Ideology

The basic philosophical outlook of Zuo Zhuan, attributed to Zuo Qiu Ming, is strongly Confucian in nature. The Zuo Zhuan overarching theme is that haughty, evil, and stupid people generally bring disaster upon themselves, while those who are good, wise, and humble are usually justly rewarded. The Confucian principle of "ritual propriety" or "ceremony" (lǐ 礼) is seen as governing all actions, including war, and to bring bad consequences if transgressed. However, the observance of li is never shown as guaranteeing victory, and the Zuo Zhuan includes many examples of the good and innocent suffering senseless violence. Much of the Zuo Zhuan′s status as a literary masterpiece stems from its "relentlessly realistic portrayal of a turbulent era marked by violence, political strife, intrigues, and moral laxity".

The narratives of the Zuo Zhuan are highly didactic in nature, and are presented in such a way that they teach and illustrate moral principles. Unlike the Histories of Herodotus or the History of the Peloponnesian War of Thucydides, with which it is roughly contemporary, the Zuo Zhuan′s narration always remains in the third person perspective, and presents as a dispassionate recorder of facts. The German Sinologist Martin Kern observed: "Instead of offering authorial judgments or catechistic hermeneutics, the Zuo Zhuan lets its moral lessons unfold within the narrative itself, teaching at once history and historical judgment."

For instance, here Zuo Zhuan instructed how a 君子 [[junzi, literally noble man, gentleman, superior person should behave.

Publications

Zuo Zhuan and Guoyu were both attributed to Zuo Qiuming.

Zuo Zhuan

Zuo Zhuan is the earliest detailed and vividly narrated chronological history of China. At the same time, it is also a historical narrative with the highest literary quality. ("我国古代最早而又详细完备，叙事生动的编年史，同时也是文学成就很高的历史散文著作。")

Guo Yu

Sima Qian first proposed that Zuo Qiuming was the author of Guoyu. Tang scholar Yan Shigu, while annotating Book of Han, also attributed Guoyu's authorship to Zuo Qiu Ming. Later other scholars doubted it and had different opinions on who is the author of Guo Yu, one example is Fu Xuan, who first raised the counterview that Zuo Qiuming isn't the author of Zuo Zhuan.

Guo Yu's compilation method is based on the classification of countries, in Chinese Guo; taking language, in Chinese Yu as the core, hence receives the name Guo Yu. ("它的编纂方法是以国分类，以语为主，故名'国语'.") Guo Yu is the first Chinese history book in national style. ("国语是第一部国别体史书。")

Historical evaluations

Yuezheng Zichun, a disiciple of Confucius's disciple Zengzi, praised Zuo Qiu Ming as a gentleman, Sima Qian honored Zuo Qiu Ming as the gentleman of Lu.

Zuo Qiu Ming is regarded as "the ancestor of hundreds of characters, the ancestor of ancient literature". ("百家文字之宗、万世古文之祖")

姓名争议

对左丘明的姓名有很多观点。一说复姓左丘，名明，一说单姓左，名丘明。还有观点认为他姓丘名明，因其世代为左史，所以人们尊其为左丘明。

生平

左丘明的记载最早见于《论语·公冶长》。据传左丘明是春秋时期的盲人史官，与孔子同时代或在其前。司马迁《史记》称其为「鲁君子」，又说他失明或无目，因此许多人认为他是一位瞽蒙。

左丘明知识渊博，品德高尚，孔子曰：「巧言、令色、足恭，左丘明zh-hans:耻;zh-hant:耻;之，丘亦耻之；匿怨而友其人，左丘明耻之，丘亦耻之。」

据传，山东省肥城是左丘明的食邑。《宋祥符二年平阴县令范讽重修左传精舍记》载：「二年春，余承命来莅兹邑。知县之东古肥子国地即左子故里，古庙犹存。」左丘明死后葬于肥城。《魏书·地形志》载：「富城有左丘明墓。」富城即今肥城一带。

后世

1725年（清雍正三年）为避孔子名讳，奉旨「丘」旁加「阜」改为邱氏，故左丘明之后改丘氏为邱氏，今肥城市石横东衡鱼村邱氏皆为左丘明之后人。

注释

参看

• 《国语》

• 《左传》

• 瞽蒙