Several hundred city-states emerged in Ancient China after 771 B.C. only to disappear during the later Warring States Period (481-221 B.C.).
JOHN MAJOR – Director of China Council of Asia Society – Former Professor at Dartmouth College
Dear Mr. Kolkey,
There certainly was more than enough ambition and self-aggrandizement to go around during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. Two examples are the events throughout the 5th century BCE leading up to the partition of the state of Jin, and the somewhat later civil wars that wracked the state of Qi. Earl (or Count) Zhi -- Zhi bo -- is a standard illustration of overreaching ambition as the prime mover in the fall of Jin.
Slightly old-fashioned but satisfyingly narrative accounts of these events can be found in Henri Maspero's China in Antiquity (tr. Frank Kierman, U. Mass. Press, 1978), pp. 225-232 ff....
best wishes,
John Major
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ALAN WOOD – Ph.D. University of Washington – Professor at University of Washington, Bothell
Jonathan,
There is a text for you to look at, one of the three or four greatest novels in Chinese literature—Three Kingdoms. The best translation is by Moss Roberts. It’s the closest thing to Thucydides in the Chinese tradition, really a fascinating, fascinating work about strategy and war. It would be perfect for your purposes.
--Alan
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DAVID SCHABERG – Ph.D. Harvard University – Professor at University of California, Los Angeles
Dear Dr. Kolkey:
In the Zhanguoce or Strategems of the Warring States, translated by James I. Crump and published by Clarendon, Oxford, 1970 (DS747.2 .C36c), you will be able to find a number of examples of factional politics leading to war and influencing battlefield behavior. The text is not reliable history, but rather a long series of anecdotal frames for strategic speeches. Nonetheless, you will find much of interest.
Similarly, in those portions of Sima Qian's Shiji (Records of the Historian or Records of the Grand Scribe), especially in the sections dealing with the Warring States period, you will find instances of military policy dictated by hidden factional motives.
But I'd start, I think, with a set of articles on the concept of the "city-state" as it relates to early China. An acquaintance of mine, Yuri Pines, has recently gathered these references in an email, which I will forward to you shortly.
Best,
David
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YURI PINES – Professor of History, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Jonathan,
I think I understand what you would like to look for; the problem is that Chinese example is problematic....
The polities (large and small alike) of the SA period were ruled by aristocratic oligarchy: usually a few major lineages possessed much of the administrative, economic and military power, with a ruler being a ritual figurehead. By the 6-5th cc BCE these lineages determined political course of major states of the Chinese world.
Surely enough, we have not a few instances of war/peace/alliance determined exclusively due to the lineage interests and not to more "common good" (although it is in any case not clear what was "common" then - the ruler was supposed to represent the "common" interests of the polity, but this was rarely done).
The Zuo zhuan provides not a few examples of this kind; e.g. behavior of the Ji lineage in Lu; of the Fan lineage in Jin; of a few Zheng ministerial lineages and the like. There is no good discussion of this topic in Western Sinology; but you can wait for a few months before the publication of the full and excellently annotated translation of the Zuo zhuan by the U. of Washington Press - and will find the instances to which I refer. If you read Chinese, shall provide you references earlier.
The Warring States era was marked by significant changes in the composition and functioning of the states. There was no independent elite then; but there were not a few accusations that many conflicts/alliances were motivated by private greed of the leading ministers. You can read it in the "Intrigues of the Warring States" translated by Crump.
All the best,
Yuri.
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KIDDER SMITH – Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley – Professor at Bowdin College
Dear Jonathan,
What an intriguing project! And I wish I were going to be of more help to it.... Probably the best source for these matters is the Zuozhuan. And, if you read German, you might find something useful in
Author Kolb, Raimund Theodor
Title Die Infanterie im alten China : ein Beitrag zur Militärgeschichte der Vor-Zhan-Guo-Zeit / von Raimund Theodor Kolb
Imprint Mainz am Rhein : P. von Zabern, 1991
book jacket
Preview this book in Google Book
LOCATION CALL NO. STATUS
Main Libr UA838.I54 K65 1991
And of course, as I noted earlier, Mark Lewis' work. My favorite fellow from that time is Zichan, who argued a host of points that may be relevant to your thesis.
Yet, as you note, it is difficult to get close enough to the actors to identify their motivations with both enough clarity and diversity of data that you can make an argument applicable to other places and times. So while you might be able to aptly illustrate your thesis with ancient Chinese examples, it seems to me hard to establish it based primarily on that history. A further complication is that in early China it is often difficult to disaggregate the personal from the state. It's like the arguments people had about Mao and the Cultural Revolution--was it about ideology or power?--not realizing that the two were inseparable in that world.
I do wish I could be more helpful. If I have generated further thoughts or questions, do let me know. Otherwise, I will wish you all the best with this. For, indeed as you suspect, war is so dreadfully often a private and personal battle writ large upon an innocent world.
Kidder
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E. BRUCE BROOKS -- Ph.D. University of Washington – Director, Warring States Project, University of Massachusetts at Amherst
Jonathan,
I guess so. There is no secret about our findings; they are continuing to be
published; a good number of them will be out in a couple of months.
Electronically, I might also mention our general information channel,
http://www.umass.edu/wsp/implications/ask/index.html....
Best wishes,
Bruce
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MARK EDWARD LEWIS – Ph.D. University of Chicago – Professor at Stanford University
Dear Dr. Kolkey,
There is actually a chronicle/narrative that provides sometimes detailed accounts of the background to and conduct of city-state wars in China. It is called the Zuo zhuan (or Tso chuan in Wade-Giles). It was completely translated by James Legge in the "Scared Books of the East" series, although the page layout makes it extraordinarily difficult to follow. These is also a translation of selected extracts by Burton Watson, published by Columbia University. As for the question that you are analyzing, I discuss aspects of it in Chapter One of my book Sanctioned Violence in Early China. This chapter, entitled "The Warrior Aristocracy" deals with the interrelated forms of violence including warfare, sacrifice, blood oaths, and vendetta. The discussions of warfare and vengeance both examine the interplay between factional struggles in the cities and their wars, as well as the close ties between internal and external wars in the period....
Yours sincerely,
Mark Edward Lewis
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DAVID N. KEIGHTLTEY -- Ph..D. -- Professor at University of California, Berkeley
Dear Dr. Kolkey,
Thank you for your account of your ambitious research project. I wish you every success....
At some point, you would probably need to sit down and read through the Zuozhuan from A to Z, looking for your factions. I don't know that anybody has done this. Sima Qian's Shiji would also be valuable since he, I think, was willing to refer to factional struggles in the various states....
Once again, good luck with your research. If I run into any factions, I'll certainly let you know
David N. Keightley
Professor Emeritus
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