Book of Charges
The Book of Charges (命, m.ringh) is a collection of 180 documents of purported "charges" by various rulers to their subordinates, granting them lands, slaves, and goods, with or without expected returns. The book's editor is unknown but believed to have lived in the early 1st century BCE, based on the language of the preface added to the collection and contemporary events cited. The documents are all very short, never exceeding five sentences, and reveal little about the history of the period.
While the book is considered a canonical document dating from before the Treaty of Five Kings in 256, it has long been considered difficult to understand and unprofitable to study by Themiclesian scholars due to archaic language, severely wanting context, and limited historical information. However, combined with excavated bronzes found in the 19th century onwards, the book has seen renewed attention as primary records of an era prior to true historical writing. In the early 20th century, the Shinasthanologist Erwin G. Shutter called it "the most valuable document of the nation's antiquity", but subsequent investigations have casted doubt on some of the documents' authenticity or interpretation.
Contents
The book is divided into a preface and ten parts, corresponding to ten states that existed prior to the Hexarchy.
| Chapter | Documents | |
|---|---|---|
| Book of Tsjinh | 晉典 | 91 |
| Book of Ngak | 鄂典 | 8 |
| Book of ′Judh | 尉典 | 10 |
| Book of Sjing | 辛典 | 15 |
| Book of L′ja | 舒典 | 22 |
| Book of Leng | 廷典 | 7 |
| Book of Kem | 甘典 | 11 |
| Book of L′jin | 申典 | 9 |
| Book of Ngjon | 原典 | 3 |
| Book of Lem | 滕典 | 4 |
Preface
The preface opens with a lament about how modern princes have betrayed cadet lines and "old families" that have defended and supported the princes for their private greed for money and power. The editor says that he has gone into each state's temples to retrieve the "old tablets granted" that will guide a wise ruler to the "old path" that have created a harmonious society before the current epoch of war and atrocity.
Book of Tsjinh
The Book of Tsjinh is by far the longest of the entire collection, holding 91 or just over half of all documents.