Guoyu (book)

The Guoyu, usually translated Discourses of the States, is an ancient Chinese text that consists of a collection of speeches attributed to rulers and other men from the Spring and Autumn period (771–476 BC). It comprises a total of 240 speeches, ranging from the reign of King Mu of Zhou ((r. 956 – 918 BC)) to the execution of the Jin minister Zhibo in 453 BC. The Guoyu was probably compiled beginning in the 5th century BC and continuing to the late 4th century BC. The earliest chapter of the compilation is the Discourses of Zhou.

The text's author is unknown, but it is sometimes attributed to Zuo Qiuming, a contemporary of Confucius;  although as early as Jin dynasty, Fu Xuan objected to that attribution of authorship.

Contents
Guoyu overlaps with the period, people, events in the Zuo zhuan. And during the end of the Han dynasty it was called the preface of the Zuo Zhuan. Scholars like Xu Gan mention it in their work including the Balanced Discourses though the tradition died out.

It comprises eight books covering the Zhou court and seven of the feudal states, divided into 21 chapters: