In the previous Chapter 1, I defined how Episode Texts function as a written container of social memory and discussed how they were used as individual textual units in the making more enlarged, refined versions of cultural memories in the form of narrative. In this chapter, I will explore another significant example of the modulation of Episode Texts in the cultural process of producing written narratives that produce social memory. The central example will be a bamboo slip manuscript, known as “Wuyu” 吳語, that parallels some parts of “Wuyu” chapter in the received Guoyu 國語. Due to the strong case of its textual parallelism to the received “Wuyu” of the Guoyu, a seminal transmitted text on the past of Early China, particularly its account of the “history” of the states of Wu and Yue, this “Wuyu” parallel manuscript provides information about how the transmitted “Wuyu” text was formed and for how the memories that the received “Wuyu” text represents were created. This examination will further describe the nature and significance of Episode Texts, and provide notable examples of the textual parallelism between Episode Texts and seminal transmitted historical texts such as Zuozhuan 左傳 and Shangshu 尙書 and suggest those received classics were in partmanufactured from numerous fragmentary individual memories in Episode Texts.
The Cili “Wuyu” parallel text was excavated at the tomb M36 in the Shiban 石板 burial grounds on the outskirts of Cili 慈利 County, Hunan 湖南 Province in 1987. The manuscript bears numbers on the back of each slip. Based on other similar Chu bamboo slip manuscripts, most scholars have agreed that the numbers indicate the sequence of slips in the original order. It is worth noting that when we arrange the text according to the written numbers on the back of the slips, the content of the Cili “Wuyu” parallel text does not match that of the received “Wuyu.” This shows first that the sequence of the story was different from that of the transmitted text. More importantly, stories in the received “Wuyu,” now presented as unified, coherent ones, may have come originally from much shorter individual stories. The received stories were created by assembling smaller individual shorter stories into one. Then what the back number of Cili bamboo manuscript may indicate is that each shorter story, now merged into one longer story in the received “Wuyu” of the Guoyu text, were all free-standing, self-contained textual units about a particular past event, and, in following editorial procedures, the individual stories had been merged as one coherent story. This is significant for understanding how narrative passages that are hundreds or thousands words long that we often find in transmitted texts of “history” such as Guoyu, Zuozhuan, Shangshu, Zhanguoce 戰國策, were created and shared in early culture.111 Most
111 Henry Maspero has once discussed that the dates of so-called “Vertical Alliance” (hecong 合從) that is told to have
been suggested by Su Qin (蘇秦, d. 284 BCE) in the records of the received Zhanguo ce 戰國策 are self-contradictory, and thus argued that the character of Su Qin and the military events centering on the “Alliance” in the Zhanguo ce must have been fictional. See Henry Maspero, “Le Roman de Sou Ts’in,” Etudes Asiatiques, 2 (1925): 127-141; also his “Le roman historique dans la littérature chinoise de l’antiquité,” Mélanges posthumes sur les religions et l’histoire de la Chine, vol. 3, (Paris: Civilisations du Sud, S.A.E.P., 1950), 52-62.
Disagreeing with Maspero’s characterizing the nature of Zhanguo ce as fictional vis-à-vis historical, James Crump approaches the issue of fiction-like description of figures and events in the received Zhanguo ce from the perspective of rhetoric, in which the division between fiction and history is weakened. James I. Crump, “The ‘Chan- kuo Ts’e’ and its Fiction,” T’oung Pao 48.4/5 (1960): 305-375. For the issue of rhetoric in the Zhanguo ce, see also Paul R. Goldin, “Miching Mallecho: The Zhanguo ce and Classical Rhetoric,” Sino-Platonic Papers 41(1993):1-26.
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people still were relying on writing media that were not large enough to contain that many characters, such as bamboo slips or wooden boards. Thus, I suggest that many longer stories received as part of “historical” were made by merging of multiple texts that were originally much shorter individual units. This tells us that one complete memory represented in the received long passages was an outcome of textual manufacturing.
In this chapter, I will first introduce the Cili “Wuyu” parallel manuscript and discuss how the manuscript is related to the issue of the production of long narrative in the early culture where bamboo slip and wooden board were the main medium of writing. And then, I will review discussions about textual issues of the received Guoyu in the contemporary scholarship and relate them to the central question of the creation of long narratives in early culture, exemplified in the case of the Cili “Wuyu” parallel manuscript and the received “Wuyu” of the Guoyu.
The Cili Chu Bamboo Slip Manuscripts
Cili Chu bamboo slip manuscripts were archaeologically unearthed at tomb M36 in the Shiban burial grounds near Cili County, Hunan Province, in 1987. The excavation report has been published in two journals, first in Wenwu 文物 in 1990 (vol. no. 10) and then much more in detail in Kaogu xuebao 考古學報 in 1995 (vol. no. 2).112 According to these reports, researchers found
a total of 4,557 slip-fragments, placed in a plaited-bamboo basket. These fragments are believed to amount to around 800 - 1,000 slips in normal condition, containing about 20,000 paleographic graphs. In about 60% of the fragments, traces of writing are not legible. The calligraphic styles on the fragments are not the same, suggesting that they were not from one single hand. Nonetheless, scholars consider the overall characteristics of paleographs similar to other Chu bamboo slip manuscripts excavated at Changtaiguan 長臺關 village, Xinyang 信陽 County, Henan 河南 Province, and at the tomb 1 and 2 at Wangshan 望山, Jiangling 江陵 County, Hubei 湖北 Province. 817 pieces were identified as fragments of the top part of the slips, and it remains unclear whether another 27 end-fragments were from the top or the bottom of the slip. Like the Fuyang Han Bamboo Slip Manuscripts, one of which I examined in Chapter One, most fragments of Cili Manuscripts are severely damaged, and so it is no longer possible to recover the original binding marks or sequence.
Based on the accompanying burial goods and the tomb direction, tomb 36 is regarded as one of a pair tombs for a husband and wife with separate grave pits. Researchers estimate, considering the typical features of the excavated goods, that they were buried in the first half of the mid-Warring States period (ca. 340-300 BCE), and that the tomb occupant had the rank of Lower Grandee (xia dafu 下大夫).
After undergoing preliminary procedures of cleaning the dirt on the bamboo slips, researchers identified them as written documents that record many historical events, mostly
112 Hunan sheng Wenwu Kaogu Yanjiusuo 湖南省文物考古硏究所 and Cili xian Wenwu Baohu Guanli Yanjiusuo
慈利縣文物保護管理硏究所, “Hunan Cili Shibancun 36 hao Zhanguo mu Fajue Jianbao” 湖南慈利石板村36 號戰國墓發堀簡報, Wenwu 文物 10 (1990): 37-48; Hunan sheng Wenwu Kaogu Yanjiusuo 湖南省文物考古硏究所 and Cili xian Wenwu Baohu Guanli Yanjiusuo 慈利縣文物保護管理硏究所, “Hunan Cili xian Shiban cun Zhanguo mu” 湖南慈利石板村戰國墓, Kaogu xuebao 考古學報 2 (1995): 173-207.
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between two rival countries in Southern region, namely, Wu 吳 and Yue 越. Early researchers of Wenwu and Kaogu xuebao reported that these records of the events of Wu and Yue parallel some contents of the transmitted historical texts such as Guoyu, Zhanguo ce, and Yue zueshu 越絶書. However, a later researcher, Zhang Chunlong 張春龍, based on a more developed transcription of the slips with the help of Qiu Xiqui 裘錫圭 and Li Jiahao 李家浩, reported that there are two calligraphically distinguishable versions of text that parallel the transmitted “Dawu” 大武 chapter of the Yi Zhoushu 逸周書, and some lost passages or chapters from such received works as the Guanzi 管子 and the Ning Yuezi 寧越子.113
However, the full texts of those excavated manuscripts with photographic images have not been made public yet. What we have now as the primary material for the study of Cili Chu bamboo slip manuscripts are the aforementioned transcriptions by Zhang Chunlong, who has been able to access the Cili manuscripts in person, and three photographic images each of which was separately released in the Wenwu journal (1992), Kaogu xuebao (1995), and a monograph entitled Hunan Kaogu Manbu 湖南考古漫步 (1999).114 Sporadic research on this manuscript in China so far has
also been based on these accessible primary materials.
The photographic image of the slips in the Wenwu The image in the Hunan Kaogu Manbu
113 Zhang Chunlong 張春龍, “Cili Chujian gaishu” 慈利楚簡槪述, in Xinchu jianbo yanjiu 新出簡帛硏究, (Beijing:
Wenwu, 2004), 4-11.
114 Hunan sheng Wenwu Kaogu Yanjiusuo 湖南省文物考古硏究所 ed., Hunan Kaogu Manbu 湖南考古漫步,
(Changsha: Hunan Meishu Chubanshe, 1999), 52-53. Xiao Yi 肖毅 provides his own transcription of the graphs on these three images in his “Cili zhushu lingshi” 慈利竹書零釋, Guwenzi yanjiu 古文字硏究 26(2006):330-334.
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Based on the transcription by Zhang and the photographic images, most Chinese researchers agree that the Cili Chu bamboo slip manuscript made public is identifiable as a Chu version of Guoyu and Yi Zhoushu text. For example, despite the significant difference in wording between Cili “Dawu” parallel text and the “Dawu” of the Yi Zhoushu,115 Zhang Chunlong regards
115 The “Dawu” 大武 (Great Battle), as its title indicates, is a dry, formulaic essay about military strategy or effectively
engage in battle. The comparison between the Cili text and the received “Sibu congkan” 四部叢刊 version, shows that at least during the late fourth century in Chu, there was a significantly different version of this text in circulation.
慈利楚簡 大武 Parallel Text 逸周書 大武 1 武有七制: 征, 攻, 侵, 伐, 搏, 戰, 斗. 武有六制：政、攻、侵、伐、陳、戰。善政不 攻，善攻不侵，善侵不伐，善伐不陳，善陳不 戰。政有九因，因有四戚五和；攻有九開，開有 四凶、五良；侵有七酌，酌有四聚、三斂；伐有 七機，機有四時、三興；陳有七來，來有三哀、 四赦；戰有十一振，振有六厲、五衛；鬬有十一 客，客有六庠、五虞。四戚：一內姓，二外婚， 三友朋，四同里。五和：一有天無惡，二有人無 隙，三同好相固，四同惡相助，五遠宅不薄。凡 此九者，政之因也。四凶：一攻天時，二攻地 宜，三攻人德，四攻行利。五良：一取仁，二取 智，三取勇，四取材，五取藝。凡此九者，攻之 開也。四聚：一酌之以仁，二懷之以樂，三旁聚 封人，四設圍以信。三斂：一男女比，二工次， 三祗人死。凡此七者，侵之酌也。四時：一春違 其農，二夏食其穀，三秋取其刈，四冬凍其葆。 三興：一政以和時，二伐亂以治，三伐飢以飽。 凡此七者，伐之機也。三哀：一要不羸，二喪 人，三擯厥親。四赦：一勝人必嬴，二取威信 復，三人樂生身，四赦民所惡。凡此七者，陳之 來也。六厲：一仁厲以行，二智厲以道，三武厲 以勇，四師厲以士，五校正厲御，六射師厲伍。 五衛：一明仁懷恕，二明智輔謀，三明武攝勇， 四明材攝士，五明藝攝官。凡此十一者，戰之振 也。六庠：一明令，二明醜，三明賞，四明罰， 五利兵，六競竟。五虞：一鼓走疑，二備從來， 三佐車舉旗，四采虞人謀，五後動撚之。凡此十 一者，鬬之客也。無競惟害，有功無敗。 2 不搏善搏, 獸不斗善斗. 3 □□六厲五衛, 斗有六庠五虞 4 四曰同惡相助, 五曰遠宅不薄, 凡此九子政 之因 5 四攻: 一曰攻天時, 二曰攻地宜, 三曰攻人 德, 四曰攻兵利 6 六庠: 一曰明命; 二曰明恥; 三曰明… 六曰 恒志
Summary: This essay in the “Dawu” of the Yi Zhoushu first lists the type of battle and the factors to make an impact on each type of battle specifically, and then discusses how to achieve victory in those battles.
Here I use the transcription offered by Wang Lianlong 王連龍, “Cili Chujian Dawu jiaodu liuce” 慈利楚簡<大武>校讀六則, Kaogu 考古 3 (2012): 70-73. For transmitted version of the “Dawu” text, I used Huang Huaixin 黃懷信, Yi Zhoushu huijiao jizhu 逸周書彙校集注, vol 1, (Shanghai: Shanghai guji, 2007), 104-121.
Compared to the transmitted text that begins with the sentence, “There are six ways of controlling the battle: correction, mustering, intruding with troops, advancing without bells and drums, advancing with bells and drums, ambush attack, and staged battle,” the Cili parallel text adds one more way of control, that is dou 斗 (鬦, 鬪, 鬭) which may be translated as “melee.”
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these slips as evidence to prove that the received Guoyu and Yi Zhoushu did exist and were already in circulation in the Chu at the time.116 However, there is no evidence for us to know whether the
Cili manuscripts were drawn from a pre-existing Guoyu or Yi Zhoushu text in possession of copyists. As is mentioned in Chapter 1, however similar the contents are to that of the received Guoyu or Yi Zhoushu, we should not regard them as directly taken or copied from these texts unless there is evidence to establish any concrete relationship between the two texts. In the absence of such evidence, we should make an effort to understand the nature of the text in its own context, not arbitrarily assign it a place in a preconceived chronology or frame.
Even though Zhang Chunlong draws the status of Cili manuscripts directly from that of the received Guoyu and Yi Zhoushu texts, he also notices a possibility that since the texts that parallel the Guoyu and Yi Zhoushu were excavated from the same tomb, it may be evidence that the two works in earlier forms were closely connected or even that the two works were originally one unified text but were separated only by later copyists.117 Despite the textual difference between
“Dawu” and “Wuyu” that one can find on the surface of the texts, Zhang’s opinion is worth being reflected upon, especially because these received texts are inconsistent and heterogeneous in their form and content. In terms of length, theme, style, choice of materials, and overall layout between sections, one can easily find inconsistencies. Both on the text and chapter level, one finds textual heterogeneity. The received text, Guoyu, which I will discuss below, also exemplifies this point. Considering this, Zhang’s point, which has not yet attracted due scholarly attention, is noteworthy.
The Guoyu: Nature and Origin
The Cili parallels a new perspective on the received Guoyu. What kind of text is the Guoyu? The Guoyu, translatable as “Dialogues of the States,” “Speeches of the States,” or “Discourses of the States,” is a transmitted text that consists of a collection of 240 to 241 speeches, in various lengths, attributed to rulers and politicians from the late Western Zhou to the Spring and Autumn period (771–476 BCE).118 The speeches, accompanied by brief descriptions of historical events,
It is interesting to note that the citation of “Dawu” in the earliest surviving collectanea (leishu 類書) Beitang shuchao 北堂書鈔, which is generally regarded as to reflect the sources circulating in the Tang at earliest, is the same as the Cili parallel text (quoted from Zhang Chunlong, 2004, 8). This implies that the version that was closer to the Cili one might have still been circulating by the time of the composition of Beitang shuchao.
116 See Zhang Chunlong, “Cili Chujian gaishu,” 9-11. But not all Chinese scholars view the Cili Chu bamboo slip
manuscripts as the Chu versions of Guoyu and Yi Zhoushu. For example, Zhang Zheng 張錚 argues that they are a part of a lost Chu historical text, Duoshi Wei 鐸氏微, recorded in the “Yiwenzhi” of the Hanshu. See Zhang Zheng, “Hunan Cili chutu Chujian neirong bianxi” 湖南慈利出土楚簡內容辨析, Qiusuo 求索, June, 2007: 212-213.
117 Zhang Chunlong, “Cili Chujian gaishu,” 10. Focusing more on the different traits of genre between Yi Zhoushu and
Guoyu, Xia Dekao disagrees with Zhang and argues that Cili manuscript shows only the early textual state of the received Guoyu, and it does not support that these two received text could have belonged to the same text. See Xia Dekao 夏德靠, “Lun Cili Chujian de xingzhi” 論慈利楚簡的性質, Kaili xueyuan xuebao 凱里學院學報 29.2 (April 2011): 43-46.
118 Brief scholarly introductions of this text are found in David Knechtges, “Guoyu” in Ancient and Early Medieval