Cited by 2Chinese history and philosophyPhilosophy, History, and HistoriographyClassical Studies and Philology

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 13 of the 13 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; none of the 61 sources its claims cite is checked for support yet.

HISTORY AS FUTURE—TIME, PREDICTION, AND HISTORICAL NARRATIVE IN THE ZUO ZHUAN

Open access
Gibas, Piotr·2018·Early China

Abstract

This article demonstrates that historical narrative in the Zuo zhuan is founded on the concept of “timeliness,” that is, on the understanding of time as being endowed with moral qualities. The choice between a “timely” (shi 時) or “untimely” (bu shi 不時) course of action determines the success or failure of the person involved in it. The origins of the ideas of time that shape the historical narrative of Zuo zhuan can be traced to mantic literature of the same period, such as almanacs.Early Chinese writers of history—like diviners—strove to explain the past in order to predict the future. Seen in this light, “knowing history” implies understanding and mastering the mechanisms that drive it; and looking into the past is tantamount to “knowing” the future., 本文論證《左傳》中的歷史敘事建立在 「時」與「不時」的概念上。敘事裡人物行動的結果是否成功取決於「時」(則吉)或「不時」(則凶)。此概念源自同時期日書與月令等傳統。中國早期歷史記述者試圖憑藉過去預測未來。從這一角度來看,了解歷史意味著掌握驅動歷史事件的因素。以史為鑒對於「預知」未來起著至關重要的作用。

Overview

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1017/eac.2018.21

Cites

13 of 13 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Verification

Claims the paper makes

319 Own interpretation · 55 Sources not found · 15 Not checked yet · 13 Own result · 2 No basis given · 1 No full text of the sources

Show all 28 claims

  • Probably not a substantial claim. 325
  • It may state two separate claims as one. 269
  • The quote only partly states this claim. 20
377 of 377
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The mantic texts of the same period and the Zuo zhuan share enough conceptual continuity for the former to be treated as the origin of the latter's ideas about time.

    “I trace the origins of the ideas of time that shape the historical narrative of Zuo zhuan to contemporary hemerological tradition, such as the rishu 日書 “daybooks” or “almanacs” and the yue ling 月令 “monthly ordinances,” which enable humans to manipulate time and “create” history.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The Chunqiu and Zuo zhuan are the two earliest extant Chinese historiographical works.

    “The Spring and Autumn Annals Chunqiu and Zuo zhuan are the two earliest extant Chinese historiographical works.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The Chunqiu functions as a ritual register of messages for ancestors transmitted during temple sacrifices.

    “considering the ritual character of the Annals-as a register of messages for the ancestors transmitted during sacrificial ceremonies in the temple”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The Zuo zhuan Narrator is constrained by the chronological course of real events and by historical facts or what really happened.

    “the Zuo zhuan Narrator is restricted to a degree by the chronological course of real events and by the “historical facts” or what “really happened””
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The Zuo zhuan has a coherent Narrator who intentionally designs narrative effects.

    “The Narrator uses prognostications to explain why Shensheng does not get the throne, as well as to present Yiwu as an illegitimate ruler.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The expectations of the Zuo zhuan's readers can be inferred from the narrative's devices.

    “The reader expects that the story will continue, but also that the unfair banishment of Chong'er will be revoked and the injustice done to him repaid.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The Duke Wen Story is a unified narrative composed of sub-stories (A), (B), and (C).

    “Sub-stories (A) and (B) discussed above narrate the events in Jin during Chong'er's absence.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Gaps and silences in the narrative are meaningful rhetorical devices rather than mere omissions.

    “The rhetoric of suppression and silence is a narrative device justifying the nineteen-year gap in Duke Wen Story.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Prognostications and portents in the narrative are intended to be fulfilled within the story.

    “The portents that dot the narrative further enforce this point: they need time to come true.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The reader already knows the ending of Duke Wen's story.

    “the reader has yet to see the unfurling of the ending he already knows.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The Zuo zhuan narrative can be analyzed as having a Supra-Narrative level beyond the linear narrative.

    “The predictions extrapolate the reader into the realm of the Supra-Narrative: the story that is parallel, silenced, yet constantly overshadowing and ultimately superseding the one the reader is currently reading.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The Zuo zhuan can be read as a coherent narrative produced by a single Narrator whose purposes and judgments are recoverable from the text.

    “The Zuo zhuan Narrator's main focus is ming jun-the illuminated ruler.His purpose is to answer the question of how is the illuminated rulerand the time of his “coming”-to be known?”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The analytical categories of Actors, Prognosticators, and Narrator correspond to distinct functions within the Zuo zhuan narrative.

    “After presenting the three Actors in the Duke Wen story, let me turn to their advisers-the Prognosticators.They are the ones in the narrative who directly construct the moral portrait of the Actors-their ming or the lack thereof-for the reader.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    In the context of the Zuo zhuan, the 'superior man' (junzi) is conventionally taken to be Confucius.

    “In the context of the Zuo zhuan, the “superior man” 君子 is conventionally agreed to be Confucius.”
14 of 14

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.

2 of 2

Citations

Cites

Research works printed but not linked: 11

  1. Yuan, 1980, Shisan jing zhushu
  2. Ling, 2004, Jianbo gushu yu xueshu yuanliu
  3. Gu, 1962, Han shu
  4. Bojun, 1990, Chunqiu Zuo zhuan zhu
  5. Shirakawa, 1976, Kanji no sekai
  6. Liangchun, 1991, Zhongguo wenxue dacidian
  7. Słupski, 2001, The Literary Structure of the Chunqiu and the Zuo zhuan, Archív Orientální, 69
  8. Karapetiantz, 1988, Ethics and Ritual in Traditional China
  9. Zongtong, 1965, Shiguan zhidu—fu lun dui chuantong zhi zunzhong, Taiwan daxue wenshizhe xuebao, 14
  10. Bojun, 1980, Lunyu yizhu
  11. Knoblock, 2000, The Annals of Lü Buwei, 63

Cited by

Sorted by citations

See all 2

Metadata

Authors
Gibas, P.
Affiliations
College of Charleston (US)
Corresponding author
Gibas, Piotr
Venue
Early China
Published
2018
Volume
41
Pages
29-86
ISSN
  • 0362-5028 (ISSN-L)
  • 2325-2324
OpenAlex
W2902618717
Cited by
2
References
12
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2019: 1
FWCI
3.53
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
Early China (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History › Chinese history and philosophy
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History › Philosophy, History, and Historiography
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Language and Linguistics › Classical Studies and Philology
Keywords
Zuo Zhuan, historical narratives, timeliness, prediction, divination, almanacs, diviners

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

A language model drew the claims from the paper on 2026-10-04, under version 3 of the claim definition (model deepseek-v4.1-flash, prompt extract-v3).

A second model labelled each claim on 2026-10-04 (model jev-1.13-20260917, definition revision gold-guideline-v0.2).

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review