Legends of the Warring States

The origins of the Chan-kuo Tse (Intrigues of the warring states) as an entity can be traced to a palace librarian at the Han Court, Liu Hsiang (766 BCE), who compiled and edited the pre-Han texts (c. 300221 BCE) into a single volume and gave the collection a name. Thereafter, surviving manuscripts show the Chan-kuo Tse circulated during the Later Han Dynasty. Sometime during the years of decline and following the fall of the Han Dynasty, the Chan-kuo Tse began to acquire the aura of a wicked book, somewhat analogous to Niccolo Machiavellis The Prince. From time to time it was seen as one of a number of books that could unlock immense power in an era characterized both by widespread illiteracy and common belief in literacy and scholarship as the best if not the only vehicle to any goal. After 400 CE, there is no record of the text until it was reconstructed by an 11th-century scholar, Tseng Kung, who formed a model for critical circulation for the next nine centuries. This volume presents selections and commentary by the premier Western translator and interpreter of the Chan-kuo Ts'eninety pieces singled out for their literary sophistication and sprightliness of conception. It also features more complete warring states narratives, the romancespersuasions of four of the best-known figures, Fan Ch, Chang Yi, Su Ch'in, and Ch'un-shen Chn, augmented by biographical material from the Shi-chi. This reader highlights both the nature of Chan-kuo Ts'e, an important pre-Han collection, and its considerable pleasures.