THE HISTORY OF THE WARRING STATES IN THE LIGHT OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL FINDS IN CHINA

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It is now possible to understand more clearly the history of the Warring States period in China thanks to two ancient records recovered by archaeological excavations not many years ago. The first of these is the manuscript, written on silk, of the Chan-kuo tsung-heng-cha shu, recovered at Ma-Wang-tui; the second is the Pien-nien-chi, recorded on bamboo slats originating in the ancient kingdom of Ch'in which were unearthed at Shui-hu-ti. The present study makes use of this new manuscript evidence to consider both the process by which the Shih-chi was compiled and its reliability as a source for the history of the Warring States.Examination indicates that the Pien-nien-chi, an account of the Warring States period in chronicle form, is best understood as a product of the Ch'in kingdom or, to be more exact, of Ch'in sources (here termed "the record of Ch'in"). A comparison of this work with the Shih-chi shows that the "Chan-kuo nien-pao" of the latter is substantially correct. One further conclusion is that the latter half of the "Chao-shih-chia" chapter in the Shih-chi preserves, in part, a "the record of Chao" that is quite independent of the Ch'in kingdom.As an independent source providing a check on the narrative of the Shih-chi, the Chan-kuo tsung-heng-cha shu has been utilized in the present study of elucidate the structure of the "Chan-kuo shih-chia" and "Chan-kuo lieh-chuan" materials in the Shih-chi. Analysis indicates that, broadly speaking, the source materials from which the Shih-chi was built up fell into two categories: one pyte, which has received the label "Chan-kuo chi-nien", concentrated on chronology, while the other provided a narrative of events and is described by the term "Chan-kuo ku-shih".The sort of textual examination undertaken in the present study should provide a basis for evaluating the characteristics of different regions in the China of the Warring States, a question to which scholars have as yet devoted comparatively little research.