Guwen guanzhi 古文觀止

Guwen guanzhi 古文觀止 "Finest [examples] of ancient literature" is a collection of literary high-standing works from the Spring and Autumn period 春秋 (770-5th cent. BCE) to the late Ming period 明 (1368-1644). It was compiled during the Qing period 清 (1644-1911) by Wu Chucai 吳楚材 (1655-1719) and his nephew Wu Diaohou 吳調侯 and then revised by their teacher Wu Xingzuo 吳興祚 (1632-1698).

The Guwen guanzhi was finished in 1694 and printed a year later. It contains 222 short prose writings arranged in 12 juan. The texts were intentionally selected to serve as model texts for education, and the Guwen guanzhi was projected as a kind of text book. Wu Chucai has also compiled a textbook on the philosopher Zhu Xi's 朱熹 (1130-1200) famous historical critique Tongjian gangmu 通鑑綱目, the Gangjian yizhi lu 綱鑒易知錄. The term guanzhi is derived from a story in the chronicle Zuozhuan 左傳 (Xianggong 襄公 29).

Almost all texts included in the Guwen guanzhi are prose, with only a small portion belonging to the genre of rhymed couplet prose (pianwen 駢文). Compared to other classical anthologies like the Wenxuan 文選, the Guwen guanzhi covers a much broader timeframe and does not concentrate on different literary genres, as the Wenxuan does. Therefore, the contents are far more diverse than in the Wenxuan. The texts are arranged chronologically, divided into seven ages roughly corresponding to dynasties. The selection of specific authors and their styles of writing is a crucial aspect of the Guwen guanzhi. Outstanding writers serve as models for future generations. All texts are briefly commented upon to give the reader an impression of their general character and meaning.

The texts of the anthology Guwen guanzhi are not only important as exemplary pieces of high-standing literature but also served as significant texts during their time. A large part of the writings has political implications or reflects critical debates of the period. The Guwen guanzhi is therefore a source collection for literature, philosophy, and history. The numerous commentaries by the two Wus help the reader to understand the significance of each individual piece within its historical context.

The oldest edition is that of the Huaijing Hall 懷涇堂 edition (1768), followed by the Yangxue Hall 映雪堂 (1774) and the Hongwen Hall 鴻文堂 edition (1789). The most famous Republican editions are those of the Shanghai Shenheji Shuju 上海沈鶴記書局 (1943) and Guangyi Shu 廣益書局, both with translations into modern Chinese. The Zhongshua Shuju 中華書局 published two editions with translations into modern Chinese (1959, 1987).

Wang Wenxu 王文濡 (1867-1935) did not just publish the first modern critical edition of the Guwen guanzhi (Shanghai Zhonghua Shuju, 1916), but also compiled a supplement, Xu guwen guanzhi 續古文觀止, published in 1924 (Shanghai Wenming Shuju 上海文明書局). It has a length of 8 juan and includes only texts from the Qing period, beginning with the philosopher Gu Yanwu 顧炎武 (1613-1682), who was also politically active, to the journalist and reformer Liang Qichao 梁啟超 (1873-1929). The collection presents 173 texts from 65 writers. The structure is the same as in the modern editions of the Guwen guanzhi, with reading aids for each sentence, commentaries, and punctuation. However, Wang also added brief biographies of each writer at the beginning of the book. The book was reprinted in 1985 by the Guji Shudian 古籍書店 in Changchun 長春, Jilin.