Traditional studies of Western Zhou bronze inscriptions have long centered on the issue of dating, but have ignored technical aspects regarding the creation of the inscriptions. In these studies, scholars generally considered bronzes with “identical” inscriptions to have been produced simultaneously. This article demonstrates, with the example of the newly excavated Ke lei and Ke he, that an inscription could be reproduced during the Western Zhou. The Ke lei was cast at the outset of the Zhou dynasty to celebrate the granting of the state of Yan, while the Ke he was probably cast somewhat later, with inscriptions imitating the original inscriptions. This article also demonstrates that “identical” inscriptions can display different calligraphy, the calligraphic styles corresponding to sets in the original composition of bronzes. For example, the thirteen “identical” inscriptions on the extant eight Ci gui and three Ci ding vessels were inscribed in three different calligraphic styles; the ornamentation and size or weight of these eleven bronzes show them to have belonged originally to three different sets, corresponding to the three calligraphic styles. These cases of “identical” inscriptions not only provide solid evidence for the contemporary co-existence of different calligraphic styles within the Western Zhou period, but also provide critical information on the organization of technology and labor in the creation of Western Zhou bronzes.

The “Jinhou Su bianzhong” is one of the most important archaeological discoveries in recent decades. The long inscription of 355 characters provides important information concerning various aspects of late Western Zhou history. This article begins with a preliminary account of the Jinhou Su bells, including an annotated translation of the inscription. Next, studying the identification of the Zhou king in the inscription that has already prompted lively discussions, the author shows that more concrete evidence supports a King Li dating of the inscription. Based on the relationship between Zhou and Jin documented in the “Jinhou Su bianzhong” inscription, the author finally argues that the state of Jin was becoming powerful with the decline of the Zhou king's authority in the late Western Zhou period.

Intellectual history of the Chunqiu period has not been at the focus of scholarly discussions due to the presumed absence of reliable sources for Chunqiu thought. This article argues that the speeches by Chunqiu statesmen recorded in the Zuo zhuan do reflect the Chunqiu intellectual milieu. First, the sources of the Zuo are discussed. Its author/compiler relied on abundant written materials prepared by the court scribes of Chunqiu states. These “scribal records” contained, among others, speeches by leading statesmen; the evidence suggests that slight embellishments notwithstanding, the records basically reflected the content of the original speech. The reliability of the Zuo zhuan is discussed next. The unequivocal intellectual change from the beginning to the end of the Zuo speeches, particularly the changing mode of use and the changing content of some basic terms of political and ethical discourse, rule out the possibility that the speeches have been invented or significantly edited by the author/compiler of the Zuo. This allows us to conclude that the Zuo is the reliable – and invaluable – repository of Chunqiu thought.

Remonstrances (jian 諫) reveal a great deal about the writing of history in China during the Eastern Zhou. As represented in the Zuozhuan and Guoyu, remonstrances, like other speeches, are normally delivered in court and address questions of official policy. They tend to test contemporary phenomena against the lessons of the past, especially as those lessons have been formulated in the Shijing, the Shangshu, aphorisms, and other forms of what I term “inherited speech.” Remonstrances also have the support of the third-person historical narrative which surrounds them; the ruler who ignores a remonstrance always suffers for his obstinacy. After briefly discussing the importance of speeches in the Zuozhuan and Guoyu, I outline the structure of a remonstrance and examine four passages in which critical speech, including remonstrance, is said to have circulated freely in the courts of an idealized early period. Next I show how remonstrances match observed historical particulars with fragments of inherited speech. The famous remonstrance of Gong zhi Qi, an exemplary episode, shows how this application of inherited speech guides rhetorical choices and establishes Traditionalist or Confucian terms as the keys to historical intelligibility. Finally, I examine a set of remonstrances which are exceptional in that they do not include overt citations of inherited speech. Among these, military remonstrances can genuinely eschew explicit citation of lessons of the past, while others borrow the authority of inherited speech without seeming to do so. In one case, a brief remonstrance has apparently acquired the status of an aphorism, so that already when it is first uttered it qualifies as a sort of inherited speech. In another case, a precursor of the indirect remonstrances (fengjian 諷諫) of later periods, remonstrators use a theatrical combination of actions and speech to criticize their superior's departure from correct ways. As texts in which the speakers (and behind them the authors) of the Zuozhuan and Guoyu state explicitly their understanding of historical causation, remonstrances make it possible for us to understand the ideals which operate implicitly throughout the narratives of these works.