What are the narrative features of Zuo Zhuan?

The narration of Zuo Zhuan often pays full attention to the process and causality of events. The most outstanding achievement of Zuo Zhuan's narrative lies in describing the war. The war description in Zuo Zhuan fully embodies the narrative characteristics of Zuo Zhuan. Zuo Zhuan recorded hundreds of wars, including the battles of Chengpu, Gansu, Gansu, Ange and Yanling. Countless small battles are also written with their own characteristics and vivid descriptions. Generally speaking, the description of war in Zuo Zhuan is not limited to the description of the process of engagement, but profoundly reveals the cause, brewing process and consequences of war. In the twenty-eighth year of the reign of Emperor Rugao, the background and direct causes of the war broke out were explained, and the reasons for Jin's failure in defeating Chu were constantly shown in the text: repaying the gratitude of the enemy, rectifying the military discipline, keeping his promise, listening to the opinions of his subordinates, and working together with Qi Xin. However, Chu Fang, the monarch and the minister were separated, and the commander-in-chief relied on many soldiers, arrogant and domineering, and went his own way and blindly advanced on the Jin division. The result of the battle of Chengpu is also very comprehensive. It not only describes the great victory of Jinshi Branch and the establishment of Jin Wengong hegemony, but also describes the consequences of the war: Yu Zi of Chu committed suicide in shame after the defeat, and Jin Wengong was overjoyed. After returning home, he rewarded merit and punished evil, summed up the battle, and then praised Jin Wengong's hegemony with the words of a gentleman. At this point, the narrative is over.

The description of the causal relationship of events in Zuo Zhuan often has the characteristics of moralization and mystery. For example, in summing up the experience of the battle of Chengpu, the author said: "Gold is a servant and can attack with virtue." (Twenty-eight Years of Xi Gong) Not only the battle between Chengpu and Zuo Zhuan, but also moral factors such as propriety, righteousness and morality are described by the author as important reasons that affect the success or failure of the event, and there are often mysterious factors in the narrative. Take the omens that often appear in Zuo Zhuan as an example. Most of these omens tend to be benign: things that meet the requirements of propriety and righteousness are often auspicious, and things that violate propriety and righteousness are often ominous. These omens are sometimes the words of wise men, and sometimes the mysterious hints of divination, dreams and celestial phenomena. For example, in the battle of Qin, Jin and Korea in the fifteen years of Nuogong, it was predicted that the late King Jin was "in Korea" in the ten years of Nuogong. In the fourteenth year of Xi Gong, Jin did not say that there would be great disasters in the future and the extinction of several ethnic groups. Before the war, there were signs that Qin Bu's father explained divination, but Jin Gonghui did not follow it. After these seemingly mysterious omens, it is Jin's breach of etiquette, injustice and treachery. In the face of established historical facts, the author adds various mysterious legends and stories to describe historical events according to the gains and losses of words and deeds of historical figures, so as to predict the outcome of the events and explain the causal relationship of the events. This reflects people's world outlook and understanding level in the Spring and Autumn Period, and has distinct characteristics of the times.

Zuo Zhuan is a historical work, but the author sometimes tells events quite dramatically like a storyteller. A large number of vivid dramatic plots make this work full of stories. Moreover, some narrative notes in Zuo Zhuan are obviously not true records of historical facts, but are based on speculation or fiction. For example, the mother-child dialogue recorded in Twenty-four Years of Xi Gong was not heard or recorded by the third party, and was fabricated by the author according to rumors and speculation. This kind of writing can be regarded as the bud of future novelists' virtual dialogue with characters. Zuo Zhuan also recorded a lot of rumors about divination, dream interpretation and miracles. For example, the story of the death of Duke Jing of Jin in Ten Years of Success is bizarre and tortuous, and three dreams form an interrelated plot. Writing the dream of Jin Hou is great and complete, as vivid and creepy as painting ghosts; The description of terminal illness is extremely vivid and interesting; The words of Sangtian witch's dream interpretation and the confirmation of my dream are full of mystery, like strange novels.

Characters are indispensable elements in narrative. All kinds of characters are described in Zuo Zhuan, but the author of Zuo Zhuan doesn't use special chapters to describe a character's life story like biographical historical works, nor does he create characters like later novels. Because it is a chronicle, most of the characters' words and deeds are recorded in the various years of the incident, and there are few concentrated descriptions of a certain character. Only by linking the events of the same character in different eras can we get a complete character image. Many important political figures in Zuo Zhuan, such as Zheng Zhuanggong, Jin Wengong, King Chu Ling, Zheng Zichan and Qi Yanying. , are expressed through years of accumulation. There are still some characters in Zuozhuan, which are not complete images formed by repeated appearances, but only appear in a certain time and event, showing only a fragment of their lives and reflecting a certain aspect of their personality. These images are often very vivid and can leave a deep impression on readers. For example, there are three brave men in Jin Linggong Fei Jun (Gong Xuan in the second year), and the ugly father who was captured by your generation in the battle of Qi and Jin (Cheng Gong in the second year).

Zuo Zhuan describes a wide range of characters, many of whom have distinct personalities. Some descriptions in Zuo Zhuan also show the richness and complexity of the characters' personalities, and show the changes of the characters' personalities. Jin Wengong is a highly praised figure in Zuo Zhuan (from the 28th year of Zhuang Gong to the 32nd year of Gong Gong). He grew up from a noble son to a politician, from an exile to a generation of overlord, and his personality had a tortuous mature process. King Chu Ling was the image of the monarch denied in Zuo Zhuan (from the 26th year of Xianggong to the 13th year of Zhao Gong). His aggressiveness and ambition before he ascended the throne, his self-reliance and self-improvement, and his cruelty and arrogance after he ascended the throne all show that he is indeed a bad king. At the same time, however, the author shows his tolerant and trainable personality, learning from the times, forgetting the past and being humorous, and writes that he finally regrets his cruelty and creates a character with complex personality.

The actions and dialogues of the characters in Zuo Zhuan's narrative constitute the main means to express the characters, but there are few subjective and static descriptions of the characters such as appearance and psychology. Through the words and deeds of characters in major historical events, the characters' personalities are displayed and the characters' images are completed. For example, Zuo Zhuan described the scene of the war, showed the whole picture of the war, and showed the personality of the characters in the battle of Qi Jin {An Ge} in the second year of Chenggong: Li Ke was injured by an arrow, bleeding incessantly, and still playing drums, saying, "I am sick!" Zhang Hou said: "From the beginning, the arrow penetrated my hand and elbow, and the rest were folded to protect me. How dare I speak ill of you? My son has endured it! " He said slowly, "from the beginning, if there is danger, I will get off the cart." Do you know that?/You know what? But the child is sick. " Zhang Hou said: "The teacher's eyes and ears are on my flag, and I will move forward and backward. This car is a temple for one person and can collect things. If you are sick, what is the big deal to defeat the monarch? If you have a weapon, you will die. My son encouraged me before I died. " Left-handed, right-handed, drumming, as soon as the horse can't stop, learn from it. Qi Jun was completely defeated. One by one, three Zhou Hua didn't pay attention.

Chuck was injured, and Jason and Zheng Qiu slowly encouraged him to continue fighting. The tense and intense scene on the battlefield at that time can be imagined. The spirit of the three people's unity and death is also fully demonstrated in the dialogue and action description.

There are many things in the war description of Zuo Zhuan that have little to do with the whole war situation. These things only reflect some specific conditions of the war and are of little significance in the war. Zuo Zhuan still describes many details in the complicated war process and political events. As historical works, these descriptions can be omitted or omitted, but Zuo Zhuan describes many trivial details, which are of literary significance in terms of vivid narration and characterization, such as the spinal war between Song and Zheng in two years, the Zheng people were defeated by madness and cunning, the eater of Huayuan forgot to stop the sheep from falling down, and the dialogue with the sheep after Huayuan fled. It is the detailed description of these small events that adds vividness to the story. Another example is the "four years in Gong Xuan", which is a major historical event in which Zheng Gongzi came back from the dead to kill the king. He wrote some details, such as Zheng's index finger moved greatly, Zheng's food doctor was not with him, he was very angry and caught Ding. The whole incident was caused by this trivial matter, but Gong Songzi's greed and anger, his hesitation and cowardice in returning to life, and Zheng's ignorance and absurdity were all described in the details of life. Another example is "sixteen years of mourning for the public", which is a political event. Finally, someone wrote that Ye Gongzi was rebellious and he did not pay attention to Ye Gongzi's major military and political measures. Instead, he repeatedly played up the details of whether Ye Gongzi should wear a helmet: as soon as Ye Gong arrived at the North Gate, or met him, he said, "Are you stubborn?" People in China look at you as if you are kind to your parents. If a thief hurts you, it is absolutely unpopular. If not, why not? "It's embarrassing to go in. I met another man and said, Zhou? China people expect your age, and every day is a few days. If you see your face, you will be loved. If people know that they will not die, their husbands will be eager, and they will still be loyal to their country, but they will hide their faces and make them unpopular. Isn't it great? " Free access. Highlight China people's love for Ye Gong and Ye Gong's desire to win the people of China. The success of Ye's rebellion is reflected in the details of Ye's exemption.