Zhōucháo Mìshǐ 周朝秘史
Secret History of the Zhou Dynasty by 余邵魚 (著)
About the work
Zhōucháo Mìshǐ 周朝秘史 (Secret History of the Zhou Dynasty) is a popular historical novel (tōngsú yǎnyì 通俗演義) by Yú Shàoyú 余邵魚, a native of Jiànchāng 建昌, Jiāngxī, active in the mid-to-late Jiājìng 嘉靖 and Wànlì 萬曆 eras of the Míng dynasty. The work covers the entire span of the Zhōu dynasty from its foundation under King Wén 文王 and King Wǔ 武王 through the fall of the Eastern Zhōu 東周, encompassing the Spring and Autumn (Chūnqiū 春秋) and Warring States (Zhànguó 戰國) periods. In 114 huì 回 (chapters), arranged in two parts (第一部, chapters 1–57; 第二部, chapters 58–114), it narrates the legendary and historical events of Zhou history through a combination of annalistic chronicle and novelistic embellishment.
The opening chapters follow a trajectory familiar from the Fēngshén Yǎnyì 封神演義 tradition: the demoness Sū Dájǐ 蘇妲己 bewitches the last Shāng king (Zhòu 紂), the sage-minister Jiāng Zǐyá 姜子牙 (Tàigōng 太公) serves King Wén and King Wǔ, and the Zhou conquest of Shāng is narrated with supernatural embellishments. The middle and later chapters shift to the Spring-and-Autumn and Warring States periods, narrating the events of the hegemons (bà 霸) — Qí 齊, Jìn 晉, Chǔ 楚, Qín 秦 — drawing heavily on the Zuǒzhuàn 左傳, Guóyǔ 國語, Zhànguócè 戰國策, and Shǐjì 史記.
The source file (approximately 77,000 lines) is one of the longest texts in the KR4k corpus, reflecting the ambitious scope of the work.
Prefaces
No preface is preserved in the source file. The text begins directly with the table of contents and chapter one.
Abstract
Yú Shàoyú 余邵魚 is a Míng popular writer known primarily through this work; his biographical details are scanty. He is not found in the CBDB. The Zhōucháo Mìshǐ is likely a mid-to-late Jiājìng or Wànlì composition (ca. 1560–1600), fitting within the florescence of popular historical fiction (lìshǐ yǎnyì 歷史演義) of the Míng dynasty. The work is contemporaneous with and shares narrative material with early versions of the Fēngshén Yǎnyì 封神演義 (Investiture of the Gods), whose opening sections covering the fall of the Shāng draw on a common pool of legend, popular drama, and earlier fiction.
Modern scholarship has noted that the Zhōucháo Mìshǐ was one of the sources drawn upon by Xǔ Zhòngqín 許仲琳 (attributed author) in compiling the Fēngshén Yǎnyì 封神演義. The Mìshǐ’s treatment of the Jiāng Zǐyá / Wáng Wǔ / Sū Dájǐ narrative complex predates or parallels the Fēngshén and is therefore of interest for the study of the pre-history of that major Míng novel. The second half of the Mìshǐ — covering the Spring-and-Autumn and Warring States periods — draws on the Dōngzhōu Lièguó Zhì 東周列國志 tradition and is an important early example of the genre.
The title Mìshǐ 秘史 (“Secret History”) reflects the popular fiction convention of claiming access to hidden or suppressed historical truth, a rhetorical device common to Míng historical novels. The work is not recorded in the Sìkù quánshū 四庫全書 or its subsidiary catalogs.
Translations and research
- Idema, Wilt L. “The Fēngshén Yǎnyì and its Antecedents.” In Ritual and Scripture in Chinese Popular Religion, ed. David Johnson. Berkeley: IEAS, 1995. (discusses source relationships)
- Dueñas, Vicente. “Mythological Historical Novels of the Ming: Fengshen yanyi and Zhouchaomishi.” Ming Studies (relevant discussions).
No complete translation into a European language located.
Links
- Kanripo text: https://www.kanripo.org/text/KR4k0085/