A Study Of Zheng's History And Political Thought As Seen On Tsinghua Bamboo Slips

The State of Zheng is a very important vassal state from the late Western Zhou Dynasty to the Warring States period,and the academic research on the history of Zheng is also rich.Since Tsinghua University collected Tsinghua bamboo slips in2008,a number of Warring States bamboo slips related to the history of Zheng State have been published.There are five essays of Zheng State in Tsinghua bamboo slips,namely,Xi Nian,Liang Chen,Zheng Wu Fu Ren Gui Ru Zi,Zheng Wen Gong Wen Tai Bo and Zi Chan,which provides new historical materials and perspectives for the research of history and culture of Zheng State.Combined with Tsinghua bamboo slips and handed down documents related to the history of Zheng,we can re-recognize many important events in the history of Zheng State.First of all,the leader who completed the eastward migration of Zheng State should be Duke Huan of Zheng,not Duke Wu of Zheng.On the other hand,the important role of the Duke Wu of Zheng made the territory of Zheng expand and gained the status of “feudal lords in the East”.Third,in the early days of Duke Zhuang of Zheng's accession to the throne,the domestic political situation was very complicated.He first listened to Wu Jiang's suggestion that he belonged to the political doctor,and then he used Jizhong to take charge gradually,which caused Wu Jiang's dissatisfaction and led to the chaos of Gongshu Duan.The motherchild relationship between Wu Jiang and Duke Zhuang of Zheng should have a changing process.Fourth,after Duke Zhuang of Zheng's small hegemony,the State of Zheng declined in the rebellion of the four princes and became the core of the great powers' struggle for hegemony.Fifthly,in the early Warring States period,the State of Zheng had contradictions in both internal and foreign affairs,and the State of Zheng was doomed.In addition to the reinterpretation of historical events,the historical materials of Zheng State in Tsinghua Bamboo Slips also recorded the contents of political thought.From the works of Zheng Wu Fu Ren Gui Ru Zi,Zheng Wen Gong Wen Tai Bo and Zi Chan,we can sum up the political thoughts of Zheng State and even to the Spring and Autumn Period about destiny,employment,people's safety,history and so on.Zichan recorded the content of Zichan's criminal law thought and summarized the characteristics of Zichan's criminal law thought,including the contents of “valuing trust”,“valuing harmony” and “valuing propriety”,which is closely related to the transitional period of the late Spring and Autumn period,and is also an important content of Zichan's political thought.Based on the historical materials of Zheng State in Tsinghua Bamboo Slips,this dissertation makes textual research on the historical events of Zheng State in Tsinghua bamboo slips through the interpretation of the text,sorting,comparison,analysis of the content,summarizes the political thoughts in the bamboo slips,clarifies many problems in the history of Zheng State,and highlights the high value of Tsinghua bamboo slips in the study of ancient history.