Zhuāngwáng Jì Chéng 莊王既成
After King Zhuang Had Completed [the Fortifications] (modern editorial title, from the opening phrase)
(anonymous; excavated bamboo manuscript, no attributable author)
About the work
Zhuāngwáng Jì Chéng 莊王既成 is one of the texts in 馬承源 Mǎ Chéngyuán ed., 《上海博物館藏戰國楚竹書》 vol. 6, Shànghǎi gǔjí chūbǎnshè 上海古籍出版社, 2007, represented by a single bamboo strip of approximately 30 graphs. It may be part of the same text cluster as the adjacent Chu court narratives in the volume (KR2p0062 KR2p0062, KR2p0063 KR2p0063, KR2p0064 KR2p0064).
Abstract
The sole surviving strip reads: “King Zhuāng, having fortified Yū Lǒu 雩婁, asked Shěn Yǐn Zǐ Jǐng 沈尹子莖: ‘Having now fortified Yū Lǒu — to serve [as a depot] for the spring and autumn sacrifices and to stock the provisions of the four neighbours — for how many generations will those who come after preserve it?‘” (莊王既城雩婁，以問沈尹子莖，曰：「吾既果城雩婁，以[供]春秋之嘗，以庤四鄰之犒，繄後之人幾何保之？」)
The setting is the reign of King Zhuāng of Chǔ 楚莊王 (r. 613–591 BCE), one of the Spring and Autumn hegemons (bà 霸). Yū Lǒu 雩婁 is a Chu territory (in modern Henan). Shěn Yǐn Zǐ Jǐng 沈尹子莖 is a Chu minister. The question — how long will the fortification be preserved by posterity? — is a reflection on political durability, a theme central to Warring States governance discourse. The Shěn Yǐn’s response is not preserved.
Translations and research
- 馬承源 ed., 《上海博物館藏戰國楚竹書》 vol. 6, Shànghǎi gǔjí chūbǎnshè, 2007 — editio princeps.
- No substantial secondary literature located on this specific fragment.
Links
- Wikipedia (Shanghai Museum bamboo texts): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_Museum_bamboo_texts