Zuo Qiuming
Zuo Qiuming, Zuoqiu Ming or Qiu Ming was a Chinese historian who was a contemporary of Confucius. He lived in the Lu state during the Spring and Autumn period. He was a historian, litterateur, thinker and essayist who worked as a Lu official.
The influential historical narrative Zuo Zhuan is traditionally attributed to him; as well as Guoyu. One tradition, according to the Records of the Grand Historian, holds that he was blind.
In the Analects, Confucius complimented Zuo Qiu Ming's moral stance and conduct; he also received praise for his academic contributions.
Ideology
The basic philosophical outlook of Zuo Zhuan, attributed to Zuo Qiu Ming, is strongly Confucian in nature. The Zuo Zhuan overarching theme is that haughty, evil, and stupid people generally bring disaster upon themselves, while those who are good, wise, and humble are usually justly rewarded. The Confucian principle of "ritual propriety" or "ceremony" is seen as governing all actions, including war, and to bring bad consequences if transgressed. However, the observance of li is never shown as guaranteeing victory, and the Zuo Zhuan includes many examples of the good and innocent suffering senseless violence. Much of the Zuo Zhuan′s status as a literary masterpiece stems from its "relentlessly realistic portrayal of a turbulent era marked by violence, political strife, intrigues, and moral laxity".The narratives of the Zuo Zhuan are highly didactic in nature, and are presented in such a way that they teach and illustrate moral principles. Unlike the Histories of Herodotus or the History of the Peloponnesian War of Thucydides, with which it is roughly contemporary, the Zuo Zhuan′s narration always remains in the third person perspective, and presents as a dispassionate recorder of facts. The German Sinologist Martin Kern observed: "Instead of offering authorial judgments or catechistic hermeneutics, the Zuo Zhuan lets its moral lessons unfold within the narrative itself, teaching at once history and historical judgment."
For instance, here Zuo Zhuan instructed how a should behave.
Publications
Zuo Zhuan and Guoyu were both attributed to Zuo Qiuming.Zuo Zhuan
Zuo Zhuan is the earliest detailed and vividly narrated chronological history of China. At the same time, it is also a historical narrative with the highest literary quality.Guo Yu
Sima Qian first proposed that Zuo Qiuming was the author of Guoyu. Tang scholar Yan Shigu, while annotating Book of Han, also attributed Guoyus authorship to Zuo Qiu Ming. Later other scholars doubted it and had different opinions on who is the author of Guo Yu, one example is Fu Xuan, who first raised the counterview that Zuo Qiuming isn't the author of Zuo Zhuan.Guo Yus compilation method is based on the classification of countries, in Chinese Guo; taking language, in Chinese Yu as the core, hence receives the name Guo Yu. Guo Yu is the first Chinese history book in national style.
Historical evaluations
Yuezheng Zichun, a disiciple of Confucius's disciple Zengzi, praised Zuo Qiu Ming as a gentleman, Sima Qian honored Zuo Qiu Ming as the gentleman of Lu.Zuo Qiu Ming is regarded as "the ancestor of hundreds of characters, the ancestor of ancient literature".