Zhàn Guó Cè (Traditional Chinese: 戰國策 ;Simplified Chinese: 战国策) was a renowned ancient Chinese historical work on the Warring States Period compiled in late Western Han Dynasty by Liú Xiàng (劉向). It is an important literature in the research of Warring States Period as it accounts the strategies and political views of the school of negotiations and reveals the historical and social characteristics of the period.
Alternative English titles include
The author of Zhàn Guó Cè still cannot be verified. In late Western Han Dynasty, six versions of written works from the school of negotiations were discovered by Liu Xiang during his editing and proofreading of imperial literary collection. Those works of political view and diplomatic strategies from the school of negotiation were in poor condition, comprised of confusing contents and missing words. Liu Xiang proofread and edited them into the new book Zhan Guo Ce; Zhàn Guó Cè is therefore not written by a single author at a time.
Significant contents of Zhàn Guó Cè were lost in subsequent centuries. Zeng Gong of the Northern Song Dynasty reclaimed some lost chapters, proofread and edited the modern version. Some writings on cloth were excavated from the Han Dynasty tomb at Mawangdui near the city of Changsha in 1973 and edited and published in Beijing in 1976 in the 27 chapter Zhanguo zonghengjia shu (py) or Chan-kuo Tsung-heng-chia Shu (wg) (works from the school of negotiations during the Warring States Period) (201 pp.), 11 of which was found to be similar to the contents in ZGC and the Records of the Grand Historian. That publication appeared in Taiwan in 1977 as the Boshu Zhanguoce (py) or Po-shu Chan-kuo Ts'e (wg).
ZGC recounts the history from the conquest of the Fan clan by the Zhi clan in 490 BC up to the failed assassination of Qin Shi Huang by Gao Jianli in 221 BC.
The book comprises of approximately 120,000 words in 497 sections of 33 chapters (卷, juàn). The twelve Cè are:
In Chan-kuo Ts'e (see bibliography for full citation) by J. I. Crump, the text is categoried into 11 books:
ZGC displays the social aspects and scholaristic habitat of the Warring States Period. Not only a brilliant historical work, it is also an excellent historical literature and novel. Major events and historical information of the period are represented in objective and vivid descriptions. Detailed records of speeches and deeds of followers of school of negotiations reveals their mental makeup and intellectual expertise. Righteousness, bravery and determination of numerous characters are also recorded.
Sophisticated intellectual contents of ZGC mainly discloses the intellectual inclination of followers of the School of Negotiation and illustrates the intellectual prosperity and multicultural aspects of the period.
The literary achievement of the ZGC is also outstanding - it signifies a new era in the development of ancient Chinese literature. Among other aspects, character description, language usage and metaphorical stories demonstrates strong and clear literary quality. ZGC greatly influenced the format of the Record of the Grand Historian.
Nevertheless, its intellectual aspects have also been disputed, mainly due to its stress on fame and profit and its conflicts with Confucian ideology. The book tends to overemphasize historical contributions from the School of Negotiation, devaluing the book's historical importance.
The four-character idiom "Three men make a tiger" had its origin in the Wei section of ZGC.