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Secondary sourceDocument5th century BCE

Spring and Autumn Annals

Confucius · 5th century BCE

A terse chronicle of the state of Lu traditionally believed to have been edited by Confucius, recording events of his home state.

Confucius was traditionally credited with editing this chronicle of his home state of Lu, linking him to history-writing as moral judgment.

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Two facing pages of a classical Chinese manuscript in black ink brush calligraphy on aged, yellowed paper, written in vertical columns with some smaller annotation characters between lines. The text is a commentary on a historical chronicle, with the handwriting appearing in a regular, cursive-influenced style.
Du Yu, Critical Study of Spring and Autumn Annals and Zuo Zhuan, manuscript fragment, 7th–8th century, Tang dynasty. Fujii Saiseikai Yurinkan Museum, Kyoto.

About this source

What it is

The Spring and Autumn Annals is the official chronicle of the state of Lu, covering 242 years of events such as rulers' deaths, battles, and natural disasters, written in extremely brief entries. It was traditionally said to have been compiled or edited by Confucius, a claim first made by the philosopher Mencius.

Why it matters

Because later generations believed Confucius shaped this chronicle, its terse wording was read as carrying deliberate moral judgment about rulers and events. It became one of the Five Classics and inspired detailed commentaries, such as the Zuo Zhuan, that tried to explain its hidden meanings. It shows how deeply later Chinese scholars tied history-writing to Confucius's moral authority.

Look closer

  • Why might such short entries, some only a few characters long, need whole books of commentary to explain them?
  • What kinds of events does the chronicle choose to record, and what does that tell us about what mattered to its compilers?
  • How confident can we be that Confucius actually edited this text, given the facts we have?

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