A Comparative Study Of Ancient History Recorded In Bamboo Slips Rongchengshi And Shiji

This paper makes a textual comparison between the texts of ancient Chinese history recorded in bamboo slips Rongchengshi and Shiji. The comparative study consists of three levels. The first level of specific historical details includes the transferring of power, the talents of the various kings and the management achievements, the good condition, the evil condition and the wars in the period of Sandai ( Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties) . The second level includes the adoptions of historical sources, the styles of telling and the narrative structure. The last level includes the ideas about historical transformation, the society progress and the vital factors lasting for a long time in the history of ancient China. There is close relevance among above-mentioned dimensions which go forward one by one. The latter two levels have been summed up on the base the first one. However, the last level, which compares the various historical ideas between two different narrations of the same course of history, can offer a kind of thorough interpretation to disagreements compared in the first and second levels. What follows in the passage is a particular elaboration on the three levels.The first and the second chapters of this paper are attributed to the first level. According to the first chapter, two different opinions about the power transformation in ancient period are represented in the two texts. Rongchenshi's opinion is that the power is always passed to the man who is very virtuous, whereas Shiji's opinion is the hero wins the power via his great achievements while society suffers crisis. For the other hand, the society civilization state recorded in Shiji doesn't so advanced as that recorded in Rongchengshi until the Shun's time, which embodies the idea of society advance expressed by Shiji. However, both show no difference on the talents and the governing measures of ancient emperors. As for the measures of governing, the bamboo slips stresses on moralizing, while Shiji attaches equal importance to war preparedness and education. The second chapter centers on the good and evil managements and the wars. Rongchengshi emphasizes emperors adopting measures to settle down the average people, while Shiji the institution improvement and the individual great achievement. As to the reasons of the decline of a state, Shiji considers it's an accumulation of wrong actions for a long time, whereas Rongchengshi neglects this point. There is more important difference when two texts deal with the wars in ancient china. War is no more than the last resort and it must bring about enormous casualties according to Rongchengshi. But war is treated as one necessary means for the rebuilding of society by Shiji. What's more, the Tang of Shang dynasy and Wuwang of Zhou dynasty are greatly praised for their outstanding battle achievements in Shiji.The third chapter centers on the second level. In terms of adopting the historical sources, each other have one's own principle. The author of Rongchengshi mainly chooses the materials which express the capacities of emperors to shelter, to educate and to serve the people. Consequently, the bamboo text primarily tell the stories about the moral lectures of ancient kings: Yao choosing talents via spying through a hole, Shun's ideas about the sky, the earth and the people, Yu adopting various measures to settle down people, Yiyin stopping the war, Wenwang betraying Zhouwang for people's behalf and so on. However Shiji mainly chooses the sources to empress the society progress, the driving effect of wars to society and the achievements of emperors in ancient china. Hence Shiji focuses on Huangdi going on expeditions, Shun setting up bureaucratic system, Yu divided Jiuzhou, Yiyin helping Tang battle with Jie, Wenwang scheming to destroyed Shang dynasy and so on. As for the narrative structure, both texts have a common trait of narrating surround a subject. As regards the narrative style, the bamboo text more often makes judgments, while Shiji mainly enumerates the events. This disagree derives from different understandings to the form of power's transformation and the society state. The forth chapter falls into the last level. The idea of historical transformation is dualistic and simple in the bamboo text, which considers the history course and society state as either good or bad. The politics entirely aims for a perfect society. And the validity of the emperors is how they maintain the people. However, it is complicated and shifty in Shiji, which consists of the evolution and qualitative change in history. Shiji considers the rise and fall of a nation as a gradual and mortal course. Excepting for the rise and fall of nations, Shiji focuses on the society progress as well. What's more, this progress is deemed to breakthrough of civilization. In addition, both texts pay attention to some stable factors in historical progress, which are referenced as"tian ren zhi ji"(something has dual relations with heaven and people) in traditional historiography. These factors include Li (rites), Yue (music), ranks of nobility and its salary, the calendar, the right of fight and the ideas about gods.According the multi-levels compares, we come to a conclusion that since the middle time of Warring States, the historiography paradigm of West- and East-Zhou dynasties gradually collapses, and as an alternative various kinds of personal works emerge. Rongchengshi is one kind of them. Although Rongchengshi expresses little profundity more than Shiji in some historical ideas, in many ways it embodies the traits of the transition from the official historiography of West- and East-Zhou dynasties to the traditional historiography. For the first point, Rongchengshi's type of literature has had a breakthrough to the chronicle records. The dualistic idea of society state being either good or bad has take on a futuristic significance though it's very simple. For the second point, Rongchengshi shows the change of history's functions and visions since the West- and East-Zhou dynasties. The function of historiography of this time mainly conveys a kind of historical idea for warning instead of supervising the rulers, and its vision is wider respectively. For the third point, narrating based on ideas and containing philosophical purpose, which are the traits of Rongchengshi, are inherited and developed into one of basic characters of the traditional historiography by Shiji.