Quick Answer: What Is the Guoyu?
The Guoyu (国语, Guóyǔ), usually called Discourses of the States in English, is an ancient Chinese collection of political speeches, dialogues and related narratives. Its twenty-one juan (卷, juàn), or textual divisions, are grouped under eight political headings.[1][4]
- Organization: Read by court or state, rather than through one continuous annual chronicle.
- Central interest: How advice, criticism and arguments about conduct shape political decisions.
- Reading caution: Distinguish the events represented from the later shaping and transmission of the speeches.[6]
The book is a resource for studying historical writing and political reasoning. Its title here names a classical text, rather than a manual of a modern spoken language.
A minister warns a ruler, supports the warning with an analogy, and waits for a decision. The Guoyu repeatedly places readers inside such exchanges. Following the reasoning—and the outcome attached to it—reveals more than extracting a memorable saying from the speech.
Eight Political Groups across Twenty-One Juan
The eight groups comprise the Zhou (周, Zhōu) royal court and seven states. The received arrangement is uneven: one group occupies nine divisions, while several have only one. It is a selected collection, not equal coverage of every ancient polity.[1]
| Political group | Juan range | Number of juan |
|---|---|---|
| Zhou royal court | 1–3 | 3 |
| Lu (鲁, Lǔ) | 4–5 | 2 |
| Qi (齐, Qí) | 6 | 1 |
| Jin (晋, Jìn) | 7–15 | 9 |
| Zheng (郑, Zhèng) | 16 | 1 |
| Chu (楚, Chǔ) | 17–18 | 2 |
| Wu (吴, Wú) | 19 | 1 |
| Yue (越, Yuè) | 20–21 | 2 |
These headings refer to ancient political entities. In particular, Jin here is a state, not the later dynasty. Use the group name and juan number together when locating a passage; a modern bound volume may contain several juan.
Authorship, Historical Speeches and Later Annotation
The represented world includes the Western Zhou (西周, Xī Zhōu) and the Spring and Autumn period (春秋时期, Chūnqiū shíqī). Those are settings of narrated events, not proof that the entire received collection was written at one time.[1][4]
Traditional attribution associates the work with Zuo Qiuming (左丘明, Zuǒ Qiūmíng). Its relationship with the Zuo Tradition (左传, Zuǒzhuàn) has long been debated. Shared material and overlapping historical interests do not establish identical authorship or make the two books interchangeable.[1][6]
The Spring and Autumn Annals (春秋, Chūnqiū) follows annual records; the Guoyu gathers material by political group. Its speeches also need to be read as shaped arguments. Editing and narrative selection can give a counselor’s advice exemplary force. The text is not automatically a verbatim record of what every historical speaker said.[1][6]
Wei Zhao (韦昭, Wéi Zhāo; 204–273), a scholar of the Three Kingdoms (三国, Sān Guó) period, supplied an influential commentary. His explanations of words, people and institutions are a later layer. An edition that places those notes inside the text still requires the reader to distinguish them from the speech itself.[1][5]
Two Speeches about Criticism and Difference
In the Zhou group, King Li of Zhou (周厉王, Zhōu Lìwáng) suppresses criticism and takes people’s silence as success. In the story, critics are executed and people communicate through glances on the roads. The Duke of Shao (邵公, Shàogōng) objects with the image of blocking a river: pressure can accumulate until a destructive breach. He proposes channels through which criticism and advice can reach the ruler. The narrative then presents the king’s refusal and eventual expulsion.[2]
The speech imagines varied channels of advice: poems from officials, records from scribes, messages from ordinary people and correction from close advisers. Its argument links those channels to a ruler’s ability to learn about failures and avoid disaster. The narrated result gives the rejected warning its force.[2]
In the Zheng group, Shi Bo (史伯, Shǐ Bó) distinguishes harmony (和, hé) from uniformity (同, tóng). Combining different elements can generate something new; adding only more of the same does not. Flavors and musical sounds supply concrete models for this distinction: one sound alone does not make satisfying music, just as a single flavor cannot produce a varied taste.[3]
Shi Bo applies the reasoning to a court that rejects capable advisers in favor of agreeable flatterers. The analogy connects difference with corrective counsel. A ruler who hears only agreement loses what other voices could contribute to good judgment.[3]
How to Read a Guoyu Episode
- Identify the situation: Establish who speaks, who receives the advice and what decision is at stake.
- Follow the support: Trace the analogy, precedent or account of consequences used to persuade the listener.
- Read the outcome: Notice whether advice is accepted or rejected, then separate the narrative’s framing from later annotation.
The criticism-and-river episode in juan 1 and the harmony discussion in juan 16 make useful starting points. Compare the form of persuasion before assuming that all speeches express one author’s doctrine.
For a translation or annotated edition, check its coverage: a selection from one group is not the whole Guoyu. Keep the political heading and juan number in your notes, and verify how the edition marks Wei Zhao’s explanations.
FAQs About the Guoyu
Is the Guoyu the same as the Zuo Tradition?
No. They share some material and interests, but have different organization and should be read as distinct works.[1]
Does guoyu here mean Mandarin Chinese?
Not in this title. The same written word has modern language meanings, but here it refers to the ancient collection of state discourses.[4]
Are its twenty-one juan twenty-one physical books?
No. Juan are divisions of the text. The number of modern bound volumes depends on the edition.[1]
Sources
[1] Public-domain Chinese text and bibliographical notice. Guoyu: chapter list and later bibliographical assessment
[2] Public-domain Chinese text with traditional annotation. Guoyu, juan 1: Discourses of Zhou, upper
[3] Public-domain Chinese text with traditional annotation. Guoyu, juan 16: Discourses of Zheng
[4] Taiwan Ministry of Education, Revised Mandarin Chinese Dictionary. Guoyu: dictionary entry
[5] Taiwan Ministry of Education, Revised Mandarin Chinese Dictionary. Wei Zhao: dictionary entry
[6] Yuri Pines, Journal of Chinese History. A Speechless Monarch: Early China’s Battle for Intellectual Authority (2024)