Study On The Citations In Shi Ji From Zuo Zhuan

Sima Qian, who was not Confucius’s student but secretly studied from him with a great respect, wrote ShiJi(Records of the Grand Historian) based on the imitation of The Spring and Autumn Annals. As a historical records, ShiJi was written according to the historical facts but not the invented facts. In the preface of Shi Ji, Sima Qian said that he collected the hundred year’s historical stories to compile Shi Ji. According to this statement, Shi Ji is a historical records which was reprocessed and formed based on the books and literature documents of the Pre-Qin period. Ban Biao and his son Ban Gu listed five books as references in their discussion of Shi Ji (Records of the Grand Historian), that is, Zuo Zhuan, Guo Yu, Origin of the World, Strategies of The Warring States and Chuhanchunqiu(Chu and Han states and the Spring and Autumn Period). Sima Qian, in the record of history the Spring and Autumn Period, mainly got materials from the book Zuo Zhuan.However, the relationship between Shi Ji and Zuo Zhuan has always been controversial. The popular opinion is that Zuo Zhuan is really the Pre-Qin classic, from which Sima Qian had obtained many materials. There is also anther view that Zuo Zhuan was forged by Liu Xin on the basis of Guo Yu, Shi Ji and the works of other masters.This article follows the main arguments from the modern study of Zuo Zhuan, which is believed that Zuo Zhuan is basically the Pre-Qin literature, and Shi Ji obviously referred and quoted many of its materials. This paper, based on the former research, studies in a comprehensive manner the reference materials in Shi Ji in the part of Spring and Autumn period. First of all, the paper discusses current situation of the study in regard of the reference drawn in the work of Shi Ji from Zuo Zhuan and their relationship; Secondly, the paper sorts out of the three approaches in handling materiels, name it, deletion, change and addition. Here deletion includes the deleting of dialogues and narratives. And change includes the change of unified appellations and the change of the way in narratives. Addition means to add tones and to increase narratives. Thirdly, it analyzes the reason why Shi Ji obtained its reference materials form Zuo Zhuan from the perspective of remarking on the society from understanding people, contras of meaning with inclination as well as explaining and not developing. Finally, it verifies the significance in Shi Ji’s citations of Zuo Zhuan from the viewpoint of history.