Listen to this articlechūnqiū 春秋
The Spring and Autumn Annals / The Spring and Autumn Period
儒家经典之一。相传由孔子根据鲁国编年史编订加工而成，记载了鲁隐公元年（公元前722年）至鲁哀公十四年（公元前481年）间计242年的历史。《春秋》是编年体史书的始祖，故而亦作为编年体史书的通称。《春秋》纪事简短，文字凝练，后世儒者认为它含有“微言大义”，将这种委婉曲折而寓褒贬的写作手法称为“春秋笔法”。解释《春秋》的有《左传》《公羊传》《穀梁传》，合称“《春秋》三传”（其中，《公羊传》和《穀梁传》主要解释《春秋》义理，而《左传》记载这一时期的史实，与解经没有关系）。“春秋”也用来指“春秋时代”（因《春秋》得名），其起讫年代，有两种说法：一指《春秋》所记载的历史时期，一指自公元前770年周平王东迁至公元前476年这一时期。
The Spring and Autumn Annals is one of the Confucian classics, believed to have been compiled by Confucius based on the chronicles of the State of Lu. The book covers a period of 242 years from the first year of the reign of Duke Yin of Lu (722 BC) to the 14th year of the reign of Duke Ai (481 BC). The book was China’s first chronological history, and its title has come to mean all chronological histories. Its records of events are brief and its style is concise. Later Confucian scholars regarded the book as having “subtle words with profound meanings,” and described its implied and indirect style of writing, which makes both positive and negative criticism, as “The Spring and Autumn Annals style.” Zuo’s Commentary on The Spring and Autumn Annals, Gongyang’s Commentary on The Spring and Autumn Annals, and Guliang’s Commentary on The Spring and Autumn Annals, together known as the “Three Commentaries,”are explications of this work. (Gongyang’s and Guliang’s commentaries explain the reasoning in the book, while Zuo’s commentary records historical events of this period but does not interpret The Spring and Autumn Annals. ) “Spring and Autumn” also refers to the Spring and Autumn Period, an era named after The Spring and Autumn Annals. There are two views about the period it spans: One is the period covered in the Annals, the other is the period from 770 BC, when King Ping of Zhou moved his capital from near present-day Xi’an in the west to present-day Luoyang in the east, until the year of 476 BC.
引例 Citations：
◎故君子曰：“《春秋》之称微而显，志而晦，婉而成章，尽而不污，惩恶而劝善，非圣人谁能修之？”（《左传·成公十四年》）
（所以君子说：“《春秋》用词细密而意义显豁，记述史实而内容幽深，婉转有致但顺理成章，直言其事绝不迂曲，惩戒邪恶而勉励向善。如果不是圣人，谁能够编写？”）
Therefore the noble man said, “The style of The Spring and Autumn Annals is implicit but the meaning of the book is clear; it records both events and their profound significance. It is subtle yet logical, thorough yet not verbose. It chastises evil deeds and urges people to do good deeds. Who but a sage could have compiled this?” (Zuo’s Commentary on The Spring and Autumn Annals)
◎世衰道微，邪说暴行有作，臣弑其君者有之，子弑其父者有之。孔子惧，作《春秋》。（《孟子·滕文公下》）
（世风道德逐渐衰微，荒谬学说和残暴行径不断出现，有臣子杀死君王的，有儿子杀死父亲的。孔子深为忧虑，所以编写了《春秋》。）
Social mores and moral conduct were in decline; evil theories and violent deeds kept emerging; some subjects killed their rulers and some sons killed their fathers. Deeply worried, Confucius compiled The Spring and Autumn Annals. (Mencius)
