Historical Writing and Cultural Memory in Chūnqiū and Zhànguó Period

On the topics of historical narrative and cultural memory in early China, this dissertation analyzed the authorship, forms, and narratives of historiography through transmitted and excavated texts, as well as the citation, interpretation, and debating about historical anecdotes in the essays of Pre-Qiń strategists and philosophers.

Building upon the materials, methodology, and previous research on early Chinese historical writing introduced in Chapter I, the main research comprises five chapters, each corresponding to one of the three subtopics: the authors, the texts, and the readers of the Chūnqiū and Zhànguó historiography Firstly, Chapter II examines three distinct types of historiographers: the historian family, the recorders of divination, and the 'heroic historian.’ It also indicates the latent conflict between ritual and rhetoric revealed in the ‘narrative of historiographers. Also, applying the idea of ‘author-function,’ this dissertation argued that despite the decreasing status and power, the historiographers gain the initial ‘author’ image by defending their writing.

Secondly, chapters III to V analyze the genre and narrative of different historiography. Chapter III examined and compared the chronological forms in transmitted and excavated texts and the issue of cultural memory and identity politics implied in the chronological orders. Approaching by the case study of the ‘Jin conquered the Yu and Guo’, chapter IV observed how single anecdotes displayed diverse utilities and meanings when it compiled into ‘records of event’ and ‘records of discourse’, which traditionally composed the main category of Chinese historiography. Continuing the observation of structure and narrative, Chapter V compares the dissimilar compilation, viewpoint, and historical interpretation represented in 'the conflict of Wú and Yuè’ of Zuǒzhuàn, Guóyǔ, and the Qinghuá Bamboo Slips, respectively.

Thirdly, chapter VI explores the utilization of history by strategists and philosophers during the Warring States period, as well as the creative interpretation and extrapolation derived from their specific subjects and objectives. If we were to say that historical writing served as a crucial medium for preserving cultural memory, then people of that time widely employed history as a basis for discourse, thereby giving rise to a rich culture of memory. This chapter analyzes how strategists and philosophers of the Warring States period applied and reflected upon the past. It posits that as discourse themes evolved, the utilization of history by people of the Warring States period, within their grandiloquent and extensive discussions, forged a diverse range of individuals and events into refined shared values. Even with a high degree of self-awareness regarding literary artistry, they not only transformed ancient historical paradigms to create new authorities but also posed subversive reflections on the very means of utilizing history for discourse.