Genealogy News · Source Interpretation · Published 2026-10-04

What the “Three Commentaries” Refer To and the Tradition of Interpreting the Spring and Autumn Annals

The line from the Three Character Classic—“There are three commentaries: the Gongyang, the Zuo, and the Guliang”—summarizes the different interpretations of the Spring and Autumn Annals found in the Gongyang Commentary, the Zuo Commentary, and the Guliang Commentary. The Three Commentaries are not a single book; their authorship, formation, and modes of transmission still require analysis in light of the history of Confucian classical studies and the documentary record.

“There are three commentaries: the Gongyang; the Zuo; and the Guliang” appears in commonly circulated editions of the Three Character Classic. The “Three Commentaries” generally refer to the Spring and Autumn Gongyang Commentary, the Spring and Autumn Zuo Commentary, and the Spring and Autumn Guliang Commentary. All three books focus on the Spring and Autumn Annals, the historical record of the State of Lu, but they are not three alternative names for the Spring and Autumn Annals. Rather, they represent distinct traditions through which later generations compiled, transmitted, and interpreted the work.

The Gongyang Commentary is traditionally associated with the lineage of Gongyang Gao, while the Guliang Commentary is generally attributed to the lineage of Guliang Chi. The Zuo Commentary, meanwhile, has traditionally been linked to Zuo Qiuming. However, differing views have long existed regarding the specific authors, dates of formation, and processes by which the texts of all three works reached their established forms. In particular, neither the authorship of the Zuo Commentary nor the process by which the Gongyang Commentary and Guliang Commentary were transmitted orally and subsequently committed to writing can be determined by relying solely on later generalizations. A more cautious understanding is that these works underwent long processes of transmission, accretion, and compilation before ultimately taking the form of the classical texts known today.

The Three Commentaries also have distinctive approaches to interpretation. The Zuo Commentary preserves a large amount of material on the politics, wars, diplomacy, and words and deeds of individuals during the Spring and Autumn period. Its narrative is relatively rich, and it is therefore often regarded as an important source for studying pre-Qin history. The Gongyang Commentary emphasizes status distinctions, institutions, and political principles, often using a question-and-answer format to elucidate the positions underlying the classical text. The Guliang Commentary likewise places emphasis on analysis of underlying principles, developing its own tradition in interpreting wording and distinguishing praise from blame. Reading the Three Commentaries alongside one another can help illuminate the historical context behind the concise language of the Spring and Autumn Annals, but they are not equivalent to unprocessed original records.

The Three Character Classic rendered complex knowledge of the Confucian classics into short, three-character lines, turning it into an introductory text and bringing the name “Three Commentaries” into broader everyday education and cultural memory. For research into family culture, this kind of classical knowledge can also provide an entry point for examining family learning traditions, reading practices, and educational attitudes. Online genealogies, family memoirs, and local gazetteers sometimes record the sages revered by a particular branch, the hall name it used, or the generation names it maintained. Such records primarily reflect a specific family’s understanding of its own transmission and inheritance; they cannot directly prove a direct-line relationship to figures from antiquity.

Take the Ding surname as an example. Existing surname materials list “Jiyang Hall” as one of the associated hall names and also mention commanderies such as Jiyang, Fufeng, and Qiaoguo, while preserving various accounts of its origins, including descent from Jiang Taigong, the adoption of a surname from a posthumous title, and other lines of transmission. People with the Ding surname are distributed across Jiangsu, Shandong, Anhui, Henan, Zhejiang, and other areas. Ding branches in different regions may have their own founding ancestors after migration, migration routes, and genealogical systems. Sharing a surname only indicates that the surname is the same; it cannot establish that people belong to the same lineage or share the same ancestor. To investigate the relationship between a specific family and an ancient line of origin, one should still verify each point against original genealogies, epitaphs, local gazetteers, family memoirs, and continuity of the genealogy. When tracing one’s roots, it is advisable to begin with clearly established ancestral residences in recent generations and known information about older relatives, then compare these with genealogical records, avoiding the mistaken treatment of legends, hall names, or associations with notable figures as conclusive proof.

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