I read a total of 81 books in 2022, including 27 books related to the history of pre-Qin, Chu, Wuyue, and this is a brief review of these 27 books one by one to provide reference for readers and friends to buy and read, and other book reviews will be shared one after another. All comments represent personal opinions only, and the order of books is in order of publication and evening.
01. Chu Culture Research Association, ed.: "Chu Culture Archaeology Memorabilia", Cultural Relics Publishing House, 1986.
This book is a Chu culture archaeological data book compiled by the Chu Culture Research Association, which briefly introduces the archaeological discoveries of the Chu State according to the year, each article is accompanied by a reference to facilitate the diagram, and the appendix has an index classified by province. Unfortunately, the publication had been early, and the information had only been received in 1980, and it was to be hoped that this work would continue.
02. Zhang Zhengming, editor: "Chu Art Atlas", Hubei Art Press, 1996.
This book is an atlas of Chu cultural relics edited by Mr. Zhang Zhengming, a former professor of Central China Normal University, which mainly includes some cultural relics pictures with high art value. Compared with the supporting album of the museum's temporary exhibition, the picture content is richer and the text interpretation is more delicate. But because of its earlier publication, the picture doesn't look too clear today.
03. Yao Qinde and Gong Jinyuan: "Wu Royal Family Jade", Shanghai People's Art Publishing House, 1996.
This book is an atlas of the jade artifacts of the Spring and Autumn Wu Kingdom, which were unearthed in 1986 in the Yanshan Cave of Suzhou, probably from the hasty burial of the Wu Kingdom during the fall of the Wu Kingdom, and some of them are currently in the Suzhou Wu Culture Museum. The shape of the jade is relatively ordinary, the artistic value is not large, and there is no written information left, and the historical value is average. Therefore, jade is not famous as a whole, and books are rarely known. Because of the lack of written information, whether it is really a Wu royal family jade may need further research.
04. Suzhou Museum: "Zhenshan Dongzhou Cemetery: Excavation and Research of Wuchu Noble Cemetery", Cultural Relics Press, 1999.
This book is an archaeological report on the Zhou cemetery in Zhenshan Dong compiled by the staff of the Suzhou Museum. Zhenshan is a small mound located in the Huqiu District of present-day Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, where the burial period lasted from the Spring and Autumn to the Han Dynasty, and the large tomb was mainly during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, and was the largest mound tomb in southern Jiangsu. Based on the excavated cultural relics, the author deduces that one of the Spring and Autumn tombs with jade burials is owned by Wu Wang Shoumeng, and the owner of the Warring States tomb with the copper seal of "Shangxiang Bangxi" is Chunshen Jun Huang Xie. Because of the lack of written information, the conclusion is debatable.
05. Gao Zhixi, editor-in-chief: Chu Cultural Relics Dictionary, Hubei Education Press, 2000.
This book is a reference book edited by Gao Zhixi, director of Boyuan in Hunan Province, which contains 2275 entries of Chu cultural relics and Chu cultural relics. The book classifies cultural relics by type and chronological arrangement, and introduces their basic information and bibliography, with some color illustrations at the frontispiece, and a number of black and white illustrations or line drawings in the entry, so as to facilitate readers to consult the situation of a certain cultural relics; However, some of the arrangements are not strictly chronological, and it is slightly messy to read. Overall, it is very good and is an indispensable tool for Chu history students.
06. Hubei Provincial Museum, ed.: "Jiuliandun - The Great Tomb of the Nobles of the State of Chu in the Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River", Cultural Relics Publishing House, 2007.
This book is a volume of "Civilization Journey in the Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River" compiled by the Hubei Provincial Museum, which includes some pictures of cultural relics unearthed from the Jiulian Dun Chu Tomb in Zaoyang, Hubei Province from 02 to 03, and there are two introductory articles at the beginning of the volume. Compared with the later "Jing Chu Long Song" and "Sword Dance Chutian" two catalogues of Jiulian Dun cultural relics, this book contains fewer pictures of cultural relics, and often several cultural relics are on one page, and the visual effect is not good; However, there are also pictures from the last two confiscated books, especially those before the restoration of cultural relics.
07. Yang Zhenghong and Xiao Zhenglong, eds.: "Wu Guo Bronzes Unearthed in Zhenjiang", Cultural Relics Publishing House, 2008.
This book is an atlas of Wu Guo bronzes compiled by the Zhenjiang Museum, which includes bronzes unearthed in Nanjing and Changzhou in addition to the Western Zhou and Spring and Autumn bronzes unearthed in Zhenjiang. Classification according to burial is a feature of this atlas, which makes it easier to understand the information of excavated cultural relics in a tomb. Only one "Wu King Yuxian Spear" is a clear Wu bronze, so whether the other bronzes and these tombs belong to the Wu people may need further study. At the beginning of the book, there is a preface by Mr. Li Xueqin and Mr. Li Boqian and an article introducing the development sequence and regional characteristics of Wu Guo bronzes, which can be read in conjunction with the collection of essays "Comprehensive Research on Wu Guo Bronzes".
08. Shenzhen Museum and Hubei Provincial Museum, ed.: "Sword Dance Chutian: Catalogue of Chu Cultural Relics Unearthed in Hubei", Cultural Relics Publishing House, 2010.
This book is a published catalogue of a special exhibition jointly organized by the Shenzhen Museum and the Hubei Provincial Museum, and the content is actually from the excavated cultural relics from the Jiulian Dun Chu Tomb in Zaoyang, Hubei Province, and there are several introductory articles at the frontispiece. Compared with the previous "Nine Consecutive Piers" album, some new drawings have been added, but some drawings have also been reduced. The picture is relatively clear, and you can see the artifacts up close.
09. Zhang Zhengming: History of Chu, Chinese Min University Press, 2010.
This book is a kind of "Contemporary Chinese Literature Series" series, the author Mr. Zhang Zhengming is a leading figure in the study of Chu history in the last century, as his representative book, systematically tells the history of the Chu state in the pre-Qin period, is the best book of its kind, the best book for the introduction of Chu history. This book has a clear combing system for the heirloom documents, but the introduction of archaeological data is relatively simple, and it can be read in combination with archaeological discoveries, especially the latest Tsinghua Jian and Anda Jian.
10. Shanxi Museum and Hubei Provincial Museum, ed.: Jingchu Long Song: The Essence of Cultural Relics Unearthed in Jiuliandun, Shanxi People's Publishing House, 2011.
This book is a published catalogue of a special exhibition jointly held by the Shanxi Museum and the Hubei Provincial Museum, but in fact, the content is not much different from the previous album "Sword Dance Chutian", even the preface of the volume has two similarities, and the cultural relics pictures included are not as rich as "Sword Dance Chutian", and overall there seems to be no need for publication.
11. Weichuan County Museum, ed.: "The Essence of Bronzes of the Chu State of Weichuan", Zhongzhou Ancient Books Publishing House, 2013.
This book is an atlas compiled by the Weichuan County Museum in Henan Province, which includes several bronzes unearthed from the Spring and Autumn Chu tombs of the Lower Temple of Weichuan and the three Spring and Autumn Chu tombs of Monk Ling and Xujialing. Most of these bronzes have inscriptions and have high historical value, but because this book is only an atlas, it cannot introduce the inscriptions one by one, which has to be said to be regrettable. The bronze itself has a high degree of repetition and average artistic value. The same series has "The Essence of Jade in the Kingdom of Weichuan".
12. Suzhou Museum, ed.: Wu Hook Chonghui: New Bronze Weapons in Suzhou Museum, Cultural Relics Press, 2014.
This book is a bronze weapon atlas compiled by the Suzhou Museum, the bronze weapons collected are divided into Ge, spear, sword, cymbal, axe, bow bearer, crossbow machine, etc., mainly Shang and Zhou bronze weapons, there are also individual Han Dynasty weapons, pre-Qin Wu Yue weapons include Wu Wang Fu Cha Sword, Yue King Zhi Yu Sword, Yue Wang Zhou Gou Sword, Yue King Sent Sword, etc., as well as a Sai Wang Ge in the middle of Spring and Autumn, the illustration believes that the King of Sai is the crowned king of the State of Chu, in fact, it should be the State of Xi, which is the proof of the king of the State of Xi. The clarity of the picture is acceptable, and the illustration is relatively simple.
13. Suzhou Museum, ed.: "Soldiers and Rites: Proceedings of the Seminar on the Newly Entered Collection of King Wu's Yuxian Sword in Suzhou Museum", Cultural Relics Press, 2015.
This book is a collection of essays compiled by the Suzhou Museum, written by paleography and archaeologists such as Li Xueqin and Li Boqian, and the content is a discussion around a new sword of King Wu in the Suzhou Museum. The Wu King Yuxian Sword is the longest inscription among the pre-Qin weapons unearthed, recording the three wars in which Wu Wang Yuxi participated, and is related to the content of the Wu King Yuxi Sword unearthed by Lu Xunlu in Shaoxing. Through the competition of scholars, it can be seen that there are differences in interpretation and analysis. Among them, Cheng Yi's "New Examination of "Gusu" pointed out that "Gusu" was originally a Wu royal clan, and Qian Gonglin's "Revisiting Wu Culture" refutes Ningzhen as the early Wu capital, which is more innovative.
14. Hunan Provincial Museum and Capital Museum, ed.: Nine Days of Phoenix Dance: Special Exhibition of Chu Culture, Science Press, 2015.
This book is a companion album for the temporary exhibition of the Capital Museum, which includes the essence of the Chu State and the Chu style of the Western Han Dynasty from 18 museums in Hunan, Hubei, Anhui and Henan provinces. The four provinces are the main areas of the Spring and Autumn Warring States and the Chu State, and the representative of this batch of cultural relics is also relatively strong, the pictures are more exquisite, and the explanations are relatively in place, which is a relatively high academic level in the cultural relics of the Chu State.
15. Tian Chengfang: A Study of the Clan of the State of Chu in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, Science Press, 2016.
This book is an associate professor of Zhengzhou University Tian Chengfang (Dr. Xu Shaohua) a work on the Chu national family, the whole book is divided into "Chu State Gong (First)", "Chu State Duke (Bottom)", "Chu State Foreign Clan (Bottom)", "Chu State Lineage Comprehensive Research" four chapters, the lineage and characters of the Chu State clan are more detailed, and the small clans with little information are also listed in the form of an appendix, which can be called a leading work in the Xu Men disciples' thesis. Of course, there are some conclusions that are still up for debate, such as thinking that Qu has two fathers and sons with the same name, which should be unrealistic; Mr. Xu Shaohua also pointed out some of these issues in the preface, and readers should carefully identify them.
16. Qin Shi Huangdi Mausoleum Museum, ed.: "Water Country Zeguo: History and Culture Exhibition of Wu and Yue in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty", Northwest University Press, 2016.
This book is a companion album for the temporary exhibition of the Mausoleum Museum of the First Emperor of Qin, and includes the Wuyue cultural relics of the Zhou Dynasty collected by 9 museums. At the beginning, he chose the "夨盨" and "夨王簋cover" collected by the Baoji Bronze Museum, which had little to do with Wu Yue. Although there is a view that Tabor was originally sealed in the kingdom, the text explanation does not explain it, which is easy to cause confusion to the reader. In addition to bronzes, cultural relics also include ceramics, jade, etc., and the more distinctive is the Wu Wangfu Chajian in the Shanghai Museum, and the two small dragons on it are like cats; There is also a bell that records the command of the king of Yue against the [氵刀].
17. Tan Liming: "Research on the Official System of the State of Chu in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods", Social Sciences Academic Press, 2017.
This book is a work by Professor Tan Liming (Dr. Chen Enlin) of Jilin Normal University on the official system of the Eastern Zhou and Chu states. Data collation is acceptable, but there is a lot of duplication; In addition, there are clearly significant gaps in understanding. For the Warring States Qin and Han and even the Spring and Autumn historical materials in the literature, they are used without discrimination; There is no comment on the contradictory records of different historical sources, such as the record that Zhaoyang is both the Pillar State and Sima; There are also some obvious errors in interpretation, such as thinking that the Jing clan is the queen of Jian, and the Shen clan is the county duke of Shen County; The argument that the duties of the Spring and Autumn Chu officials were fixed, and that the Warring States Crown Sovereign only had the right to eat Lu, these arguments are also debatable.
18. Zheng Wei: A Study on the Crowning Monarch of the State of Chu (Revised Edition), Hubei Education Press, 2017.
This book is a work by Zheng Wei (Dr. Xu Shaohua), a professor of Wuhan University, on the Feng Jun of the State of Chu, a kind of "Jingchu Wenku". Compared to the 12-year-old edition, chapter IV, section 2 has been added. The book is divided into four chapters: "Interpretation of the Feng Jun", "The Emergence of the Feng Jun of the State of Chu and the Origin of the Feng Jun System", "The Examination of the Feng Jun of the State of Chu", and "Comprehensive Study of the Feng Jun of the State of Chu", which combed the Spring and Autumn County System of the State of Chu and the Feng Jun of the Warring States in detail, especially for the bamboo brief records listed many opinions. His denial of Xiong Qufeng's third son said that it was in line with Tsinghua Jian's "Chu Ju". However, it seems inappropriate to believe that the implementation of the feudal monarchy system in the State of Chu is to deal with the county metric system, because the feudal monarchy does not strengthen the absolute monarchy compared to the county metric system, but in turn restricts the power of the monarchy; The reality should be that the king of Chu could not effectively directly govern the vast territory, so he had to implement the feudal monarchy in reverse.
19. Zhang Zhengming: "Cultural History of Chu", Hubei Education Press, 2018.
This book is another representative work of Mr. Zhang Zhengming, a kind of "Jingchu Wenku", which involves the material culture and spiritual culture of the Chu state, which is diffused compared to the relevant records of the "History of Chu", and can be read after reading the "History of Chu". There are two versions of this book, "Chu Xue Wenku" and "Jing Chu Wenku", and the biggest advantage of the new edition is that a number of color illustrations are added to make the archaeological relics involved in the article more vivid, but there are still not too many color pictures.
20. Zhang Min: A Comparative Study of Wuyue Culture, Nanjing Publishing House, 2018.
This book is a work by Zhang Min, a researcher at the Nanjing Museum, on the history of the pre-Qin and Wuyue dynasties. The first part is to compare the Wuyue culture in the pre-Qin, Qin and Han literature, but it lacks the analysis of the historical materials, and there is obvious abuse of the late historical materials of the Han Dynasty, and it is difficult to make sense to conclude that the State of Wu is a military dictatorship and the State of Yue is a military democracy, and the evaluation of Wu Zixu is too low; The second part is to compare the Wuyue culture in the archaeological discovery, tracing the Wu culture to the Hushu culture and the Yue culture to the Maqiao culture, which is roughly bounded by Maoshan, and classifies and compares the tombs of the site. However, in the absence of documentary evidence at these archaeological sites, it seems somewhat arbitrary to determine the ethnic family of Wu or Yue; A large number of Wuyue weapons unearthed at the site of Xiishi Mountain in Shaoxing and other areas have not been combed.
21. Suzhou Museum, ed.: "The Dream of the Great Bang - Wuyue Chu Bronzes", Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, 2018.
This book is a supporting album for the temporary exhibition of Suzhou Museum, including bronze weapons, ritual weapons, musical instruments, etc. of Wu, Chu, Yue and other countries during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, mainly Wu bronzes in the collection of Suzhou Museum, the biggest attraction is the newly collected Suzhou Museum Wu Wang Yuxian Sword, each text of the album is displayed with high-definition pictures, but this is actually included in the book "Soldiers and Rites"; In addition, there are King Wu Zhu Fan Ge, King Wu Yu Sacrifice Beryllium, etc.; Most of the other bronzes also have text, and the illustrations are also accompanied by inscriptions, which is a very good one of the bronze catalogs of the Zhou Dynasty.
22. Zhejiang Provincial Museum, ed.: "The Age of King Yue - The Essence of Wuyue Chu Bronze Cultural Relics", China Bookstore, 2019.
This book is a supporting album for the temporary exhibition of Zhejiang Provincial Museum, which includes 322 pieces (groups) of Wu, Yue and Chu cultural relics of the Zhou Dynasty collected by 27 cultural and museum institutions, and is currently the largest exhibition of cultural relics of Wu, Chu and Yue. Because it is sponsored by the Zhejiang Provincial Museum, the cultural relics are still mainly from Yue, not limited to the Yue country in the Zhou Dynasty, but also the southern Baiyue region; At the same time, it also includes Wu and Chu cultural relics that were relatively rare in the past, such as jade artifacts unearthed from the Yanshan Mountain of Wu State and the Xiongjiazun of Chu State. The pictures are clear, and many pictures and detailed pictures are a highlight of this album; But some of the inscriptions are not interpreted and interpreted, and it has to be said that they are a little lacking.
23. Cheng Guoxing, "The Story of "Wu Yue Struggle for Hegemony" and Its Evolution in Japanese Literature, Xinhua Publishing House, 2019.
This book is a book by Cheng Guoxing of Henan University of Science and Technology on the history of Wuyue in Spring and Autumn, mainly introducing the reception and evolution of Wuyue stories in Japanese literature, including some interesting derivative stories. For example, "Taiping" mentions that Fan Li pretended to be a businessman and threw a fish containing letters into the prison of Goujian; In "The Tale of Wuyue", Fan Li asked the samurai to cut his thighs and hide the anti-book to separate his husband and send a group of ministers; "Wu Yue Army Talks" said that Wu Zixu was afraid that his husband was addicted to beauty, and sought Dongshi to fight Xi Shi, but Wu Zixu married Dongshi instead, and Dongshi became an important role; "Heiji Monogatari" says that Ji Zha and Xu Jun who "hang the sword" are two generals, and Ji Zha hangs the sword on the tomb of Xu Jun after quelling the Ezo Rebellion, and so on. The appendix contains translations of relevant literature of the Taiping Ji, and it is expected that the author will translate other works.
24. He Hao: A Study of the Chu Annihilation State, Wuhan University Press, 2019.
This book is a collection of Chu history by Mr. He Hao of the Hubei Academy of Social Sciences, a kind of "Jingchu Library". Although this book is titled "Research on the Destruction of the State of Chu", it is actually a discussion of the deeds of small countries destroyed by the State of Chu in the form of essays. The author is self-taught, and the book is well-written, although the conclusion may not be correct, but it is quite rare. Because the author has passed away, this book is basically the same as the old version of '89, but a new paper on raising the country, and it has to be said that it is a pity that the new material has not been adopted.
25. Suzhou Wuzhong District Sun Zi Art of War Research Association, ed.: "Traces of the Soldier Saint: Finding the Mark of Sun Wu from the Remnants of the Wu State in the Late Spring and Autumn Period", Gu Wuxuan Publishing House, 2021.
This book is a book on the saint Sun Wu compiled by the Sun Tzu Art of War Research Association of Wuzhong District, Suzhou City, mainly collecting 109 relics related to Sun Wu in the jurisdiction of Suzhou and surrounding areas, and briefly introducing these cultural relics and monuments. Although the title of the book is "Ruins of the Wu Kingdom in the Late Spring and Autumn Period", in fact, these cultural relics and monuments are basically scenic spots built according to legends in later generations, not cultural relics and monuments of the Spring and Autumn Period. Therefore, this book does not introduce pre-Qin archaeological data, but later cultural history data. For friends who like to brush places of interest, this is also a very good guide.
26. Yin Hongbing, The Origin and Early Development of the Chu Nationality, the State of Chu and the Culture of Chu, Wuhan University Press, 2021.
This book is a work by Yin Hongbing (Dr. Xu Shaohua), a researcher of the Hubei Academy of Social Sciences, on the history of the early Chu state, which is divided into four chapters: the study of the ancestors of Chu, the geographical environment and related issues of the early Chu state, the study of the ethnic groups and early culture of the Chu land, and the study of the early Chu capital. The content of this book is actually the author's previous published papers, but the most surprising thing is that the book published in 21 years has not been revised according to the information of the 17-year history of Ontario, and the archaeological data is relatively combing.
27. Di Haobo: "Tsinghua Jian (Chu Ju) and the Exploration of the Capital City of Chu State", Wuhan University Press, 2022.
This book is a historical and geographical work of the Chu State by Dr. Zhang Zhengming, a researcher at the Hubei Institute of Archaeology, which uses "Chu Ju" as a clue, combines traditional documents and archaeological data, and explores the ancestral residence of the Chu people, the early core area of the Chu State and the capital of the Chu State. As the latest work on the history of the State of Chu, the advantage is that it uses relatively new archaeological data and combs the views of predecessors more comprehensively. However, many views are also debatable, such as the belief that there is "Jingzhou" in the original pottery text, which is too arbitrary and inseparable from the ancient world.