Zhouli 周禮

Zhouli 周禮 "Rites of the Zhou" is a decription of the putative organisation of the government during the Western Zhou period 西周 (11th cent.-770 BCE). It is one of the three classics on rites (sanli 三禮) and one of the Thirteen Confucian Classics. It was compiled during the Warring States period 戰國 (5th cent.-221 BCE) and was known under the names Zhouguan 周官 "The offices of the Zhou" or Zhouguanjing 周官經 "Classic of the offices of the Zhou". Only during the Former Han period 前漢 (206 BCE-8 CE) did the bibliographer Liu Xin 劉歆 (d. 23 CE) give the text the name Zhouli.

The book consists of six parts corresponding to the six ministries (liubu 六部) which, according to ancient cosmology, were correlated to Heaven, Earth, and the four seasons. There are 376 state officials in total, with subaltern secretaries numbering many thousands. The Ministries, their cosmology and structure are:

Each chapter begins with a list of the whole staff of one ministry, linke for instance, in the case of the first Ministry:

When the full listing is ended, the text continues with a description of the particular officer's duties, for instance:

The most frequently commented part of the Zhouli is the chapter Kaogongji 考工記 that reports on the offices and work of the employees under the Overseer of Public Works. It is a substitute for the last chapter, the description of the Winter Offices which was lost.

The Zhouli became part of the Classics thought at the National University (taixue 太學) only during the reign of Wang Mang 王莽 (r. 8-22 CE). The usurper used this book to re-establish the universal and state orders that were believed to have existed under the early Zhou kings. With the downfall of Wang Mang and the restoration of the Han dynasty the Zhouli was banished from the curriculum of the National University.

Liu Xin's disciple Du Zichun 杜子春 (c. 30 BCE-c. 58 CE) wrote a commentary on the Zhouli that was known by the Confucian scholars Zheng Xing 鄭興, Zheng Zhong 鄭眾, and Jia Kui 賈逵 (30-101). Zheng Xing wrote the commentary Zhouguan jiegu 周官解沽, Ma Rong 馬融 (79–176) the commentary Zhouguan zhuan 周官傳, and Zheng Xuan 鄭玄 (127–200) the Zhouguanli zhu 周官禮注. During the last decades of the Later Han period 後漢 (25-220 CE) the three books Yili 儀禮, Liji 禮記 and Zhouli were admitted to the canon as the three ritual books.

Zheng Xuan believed in the authenticity of the Zhouli as a book compiled on the order of the Duke of Zhou 周公 (11th cent. BCE), regent during the early Zhou period, while many others considered it to be a forgery or a text concocted at a much later date. During the Song period 宋 (960-1279) the reformer Wang Anshi 王安石 (1021-1086) used is as a model, and was criticised for this by many of his opponents who argued that the text was a fake and that the administrative structure in this text had nothing to do with the contemporary situation. The Neo-Confucian philosopher Zhu Xi 朱熹 (1130-1200) was of the opinion that the text had been created by the bibliographer Liu Xin on Wang Mang's order. From then on, the text was largely neglected.

During the Qing period 清 (1644-1911), Wan Sitong 萬斯同 (1638-1702, author of Zhouguan bian fei 周官辨非), Yao Jiheng 姚際恒 (1647-1715, Gujin weishu kao 古今偽書考), Mao Qiling 毛奇齡 (1623-1716, Jingwen 經問), and Fang Bao 方苞 (1668-1749, Zhouguan bian wei 周官辨偽) likewise maintained that the text was not produced earlier than the Han. Kang Youwei 康有為 (1858-1927) was probably the most vehement critic of the Zhouli and thought it had been composed according to some statements in the book Guanzi 管子, yet Mao Qiling, Wang Zhong 汪中 (1745-1794, author of Zhouguan zhengwen 周官徵文) and Wang Guowei 王國維 (1877-1927) also found evidence that at least parts of the text had been created during the Warring States period, for instance, those on ritual music.

There are also many hints in contemporary sources that the offices described in the Zhouli really existed. Famous statements about the administrative system of the Zhou, like Mengzi's 孟子 description of the "well-field" system (jingtian 井田), or Xunzi's 荀子 description of the "royal regulations" (Wangzhi 王制) differ from that presented in the Zhouli. Thus it is conceivable that the Confucians Mengzi and Xunzi had different ideas about the royal administration from the compilers of the Zhouli. The Confucians had in mind a system that had existed during the Western Zhou period, while the offices and administrative processes described in the Zhouli correspond to those existing during the Eastern Zhou period, as can be seen by comparison with other sources. After all it must be concluded that only a few parts of the text were compiled during the Han, and not, as many scholar had argued, the whole book.

The high quality of Zheng Xuan's commentary saved it from being excluded from the Classics, and it obtained its fixed place within the Canon. During the Tang period 唐 (618-907) Jia Gongyan 賈公彥 wrote the commentary Zhouli yishu 周禮義疏 with a length of 42 juan. Both important commentaries (Zheng Xuan and Jia Gongyan) were printed in a joint edition during the Song period, called Zhouli zhushu 周禮注疏. The third standard commentary is Sun Yirang's 孫詒讓 (1848-1908) Zhouli zhengyi 周禮正義.

The Zhouli was translated completely (including commentaries) by Édouard Biot, Le Tcheou-Li ou Rites des Tcheou (Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1851). An English translation has not yet been made.