The Rites of Zhou (Complete Text, Full Annotation, Full Translation)

Name: The Rites of Zhou (Complete Text, Full Annotation, Full Translation)
ISBN: 9787101098075

周公旦 / 徐正英 / 常佩雨Zhonghua Book Company2014

4.3

Word count: 560K words
Chapters: 8
Series: Chinese Classics: Complete Text, Full Annotation, Full Translation Series
ISBN: 9787101098075

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Summary

The Rites of Zhou, originally titled The Offices of Zhou, The Classic of Zhou Offices, or The Rites of Zhou Offices, is a monograph among the Confucian Thirteen Classics that systematically and completely describes the establishment and division of functions of state institutions. It is also China's first detailed political code depicting such important state political systems as the official system, ritual system, military system, land system, and tax system, providing a comprehensive reference framework for the institutional construction of successive dynasties from the late Western Han onward and exerting a profound influence on the history of ancient political thought and culture. The book is organized into six major sections—the Heavenly Offices of the Grand Steward, the Earthly Offices of the Minister of Education, the Spring Offices of the Master of Rites, the Summer Offices of the Minister of War, the Autumn Offices of the Minister of Justice, and the Winter Offices of the Records of Examination of Craftsmen—and records more than three hundred official positions, covering everything from state construction, government and law, culture and education, rites, music, military affairs, and punishments to palaces, carriages, horses, food, clothing, plants, insects, fish, and craft production, and has been acclaimed as "an encyclopedia of ancient civilization." This translation is included in the Zhonghua Book Company's Chinese Classics: Complete Text, Full Annotation, Full Translation Series. The canonical text is based on the Rites of Zhou with Commentary and Subcommentary in the 1980 Zhonghua Book Company photo-offset edition of Ruan Yuan's collated Thirteen Classics with Commentary and Subcommentary; the annotations and translations fully absorb the Han dynasty commentary of Zheng Xuan and the Tang dynasty subcommentary of Jia Gongyan, extending to Sun Yirang's Qing dynasty Rectified Meaning of the Rites of Zhou and modern and contemporary archaeological and technological research. Each section is preceded by an introductory note, with annotations section by section and modern translations sentence by sentence; the annotations are detailed and the translations fluent and clear, and a bibliography of principal citations is appended. It is a reliable popular edition for general readers to understand this ancient political code. The book comprises two volumes, with more than one thousand pages of main text and approximately 560,000 characters.

Editor's review

《周礼》在“三礼”中最像一部制度蓝图：它不写具体的朝聘射飨仪节，而是把整个国家从上到下拆成一个个有名有姓的官职，再逐条标明各职官各管什么、用什么人、领多少属吏。这样的书，没有注译几乎无法读，而中华书局的这一“三全本”正好补上了这道门槛。其一，底本与注疏来源可靠。经文用中华书局影印阮元校勘《十三经注疏》本，注释吸收郑玄注、贾公彦疏、孙诒让《周礼正义》一脉成果，又参照考古与科技史研究，既有经学根柢，也不回避新材料。其二，译注体例亲民：每官前有题解，说明职掌与制度背景；原文分段出注，注后附译，读者可以“读一句、懂一句”。其三，两册装帧、字号排印都按“日常翻阅”设计，一千多页读起来不至于压抑。需要提醒的是，它不是孙诒让《周礼正义》那样的考据大全，也不是面向大众的节选本，而是“全本、全注、全译”的普及型善本。对初入经学的读者，它比直接啃注疏要友好得多；对研究者，它也可以充当案头检索与对照的便捷读本。

Who it's for

A good fit for

希望系统了解先秦官制、礼制与国家制度构想的文史爱好者
中文、历史、哲学、考古专业本科生与研究生，可作为经学入门读本
中学语文、历史教师，用于备课与拓展“三礼”知识
对古代制度史、职官史、科技史有兴趣的普通读者

Not a good fit for

期待轻松故事性阅读、不愿读原文的读者
需要深度考据、异文校勘和版本对校的专业研究者（应直接读《周礼正义》等）
只想要节选名篇、快速了解大意的读者

Reading tips

先读“前言”与各篇“叙官”，把握六官体系的总框架，再进入具体职官细读。
不必从头到尾硬啃，可按主题跳读，如先读天官中的食医、疾医了解医政，再读冬官考工记看工艺技术。
阅读时随手对照原文与译文，遇到职官名先弄清“属谁、管什么、有多少属吏”，体系感会更强。
可配合杨天宇《周礼译注》、钱玄《三礼通论》等著作与出土材料交叉参照，理解制度虚实。

About the publisher

Zhonghua Book Company China · Founded in 1912

Zhonghua Book Company is a publisher known for collating ancient texts and academic publishing, with its output centered on Eastern philosophy, culture, classic works, art, and historical reading. Its library contains 532 titles, including Chen Shou's Records of the Three Kingdoms, Guo Qingfan's Collected Commentaries on Zhuangzi, the four-volume Chinese Literature: Four Great Classical Novels, and the two-volume Table of Seal and Clerical Script Forms from Qin, Han, Wei, and Jin. These titles span historical classics, commentaries on the philosophers, classical novels, and philological reference works. Representative authors include Chen Shou, Guo Qingfan, Wu Cheng'en, Shi Nai'an, Cao Xueqin, Luo Guanzhong, Xu Wenwu, and the Hanyu Dazidian character-form group, reflecting a focus on primary sources and scholarly editors. Its publishing character lies in combining authoritative editions and annotated texts with both accessible classics and specialized research. Public information on its fuller catalog is limited; this note describes only the directions evident in the library's holdings.

Volume One: Preface
The Heavenly Offices of the Grand Steward, Part One (Introduction to the Offices; the Grand Steward, Junior Steward, Steward's Staff, Palace Administrator, Palace Uncle, Provisioner, Cook, and other sixty-three offices)
The Earthly Offices of the Minister of Education, Part Two (Introduction to the Offices and the various offices)
The Spring Offices of the Master of Rites, Part Three (Introduction to the Offices and the various offices)
Volume Two: The Summer Offices of the Minister of War, Part Four (Introduction to the Offices; the Grand Marshal, Junior Marshal, Minister of Merit, Horse Assessor, and other offices)
The Autumn Offices of the Minister of Justice, Part Five (Introduction to the Offices and the various offices)
The Winter Offices' Records of Examination of Craftsmen, Part Six (wheelwrights, carriage-makers, and other craftsmen working wood, metal, leather, color, polishing, and pottery)
Bibliography of Principal Citations

FAQ

这本书是《周礼》全文吗？

是。该书属中华书局“中华经典名著全本全注全译丛书”，收录《周礼》六篇全文（天官、地官、春官、夏官、秋官、冬官考工记），逐段注释并配白话译文，非节选本。

译注者是谁，学术背景如何？

由徐正英、常佩雨译注。徐正英为中国人民大学文学院教授、博士生导师，主要从事先秦两汉魏晋南北朝文学文献研究；常佩雨为文学博士，从事先秦文献与古代科技思想研究。

经文用的什么底本？

经文以中华书局1980年影印清阮元校勘本《十三经注疏》中的《周礼注疏》为底本，注释译文吸收郑玄注、贾公彦疏、孙诒让《周礼正义》及现当代研究成果。

《周礼》和《仪礼》《礼记》有什么区别？

《周礼》侧重国家机构与职官制度的设计，《仪礼》记载具体仪节程序，《礼记》多为礼义阐释与论说，三者合称“三礼”，内容分工不同。

没有古文基础能读吗？

可以。全书有题解、注释和逐句白话译文，古文基础薄弱的读者可先读译文再看原文；但职官名目繁多，仍需耐心，建议配合工具书查阅。

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About the author

周公旦 Author

Zhou Gongdan, also known as the Duke of Zhou, is a celebrated statesman and thinker in ancient China. His life is recorded in transmitted classical texts, yet reliable information about his exact dates, birthplace, and education is limited in publicly available sources. This site lists two works under his name, both associated with the Rites of Zhou (Zhouli). The Zhouli is organized around the bureaucracy, systematically setting out the structure and division of state governance and covering ritual institutions, administration, and moral instruction. Its style is orderly and precise, with a strong emphasis on institutional design. Traditionally classified among the Confucian classics, the text is an important source for the study of ancient ritual and political thought and has deeply influenced later Confucian ideals of governance and discussions of institutions. Readers should bear in mind the complexity of its textual history and treat it as a document of ancient institutional and cultural conceptions rather than a direct record of one author's time and place.

徐正英 Author

Xu Zhengying: publicly available information about this author is limited, and details such as his place of origin, education, and professional positions have not been clearly recorded. Based on the holdings in our database, the work he contributed to as translator and annotator, The Rites of Zhou, part of the Complete Translation and Annotation of Chinese Classics series, is classified under culture and is his known representative work. The book belongs to the full-text, full-annotation, full-translation genre of classics, aimed at general readers who wish to read ancient texts directly; it provides annotations and vernacular translation alongside the original to lower the barrier to reading. In this work, the writing follows the series' overall style of reliable texts, concise notes, and fluent translation, focusing on explaining institutions and ritual systems clearly so that readers can understand the textual structure and basic concepts of The Rites of Zhou. Because the author's other writings and activities remain unclear, any assessment of his scholarly profile and influence can only rest on this translation and annotation, and further information awaits public sources.

常佩雨 Author

Chang Peiyu: public information is limited. What can be confirmed is that Chang is the author of Zhouli, in the Complete Translation and Annotation of Chinese Classics series. The book belongs to the field of organizing and popularizing traditional cultural classics. Taking the Zhouli (Rites of Zhou) as its subject, it provides the complete text, annotations, and a modern Chinese translation, making this Confucian classic—which records pre-Qin official institutions and political ideals—accessible to contemporary readers. Chang's work reflects attention to ancient ritual texts and addresses general readers and students, with emphasis on readability and accuracy of annotation. Since only one work is held in the library and biographical details such as nationality, dates, and education are not recorded, little can be said about Chang's academic background or overall body of work. Based on the available material, Chang's contribution lies mainly in promoting contemporary transmission of classic texts, making institutional works such as the Zhouli more accessible to the public.