Springs and Autumns of Six States
The Springs and Autums of Six States (六邦春秋) was a history in annals form, recording wars, treaties, sacrifices, natural disasters, astronomical phenomena, and other events of ritualistic importance. It was compiled under the scholar and annalist Lord Hrjun (熏君; d. 285), who prefaced that the the work combined the separate annals of six states, Tsjinh, Pjang, Sjin, Ngak, Kem, and N′ar, spanning 385 BCE to the signing of the Treaty of Five Kings in 256 CE. It has become a canonical text in Themiclesian historical scholarship since the 4th century.
Form
The work begins with a preface credited to Lord Hrjun, who perhaps played a directive role in the compilation of the work rather than participated in the compilation, as he was on military campaign during this time. The preface states that after the signing of the Treaty of Five Kings, continued warfare in some areas have caused den′ (典) to be destroyed. As the records are considered precious, the "great historians" have made copies of den′ and entrusted them with great solemnity to the Patriarch of Tsjinh, who then ordered these den′ to be "opened" and compiled. The patriarch here is reasonably assumed to be Patriarch ′An, who reigned for 48 years during the final part of Lord Hrjun's life.
The main chronology of the book is in the regnal years of the Patriarch of Tsjinh, affixed with the regnal years of other rulers pertinent to the entry. Within each year, events are arranged chronologically and given either a month or date, but not both. Even though the main chronology of the work is that of Tsjinh, the actual records themselves are worded neutrally; rather than mentioning Tsjinh as "we" or "us", such as official chronicles often do, all states are mentioned by name. The following is an excerpt from the third year of Elder Brother ′Rjut, who was Patriarch of Tsjinh in the late 4th century BCE.
庚子，晉史陳事于先祖庚眔啇辛，牛率二，羊五，在晉。
K.rang-tsje′, Tsjinh sent Drjen for affairs of Former Ancestor K.rang and Spouse Sjin, with two cattle each and five sheep, in Tsjinh.
辛丑，晉史善夫林事于啇母辛，惟公疾，公入羊二，在晉。
Sjin-n′rju′, Tsjinh sent Chef Rjem for affairs of Spouse Madam Sjin, because of an elder's illness, [and] elder(s) sent two sheep, in Tsjinh.
二月，辛征東，折首六，獲虎百又四十又五，乙巳告于三父宗，用虎率三。
In the second lunation, Sjin went on an easterly expedition, decapitating six and taking 145 Tiger; on ′Rjut-sg′je′, they reported to the Temple of the Three Fathers, using three Tiger each.
辛亥，辛史臣室事于祖甲眔兄丙，人率十、牛六，在辛南邊。
Sjin-ge′, Sjin sent Officer Stjit on affairs of Ancestor Krap and Brother P.rjang′, with ten humans and six cattle, in the southern periphery of Sjin.
壬子，楚史卿事此晉，伯鄉牛眔酒，在晉。
Njem-tsje′, Sng′rja′ sent the Companion Tsji′ to Tsjinh, the Patriarch [of Tsjinh] received him with cattle and wine, in Tsjinh.
癸丑，鄂伯疾右，邦土、婦乙宗、祖癸宗率羊十用，在鄂。
Kwji′-n′rju′, the Patriarch of Ngak has affliction on his right [hand], and at the Land Shrine of the State, the Temple of Madam ′Rjut, and the Temple of Ancestor Kwji′ ten sheep each were used, in Ngak.
The writing style of the work is terse, recording plain facts rather than providing explanations. The shortest records consist of only four words, and the longest does not exceed 100. Historians have long noted that more than 95% of the work consists of only six kinds of events: sacrifices, war, treaty, marriage, astronomical phenomena, and natural disasters. For this reason, the work is also called the "Six Springs and Autumns", referring to its six kinds of records and a double entendre on its actual title. As typical of a chronicle, the book has no explicit topic or conclusion.
Analysis
Textual sources
One of the theories that modern scholars have accepted on the Six States is that the compiler may have directly consulted the oracular archives of the states or even transcribed their contents in the process of creating this work. For a long time after the Mrangh dynasty, scholars passed little comment on the sources of Six States, accepting that content were simply transcribed from hypothetical titles like the "Springs and Autumns of Tsjinh", without editorial work. In part, this is because Six States was titled "Springs and Autumns", and the classical Menghean work of the same name (but much earlier) was known to be an actual, physical text, so Six States was assumed to be a combination of several works similar to the Menghean original. However, scholars in the 18th century noticed that such putative originals have never been found, mentioned, or quoted anywhere and questioned its historicity.
Chronology issues
The Springs and Autumns open in 385 BCE, the second year of ′Rjut (晉伯父乙二年).