The Writing Of King Wen In Pre-Qin Literature

King Wen appeared in all kinds of documents in pre-Qin period with high frequency.The writings of King Wen of different periods and different schools have shown great differences as well.The handed down documents such as Classic of Poetry,Book of Documents,Yi Zhou Shu,etc.,some of them are related to the writings of King Wen in the Western Zhou Dynasty.Unearthed documents such as Tianwang Gui,Dayu Ding inscriptions,and Oracle Bones at Zhouyuan,etc.,the relevant content can be mutually verified with handed down documents.The writings of King Wen in the Western Zhou Dynasty were mainly shrouded in the concept of Mandate of Heaven.Most of the documents in this period emphasized the transfer of Mandate of Heaven,and believed that King Wen received it to replace Yin Dynasty.King Wen’s attack on Chong,the construction of City Feng,the marriage of Taisi,and the birth of King Wu were all arranged by Heaven.The reason why God chose King Wen lies in the performance of his governance.King Wen diligently cared for the people and the country,attached importance to sacrifices and divination,honored the gods,and appointed qualified ministers.This period of literature also emphasizes the source and specific expression of King Wen’s virtue.His virtues depended on his own efforts,and were also inseparable from the influence of his family environment and the gift of God;King Wen’s limitation on drinking,prudent punishment,moral cultivation according to others’ opinion,were the political manifestations of King Wen’s virtues.Some chapters of Analects,Guoyu,Zuo Zhuan,and Yi Zhou Shu concern the writings of King Wen in the Spring and Autumn Period.Authors turn Chong’s losing the war into surrendering initiatively in the writings of the Spring and Autumn Period;King Wen in this period’s works is full of introspective spirit,and his virtues have a inspirational power.The writing of having two-thirds of the land also reflects the main view of scholar on King Wen’s service to Shang Dynasty.This period of literature believes that King Wen still admitted the rule of Shang Dynasty and unwilling to betray it,which reflects the concept of respecting the king which prevailed in the Spring and Autumn Period.King Wen showed a strong sense of worry in the process of serving Shang Dynasty.During this period,Authors incorporated their own thoughts on the current social environment when they rewrote King Wen.He is a model of the monarch’s prestige,and had both Zhi and Wen which stand for innate quality and acquired education respectively.In the face of disasters,he can take many measures,and pay attention to commercial development and social equity,reflecting the social conditions of the Spring and Autumn Period.During this period,the writings of King Wen began to refer to previous literature such as Classic of Poetry and Book of Documents,which also laid foundation for the writings in the Warring States Period.During the Warring States Period,there are many kinds of documents related to King Wen,including handed down documents such as Mengzi,Xunzi,Mozi,Zhuangzi,Han Feizi,Chu Ci,Yi Zhou Shu,as well as unearthed documents such as Bamboo Slips in Shanghai Museum,and in Tsing Hua University and so on.In this period,the identity of King Wen has changed.The prosperity of ideas and the collision of different viewpoints gave birth to two paths which devided into positive and negative.The advocacy of positive images is represented by Confucianism,and it is believed that King Wen is a model of benevolence and propriety.The negative images are dominated by Legalism and Taoism.Han Feizi focuses on writing King Wen’s political measures in dealing with King Zhou,highlighting King Wen’s strategies and ambitions;Zhuangzi regards King Wen as a violator of nature.During the Warring States Period,King Wen’s status was unprecedentedly improved,and he was included in the ranks of sage kings by Xunzi,Mozi and others.Confucian scholar have paid attention to King Wen’s special status of Zuo and linked the power with creation and saint,persisting in that only sages have the power of creation.Compared with the Spring and Autumn Period,the attention paid to King Wen’s deeds in the Warring States period literature also changed.They emphasized the effects of King Wen’s benevolent governance with the writing of conquering the world with a small territory.They also propagated King Wen’s appreciation and cherishing of talents with rewriting the story of encountering Tai Gong.The documents of Warring States Period continued tradition of using the Classic of Poetry and Book of Documents,extended and deduced on the basis of the original meaning of the poems,established new connections,and put forward new ideas in order to increase the persuasiveness of their theories.The literature of Han Dynasty has more inheritance and development of King Wen’s stories.Records of the Grand Historian summarizes the relevant writings of the old documents.The concept of different representations of the sages prevailed in the Han Dynasty,and the image of King Wen of this period was affected as well.