Young Officials

Guan ZhongJinzhang Book Company (Jinzhang Shuju) · ChinaJul 2024

4.2

Word count: 2.9K words
Chapters: 2

Summary

The Guanzi is a compilation of writings by the Jixia Daoists honoring Guan Zhong, and on this basis it represents the Guanzi school of Jixia learning. The Hanshu Yiwenzhi classifies it under the Daoist section of the Masters, while the Suishu Jingjizhi places it among the Legalists.

Editor's review

"Youguan" is an important chapter in the Guanzi, paired with the "Youguan Tu," and it centrally embodies the Jixia school's approach of linking yin-yang and the Five Phases with statecraft. Framed by the four seasons and directions, the chapter brings administrative orders, military affairs, sacrifices, and agriculture into the order of the seasons, emphasizing that the ruler should follow Heaven and act in accordance with the times; it has the underlying tone of the Daoist view of the Heavenly Way while also revealing a Legalist tendency to value institutions and practical results. Readers can thus see the scene of pre-Qin intellectual fusion and understand the academic controversy over why the Guanzi is classified under Daoism in the Treatise on Literature of the History of the Han and under Legalism in the Bibliographical Treatise of the History of the Sui. This edition is a collated printing issued by the Shanghai Jinzhang Book Company and is suitable as introductory material for studying a single chapter of the Guanzi. In reading, it should be read alongside chapters such as the "Youguan Tu," "Four Seasons," and "Five Phases," with attention to the correspondence between its diagrammatic formulations and its administrative provisions; there is no need to rush to divide the text by modern disciplinary categories.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Students of literature and history studying pre-Qin thinkers and the Jixia school
Readers interested in the relation between yin-yang and the Five Phases and ancient political thought
Teachers who need a single chapter of the Guanzi as teaching or research material
Traditional culture enthusiasts who enjoy close reading of ancient texts chapter by chapter and taking notes

Not a good fit for

General leisure readers seeking easy, story-driven reading
Beginners lacking a foundation in classical Chinese who need sentence-by-sentence vernacular translation
Readers hoping to obtain modern management techniques from this book

Reading tips

First read through once without striving for full understanding, mark key terms such as the four seasons, directions, and administrative orders, then go back and sort out the structure.
Read alongside the "Four Seasons," "Five Phases," and "Youguan Tu" in the Guanzi, comparing different formulations of the same thought.
Prepare a simple table with columns for seasons and their corresponding administrative orders and military affairs, to make the organizing logic clear.
When encountering institutional names and terms, consult reference books or annotated editions; there is no need to force an explanation of every detail—first grasp the overall framework.

About the publisher

Jinzhang Book Company (Jinzhang Shuju) China · Founded in 1901

Jinzhang Book Company (Jinzhang Shuju) was a private publishing and distribution house in Shanghai during the late Qing and early Republican periods, issuing traditional works by lithographic printing. Judging from the 1,194 titles in the collection, its publishing focused on classical poetry, Eastern philosophy, historical reading, traditional Chinese medical texts, and canonical works, along with books on literary appreciation. Representative titles include the poetry and prose collections of Du Fu and Ouyang Xiu; historical works such as the Book of Han and Zizhi Tongjian; classical texts such as the Book of Documents and Mencius; and specialized and literary classics such as Treatise on Cold Damage and Li Sao. Its author resources cover major figures across the ages, including Du Fu, Ban Gu, Sima Guang, Zhang Zhongjing, Qu Yuan, Ouyang Xiu, and Tang Shenwei, reflecting the house's characteristic reliance on traditional scholarship and medical literature while serving general readers. Public information on its early history and operational details is limited, so no conjecture is offered here.

版权信息
幼官第八

FAQ

What do the two characters "youguan" in "Youguan" mean?

Interpretations of "youguan" have long differed: some hold that it is interchangeable with "xuanguan," while others take it as the name of a certain office or diagram. No scholarly consensus exists, and readers should recognize that several theories coexist rather than insist on one. In reading, one may understand its function in light of the chapter's arrangement by the four seasons and directions rather than clinging to the literal meaning.

Does the Guanzi belong to Daoism or Legalism?

The Treatise on Literature of the History of the Han lists the Guanzi under Daoism, while the Bibliographical Treatise of the History of the Sui reclassifies it under Legalism, reflecting differences in classification across eras. In fact, the Guanzi is a compilation of works by Jixia scholars honoring Guan Zhong, and its content combines the Daoist view of the Heavenly Way, Legalist institutional theory, and economic and military doctrines; a single chapter such as "Youguan" also embodies this fusion and should not be summed up with a single school label.

Can someone without a foundation in classical Chinese read "Youguan"?

One can try, but it is quite difficult. The language of "Youguan" is concise and archaic, and it involves specialized content such as seasonal orders, administrative orders, and military affairs; without a foundation in classical Chinese, it is easy to be unable to continue. It is advisable first to choose an annotated Guanzi anthology with vernacular translation to become familiar with the style, then return to this edition for close reading of the single chapter, or work through it section by section with reference books.

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About the author

Guan Zhong Author · Chinese

Guan Zi is Guan Zhong, of the Ji clan and the Guan lineage, named Yiwu, styled Zhong, posthumously honored as Jing, a native of Yingshang (present-day Yingshang County, Anhui). A statesman of the early Spring and Autumn period and a forerunner of Legalism in the state of Qi, he assisted Duke Huan of Qi in uniting the feudal lords and setting the realm in order, and has been acclaimed as "the foremost minister of China." His thought is preserved in the book Guanzi, of which 28 related works are held in the collection, with representative chapters including "Guo Xu," "Nei Ye," "Di Yuan," "Qing Zhong Ding," "Zhou He," "Li Zheng," "Jin Zang," and "You Guan." These pieces span economic regulation, mind-and-nature cultivation, geography and products, and statecraft; their style is sometimes terse and substantive, sometimes developed through dialogue, reflecting an early blend of Legalist and Qi-regional scholarship. Public sources on the details of his life are limited, and later accounts mostly rely on the Guanzi text and pre-Qin histories. His works are commonly classified under Eastern philosophy, prose and miscellaneous writings, comprehensive biography, and literary appreciation, and have influenced both ancient political thought and the prose tradition.