The G¨³li¨¢ng Commentary is one of the three commentaries on the Spring and Autumn Annals, because of the prominent position of the Annals, a commentary on it also became a classic, and the G¨³li¨¢ng Commentary has been ranked as one of the thirteen Confucian classics.
Because the language used in the Annals was terse, which gave rise to different interpretations of the original. By the time of the Western H¨¤n, there were at least five commentaries on the Annals. We have already discussed the Zu¨¯ Commentary and the G¨ngy¨¢ng commentary. There were also Z¨®u (×Þ) Commentary and the Ji¨¢ (¼Ð) Commentary. Unfortunately, there was no tutor teaching the Z¨®u Commentary and no written version of the Ji¨¢ Commentary, they got lost and were not handed down to us.
A modern edition of the G¨³li¨¢ng Commentary
The three versions are different. Zu¨¯¡¯s focused on historical figures and events while the other two on connotation of the orginal text. Zu¨¯¡¯s came into world first, followed by the G¨ngy¨¢ng¡¯s and G¨³li¨¢ng¡¯s.
We have noted some differences in interpreting the same event between the latter two versions, for instance during the war between the State of S¨°ng and the State of Ch¨³, Duke Xi¨¡ng of S¨°ng refused to attack the enemy when their formations were not rallied, and then lost the war. G¨ngy¨¢ng¡¯s version was in favor of what Duke Xi¨¡ng of S¨°ng did was virtuous while G¨³li¨¢ng¡¯s held that attack should be launched when forces outnumbered the enemy. Another example would be the dragonfly disaster occurred in the 15th year during the reign of Duke Xu¨¡n, when G¨ngy¨¢ng¡¯s explanation was the introduction of a new farming taxation, but G¨³li¨¢ng¡¯s held that the disaster had nothing to do with the new taxation.
An image of Duke Xi¨¡ng of S¨°ng
Even though the G¨³li¨¢ng¡¯s was not as influential as the G¨ngy¨¢ng¡¯s, and was sometimes relegated into limbo, it managed to stand upright all the time. G¨³li¨¢ng is a two character family name, as far as who the author was it is a disputable issue. Y¨¢n Sh¨©g¨³ (ÑÕʦ¹Å) said the author was from Sh¨¡ngd¨ng. Some believed that his given name was ¡°³à,ch¨¬¡±; others said it was ¡°Œ…£¬zh¨¬¡±. The only reason is that it has its own qualities, which might be summarized as the following:
A. Firmly advocated virtual benchmarks: it adhered to the rule of the central government, which was the Zh¨u Dynasty, and continued to submit tributes to the Zh¨u imperial court, strictly abode the number of ancestral temples, that were that seven for the emperor, five for the dukes, three for high ranking officials and two for other officials; it also promoted other observations regarding to the use of color and related behaviors.
B. Upholding the patriarchal clan system, especially in matters relating to the wife¡¯s first son.
C. It was sympathetic with farmers and called for lessening of taxation.
D. It respected principle and justice and was cautious with waging of wars.
E. It tried to maintain the integrity of the Chinese nation and advocated containing of neighboring tribes on basis of propriety. We should note that what stood between the Chinese nation and the neighboring (barbarous) tribes was not blood, but culture. If a former member of the Chinese nation failed to respect the culture and customs, it would be regarded as a barbarous tribe, for instance T¨¢ng Sh¨±y¨² (ÌÆÊåÓÝ£©, who was a son of Prince W¨³ of Zh¨u and brother of King Ch¨¦ng of Zh¨u, was regarded as a barbarous tribe because his war against Xi¨¡ny¨± violated accepted principles. Similar examples can be found in the .
F. It attached much importance to marriages, which were key to the extension and expansion of the patriarchal system.
A portrait of Master Ji¨¡ng at Xi¨¢qi¨±.
The most important scholar of the G¨³li¨¢ng¡¯s was Master Ji¨¡ng at Xi¨¢qi¨±, who had many students and played a key role in the inheritance of the G¨³li¨¢ng¡¯s. It was said that once Emperor Wu of the H¨¤n asked Master Ji¨¡ng at Xi¨¢qi¨± to debate with D¨¯ng Zh¨°ngsh¨±, a defender of the G¨ngy¨¢ng¡¯s. Because Master Ji¨¡ng spoke with a stammer, he lost the battle. It was one of the reason why the G¨³li¨¢ng¡¯s seldom enjoyed any official positions; actually the political stands of the G¨³li¨¢ng¡¯s was not what Emperor W¨³ of H¨¤n wanted, yet when it came to the time of Emperor Xu¨¡n of H¨¤n, who was the great grandson of Emperor W¨³ of H¨¤n, things began to change. The young emperor spent much at in the lower ranks of the society, experienced some social turmoil, he abandoned the severe punishment and suppression pursued by Emperor W¨³ of H¨¤n, promoted propriety and strengthened the patriarchal system and eased up social relations. All the policies he adopted were identical to the profound principles expounded by the G¨³li¨¢ng¡¯s.
A portrait of Emperor Xu¨¡n of H¨¤n.
According to ¡°The Confucian Scholars in the History of H¨¤n¡±, Emperor Xu¨¡n of H¨¤n appointed the grandson of Master Ji¨¡ng as the rector of the official school, the G¨³li¨¢ng¡¯s was the main content of teaching. The emperor also organized a debate between the two commentaries, and this time those who supported the G¨³li¨¢ng¡¯s won. Since then the study of the G¨³li¨¢ng¡¯s became an independent discipline and had acquired an equal footing as the G¨ngy¨¢ng¡¯s and it was the only hey day for the G¨³li¨¢ng¡¯s.
The G¨³li¨¢ng¡¯s still has to be studied today for its documentary value because of the following considerations:
Firstly, the profound principles it elaborated and the propriety system it recorded are important contents and precious data for the study of the history of Chinese classics, histories of thought, ethnics, education, women and culture. These principles and records have influenced the formation and development of ancient Chinese political thinking, morality, culture and academics. For instance, in the part of Duke Y¨«n, it described how sacrificial ceremonies were organized: when the first son of the wife became a king, he would build a temple for his mother, and be an officiant of the ceremony, when the temple was completed, the sacrificial ceremony should be organized by the wife¡¯s direct posterity, not by grandsons. In the part of Duke Hu¨¢n, it recorded how prey from hunting was divided, most of them were used for sacrificial purposes, the remaining could be used to entertain guests and lastly to use as food.
A copy of G¨³li¨¢ng¡¯s printed at the end of Q¨©ng period.
Secondly, as a part of orthodox Confucian concept, many of its expression had become thought and benchmarks of ancient people, many scholars of scholium took the G¨³li¨¢ng¡¯s as their criterion, for instance the G¨³li¨¢ng¡¯s described military training as ¡°invigorate the troops¡± (ÕñÂÃ), such a term has been adopted by later writers when they wrote about military training. It recorded that a funeral should not be stopped by rain, from then on when a date of funeral was set, it would not change even if it was a rainy day.
Thirdly, the explanation of diction in the Spring and Autumn Annals by the G¨³li¨¢ng¡¯s is a precious asset in the studies of exegetics, semantics, grammar, the history of the Chinese language and etc. For instance in the Annals, there is such a line: ¡°In spring, the Duke of S¨°ng and the Marquis of W¨¨i met at Chu¨ª.¡± The G¨³li¨¢ng¡¯s explained that the word ¡°meeting¡± can be interpreted as ¡°sharing the same aspirations.¡± Another example is the use of ¡°ñãÃü¡± in the Annals, which has been used to mean the meeting of dukes since then. The G¨³li¨¢ng¡¯s explained it as talking with mutual sincerity. There are many such examples in the G¨³li¨¢ng¡¯s, which are very valuable in today¡¯s study of our language.
The earliest study of the G¨³li¨¢ng¡¯s is ¡°Complete Decoding of the G¨³li¨¢ng¡¯s¡± by F¨¤n N¨ªng (·¶Äþ) of Eastern J¨¬n.
Most influential book on the study of the G¨³li¨¢ng¡¯s is ¡°Supplementary Notes on the G¨³li¨¢ng¡¯s¡± by Zhong Wenzheng (ÖÓÎÄŸA) of the Q¨©ng Dynasty.
Contemporary scholar Li¨² Sh¨¬n¨¢n¡¯s ¡°Direct Explanation of the G¨³li¨¢ng¡¯s¡± is a rare and remarkable effort.
