Xiāng Bāng Zhī Dào 相邦之道
The Way of the Chancellor (modern editorial title, after the key phrase in the text)
(anonymous; excavated bamboo manuscript, no attributable author)
About the work
Xiāng Bāng Zhī Dào 相邦之道 is one of the texts in 馬承源 Mǎ Chéngyuán ed., 《上海博物館藏戰國楚竹書》 vol. 4, Shànghǎi gǔjí chūbǎnshè 上海古籍出版社, 2004. The text is extremely fragmentary, comprising only approximately 3 bamboo strips with roughly 50 legible graphs. The surviving content appears to be a dialogue touching on the role and conduct of a chancellor (xiāng bāng 相邦), featuring the instruction of or question to Confucius (Kǒngzǐ 孔子).
Abstract
The text is too fragmentary for a full reconstruction. The surviving strips contain:
Strip 1 (KR2p0049_tls_001-1a): a series of maxims — “First master its desire, serve (fú 服) the strong, tend (mù 牧) its troubles; be still and wait; wait for the time to act; hence all affairs issue from governance, governance does not forget the matter to be governed” (先其欲，服其強，牧其患靜以待，待時出故此事事出政，政毋忘所治事). This passage may be a self-standing aphorism on administrative readiness.
Strip 2 (KR2p0049_tls_001-2a): contains the phrase ”… one who can [govern?] people, can be called Chancellor of the State” (rén, kě wèi xiāng bāng yǐ 人，可謂相邦矣) followed by a question attributed to a Lord (Gōng 公): “May I ask about the affairs of the people?” — and then the attribution “Confucius” (Kǒngzǐ 孔子), suggesting this is a ruler–Confucius dialogue.
Strip 3 (KR2p0049_tls_001-3a): economic-military content: “Farmers are encouraged to plough, to fill the official granaries; craftsmen are encouraged in their affairs, to fill the treasury; the common people are encouraged in the arts of the four limbs, to provide for the army” (農夫勸於耕，以實官倉百工勸於事，以實府庫庶民勸於四肢之藝，以備軍旅). This three-way productive structure (agriculture / crafts / labour) contributing to fiscal and military capacity is a common formula in Warring States governance texts.
Given the tiny size of the surviving text, it is uncertain whether these three strips belong to a single coherent text or represent fragments of a longer lost work. The xiāng bāng 相邦 terminology (chancellor of the state) is attested in bronze inscriptions and texts of the Warring States period and was a senior administrative title in Qín and other states.
Translations and research
- 馬承源 ed., 《上海博物館藏戰國楚竹書》 vol. 4, Shànghǎi gǔjí chūbǎnshè, 2004 — editio princeps.
- Pines, Yuri. Envisioning Eternal Empire. University of Hawai’i Press, 2009 — background on Warring States governance discourse and the office of chancellor.
Links
- Wikipedia (Shanghai Museum bamboo texts): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_Museum_bamboo_texts