be happy to wander around in a "free and easy" manner. For him, even the difference between life and death or its alleged happiness and tristesse, respectively, is of no importance. Such a man is an "arrived person" (zhiren 至人) who has himself made free of worldly problems and questions. The Dao, as Zhuang Zhou explains, has affections (qing 情) and trustworthiness (xin 信), but does not act (wu wei 无为) and has no shape (wu xing 无形). It can be transmitted but is not touchable, it can be obtained but not be seen. It has root and branches, but is not implanted in Heaven and Earth, and it exists since countless ages. If the Dao can be seen or heard of touched, this is not the true Dao. The "true" or "perfect man" (zhenren 真人) who has obtain the Dao, is unified (yi 一 "one") with the whole nature and the cosm, he sits and forgets (zuowang 坐忘) about the Confucian social values of kindheartedness (ren 仁) and social responsiblity (yi 义), he forgets all his knowledge, even his own fate and life, and therefore wholly corresponds to Heaven's will (tianming 天命). The one Dao, as the origin of all things, is simultaneously covering everything. In the beginnings, it had no dimension (wuji 无机), but as an element encompassing all objects, it is also the boundless dimension (taiji 太极).

The book Zhuangzi was fixed in its shape by Liu Xiang 刘向, an imperial librarian of the Former Han dynasty 前汉 (206 BCE-8 CE). At that time the book Zhuangzi comprised 52 chapters, while the received version, shaped by the Jin period 晋 (265-420) Daoist scholar Guo Xiang 郭象, has only 33 chapters, divided into three parts: 7 "inner chapters" (neipian 内篇), 15 "outer chapters" (waipian 外篇), and 11 "miscellaneous chapters" (zapian 杂篇). The literary language of the Zhuangzi is very excellent and many parts of the book, in thought as well as in language, seem to stem from one single author, at least the Inner Chapters. The Song period 宋 (960-1279) writer and thinker Su Shi 苏轼 was the first who systematically analyzed the probability of Zhuang Zhou’s authorship and came to the conclusion that the chapters Dao Zhi 盗跖, Yufu 渔父, Rangwang 让王 and Yuejian 说剑 were definitely not written by the philosopher Zhuangzi. The Ming period 明 (1368-1644) collector Jiao Hong 焦竑 argued that the Inner Chapters were quite probably written by one person, but the Outer and Miscellaneous Chapters were additions of later times, especially the Han period. The modern scholar Luo Genze 罗根泽 systematically analysed these doubtful parts of the book. He concluded that some parts included anti-Confucian, or probably anarchist or at least libertinist, sentiments of what he calls "leftist Daoists" (zuopai daojia 左派道家), while others were written by "rightist Daoists" (youpai daojia 右派道家) that were accepting the Confucian order of society. These, and the chapters talking of immortals, were creations of the late Warring States or the early Han period, when Confucianism was not yet defined as the official state doctrine. Wang Shumin 王叔岷 (Zhuangzi jiaoshi 庄子校释) says that the division into inner and outer chapters was an arrangement by Guo Xiang, who therewith followed a common use also to be found in other early texts, and therefore challenges the old theory that the Inner Chapters were originals and therefore more trustworthy than the others. Ma Xulun 马叙伦 (Zhuangzi yizheng 庄子义证) also points at the fact that only very few texts include a part of "miscellaneous chapters". The famous historian of philosophy Feng Youlan 冯友兰, followed this argument and doubted whether the Inner Chapters really contained any original thoughts of Zhuangzi.
During the Han period the book Zhuangzi was not yet regarded with high esteem. Only during the Jin period it became one of the "Three Mysterious Books" (sanxuan 三玄), together with the Yijing 易经 and the Laozi. During the Tang period 唐 (618-907) the philosopher Zhuangzi was deified and the book attributed to him was given the official title of Nanhua zhengjing 南华真经 "Perfect classic of the Southern Flower". The most important commentaries are Zhuangzi zhu 庄子注 by Guo Xiang, Zhuangzi shu 庄子疏 by the Tang period author Cheng Xuanying 成玄英, Lu Deming's 陆德明 phonetic commentary Zhuangzi yinyi 庄子音义, Lin Xiyi's 林希逸 commentary Nanhua zhenjing kouyi 南华真经口义 from the Song period, the Ming period scholar Jiao Hong's Zhuangzi yi 庄子翼, and finally the Qing period 清 (1644-1911) commentaries Zhuangzi jishi 庄子集释 by Guo Qingfan 郭庆藩, Wang Xianqian's 王先谦 Zhuangzi jijie 庄子集解, and the modern commentary Zhuangzi buzheng 庄子补正 by Liu Wendian 刘文典. Other early commentaries were written by Sima Biao 司马彪 and Cui Zhuan 崔譔, fragements of which can be found in the collectaneum Jingdian shiwen 经典释文.

The Zhuangzi 庄子 "Master Zhuang" is one of the two basic writings of Daoist philosophy from the Warring States period 战国 (5th cent.-221 BCE). The other is the book Laozi 老子 or Daodejing 道德经.

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).