The Art of Affairs

AnonymousBashu Publishing House · ChinaJun 2024

3.9

Word count: 921 words
Chapters: 2

Summary

Those who speak well of antiquity bring it into accord with the present; those who can transmit what is distant examine it through what is near. Thus one who discusses affairs sets forth the achievements of the Five Emperors above and reflects on them in his own person, and lists the failures of Jie and Zhou below and takes warning from them for himself; then his virtue can match the sun and moon, his conduct can accord with the spirits, he can climb high and reach far, penetrate the hidden and illumine the dark, hearing what has no sound and seeing what has no form, so that the people of the world observe no sign of it and know not its nature. He examines the beginning and end of the Five Classics and the truth and falsehood of the Way and its virtue, and having grasped its meaning, does not see the person.

Editor's review

Shu Shi is a short ancient argumentative text attributed to an anonymous author, brief in length yet focused in argument. Its core idea is to use antiquity as a mirror for the present and to proceed from the distant to the near: it sets forth the achievements of the Five Emperors so as to reflect on them in oneself, and lists the failures of Jie and Zhou so as to take warning for oneself, condensing historical experience into a discipline of personal cultivation. The text stresses that virtue can match the sun and moon and conduct can accord with the spirits, and it also mentions examining the beginning and end of the Five Classics and distinguishing the truth and falsehood of the Way and its virtue, showing that its concern lies between self-cultivation and the study of the classics. The prose uses parallelism and progression, flowing with the typical cadence of pre-Qin and Han argumentation. The 2024 Bashu Publishing House edition makes the original accessible to modern readers. It suits close reading as a short text in the study of ancient thought, and also rewards casual browsing by readers interested in self-cultivation and the craft of ancient historical argument, who can see how the ancients turned grand history into moral reminders close to the self.

Who it's for

A good fit for

University students and researchers studying ancient Chinese thought
Readers who enjoy close reading of short classical texts and care about self-cultivation
Writers seeking a feel for pre-Qin and Han argumentative prose

Not a good fit for

Readers looking for complete narrative stories or biographies
Readers with no grounding in classical Chinese who need sentence-by-sentence vernacular translation and annotation

Reading tips

Read through once to grasp the line of argument, then go sentence by sentence with the annotations to sort out the meanings of words.
Copy out the passages on the Five Emperors' achievements and on Jie and Zhou's failures side by side to appreciate their contrasting structure.
After reading, write a short note on how the text's views on self-cultivation speak to the present.
Look up background knowledge related to the Five Classics as needed; do not insist on philological details.

About the publisher

Bashu Publishing House China · Founded in 1983

Bashu Publishing House is a publisher centered on collating and publishing classical Chinese cultural texts, with its main publishing areas covering classical literature, Eastern philosophy, ancient poetry, and educational classics. Its library currently holds 1,075 titles, including representative works such as Dream of the Red Chamber, the Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Gathering, Renjian Cihua, and Out to the Frontier, involving authors such as Cao Xueqin, Wang Xizhi, Wang Guowei, Wang Changling, Liu Xie, and Yan Yu. These reflect the publisher's focus on literary classics, poetry criticism, and philosophical readings. Its publishing character lies in working around ancient texts and canonical works, with attention to textual collation and presentation. Public information on its more detailed publishing background and series plans is limited; this introduction is based only on the library's book information.

版权信息
术事第二

FAQ

What is Shu Shi mainly about?

It is an argumentative text that uses antiquity as a mirror for the present, holding that to speak of antiquity one must bring it into accord with the present and to transmit what is distant one must examine it through what is near. By listing the achievements of the Five Emperors and the failures of Jie and Zhou, it turns historical experience into a demand for self-cultivation. It also discusses examining the beginning and end of the Five Classics and distinguishing the truth and falsehood of the Way and its virtue; its center of gravity is self-cultivation and the reading of the classics.

Can I read it without a grounding in classical Chinese?

The original is short, but its diction is archaic and its sentences leap in meaning, so readers of plain modern Chinese will find it demanding. Choose an annotated edition and read the annotations before the original; if you have no experience of classical Chinese at all, it is best to start with an easier anthology and then return to this text.

Is it suitable to read in one sitting?

Its length allows a single read-through, but close reading is more effective. On the first pass seek the general meaning, on the second work through the contrasting relations sentence by sentence, and on the third reflect on its views on self-cultivation. Reading it in two or three sessions with notes yields more than finishing it in one go.

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About the author

Anonymous Author

Anonymous is not a real personal name but a general Chinese designation for authors whose names are unknown, lost, or unsigned. Neither nationality nor dates of birth and death can be verified, and available public information is limited, so the works attributed to this name are the only basis for description. The collection holds 2,078 works under Anonymous, spanning medicine, classics, historical readings, ancient poetry, classical literature, and philosophy. Representative works include The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon: Lingshu, Mencius, The Book of Documents, Nineteen Old Poems, Complete Song Ci, and The Peacock Flies Southeast. Most of these works took shape through long transmission and editing, emerging either from collective folk creation or from authors whose names were lost over time. In ancient China, the Book of Songs, the Great Learning, and many popular storybooks and plays were signed Anonymous because their authors could not be traced. Anonymous works cross the classics, histories, philosophical writings, medical texts, and poetry; their subjects are broad, and their styles vary from archaic simplicity to clear naturalness, making them important and influential sources for understanding ancient Chinese thought, medicine, and literature.