The Three Commentaries on the Spring and Autumn Annals , are a series of works that annotate the classic Chinese historical text the Spring and Autumn Annals

Spring and Autumn Annals

The Spring and Autumn Annals is the official chronicle of the State of Lu covering the period from 722 BCE to 481 BCE. It is the earliest surviving Chinese historical text to be arranged on annalistic principles. The text is extremely concise and, if all the commentaries are excluded, about 16,000...

. They comprise the Zuo Zhuan

Zuo Zhuan

The Zuo Zhuan , sometimes translated as the Chronicle of Zuo or the Commentary of Zuo, is among the earliest Chinese works of narrative history and covers the period from 722 BCE to 468 BCE. It is one of the most important sources for understanding the history of the Spring and Autumn Period...

, Gongyang Zhuan

Gongyang Zhuan

The Gōngyáng Zhuàn is a commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals and one of the classic books of ancient Chinese history. It is believed to have been written by Zi-xia disciple Gongyang Gao of the State of Qi during the Warring States Period of Chinese history...

and Guliang Zhuan

Guliang Zhuan

The Gǔliáng Zhuàn is considered one of the classic books of ancient Chinese history. It is traditionally attributed to a writer with the surname of Guliang in the disciple tradition of Zi-xia , but versions of his name vary and there is no definitive way to date the text...

.

Both the Book of Han

Book of Han

The Book of Han, Hanshu or History of the Former Han Dynasty |Fan Ye]] . Various scholars have estimated that the earliest material covered in the book dates back to between 206 and 202 BCE...

and the Records of the Grand Historian

Records of the Grand Historian

The Records of the Grand Historian, also known in English by the Chinese name Shiji , written from 109 BC to 91 BC, was the Magnum opus of Sima Qian, in which he recounted Chinese history from the time of the Yellow Emperor until his own time...

provide detailed information on the origins of the three texts. Two further commentaries, the Zou Shi Zhuan (鄒氏傳) and the Jia Shi Zhuan (夾氏傳) were known to exist but are now lost.