Table of Contents

List of Tables
List of Sets
Acknowledgments
Scholarly Conventions
Chronology: Lu Rulers of the Spring and Autumn
Introduction
1. Orientations: Approaches to Spring and Autumn Historiography
2. Recording the Day
3. Encoding Individual Rank
4. An Idealized Interstate Order
5.Registering Judgments
6. Concealing Submission
Conclusions: Spring and Autumn Historiography and the Formally Regular Core
Appendix 1: Defining a “Record”
Appendix 2: Event Types in the Spring and Autumn
Appendix 3: Diachronic Changes in Frequency and Form in the Spring and Autumn
Notes
Bibliography
Index

About the Author

Newell Ann Van Auken teaches at the University of Iowa. She is the author of The Commentarial Transformation of the Spring and Autumn (2016).

Reviews

Newell Ann Van Auken’s pathbreaking scholarship demolishes the old conventional view of the Spring and Autumn as a dull and uninteresting chronicle. Her elegant analysis of how the text’s rule-based formulaic language served the interests of the lords of Lu opens the way to an exciting new view of the political dynamics of early China.
*John S. Major, cotranslator of Luxuriant Gems of the Spring and Autumn*

Lucid and rigorous, this analysis of the Spring and Autumn is the most valuable study we have of this important early Chinese chronicle. Van Auken’s careful reconstruction of the formal requirements for event notations in the chronicle dramatically advances our understanding of this crucial type of historiographical activity, calling into doubt the traditional association of the chronicle with Confucius and revealing its function in displaying the hierarchical claims and ambitions of the state of Lu.
*David Schaberg, author of A Patterned Past: Form and Thought in Early Chinese Historiography*

This book-length study of Chunqiu (Spring and Autumn), the first in a Western language, is clearly written and impeccably argued. Through careful analysis, Van Auken convincingly demonstrates that ancient Lu annalists created a rigid verbal form through which they present an idealized and blatantly biased picture of their home state. A brilliant study certain to become a foundation for all subsequent Chunqiu scholarship.
*Stephen Durrant, professor emeritus, University of Oregon*

This book is an eye-opener. Combining philological acumen with theoretical understanding, Van Auken uncovers the regular patterns that underlie the Spring and Autumn. Her analysis of how the text arranges—or omits—information provides unprecedented insight into the history and function of this seemingly enigmatic classic.
*Kai Vogelsang, Universität Hamburg*

Van Auken has resolved two millennia of scholarly speculation and partial interpretations...Spring and Autumn Historiography is a remarkable academic achievement.
*Journal of Chinese History*

The author’s ability to use plain language to discuss—and solve—difficult questions relating to history and textual criticism make the book an invaluable teaching tool, well suited for both under graduate and graduate-level courses
*Journal of the American Oriental Society*

Van Auken’s reconstruction of Lu scribal rules is an epoch-marking contribution to Chunqiu studies and to our understanding of early Chinese historiographical practices.
*Journal of Asian Studies*

Van Auken has done the field an immense service by clarifying the rules and principles informing the lapidary and often frustrating work known as Chunqiu, helping us understand—as never before—why it tells us what it does and declines to tell us what it does not. As a guide to these protocols, her book is unlikely to be surpassed in our lifetimes.
*Chinese Studies International*