劉向 Liu Xiang (compiler)
戰國策
Strategies of the Warring States
A collection of political strategies, persuasive speeches, and historical narratives from the Warring States period (475–221 BC). The text was compiled and edited by Liu Xiang during the Western Han dynasty from earlier court records and documents found on bamboo and silk.
Historical Context
The Zhanguoce preserves the voices of the itinerant persuaders (說客) who traveled between the warring kingdoms, offering counsel on alliances, military campaigns, and statecraft. Unlike the moralistic tone of Confucian histories, these accounts celebrate rhetorical brilliance and strategic cunning.
Liu Xiang organized the surviving materials into 33 chapters (卷) grouped by the states whose affairs they record. The text provides invaluable evidence for the diplomatic history of the period and the development of classical Chinese prose.