This article proposes that the invention of the concept of Spring and Autumn (Chunqiu; ca. 722–481 BCE), the only Chinese historical period named after a text, was neither early nor inevitable. A diachronic analysis of the word chunqiu shows that it began to denote the Chunqiu period in late Western Han (ca. 48 BCE–9 CE). An eschatological prediction in the first century BCE was instrumental in generating this temporal sensibility. Many used the time frame of 242 years with 12 reigns from the Chunqiu, a canonical text purportedly composed by Confucius, to predict that the Han dynasty would soon come to an end. Wang Mang, who overthrew the Han and fulfilled the prophecy, intensified this sensibility. Just as the Western Han was born as a historical period, so was Chunqiu as its historical analogue. Subsequently, historians artificially extended the length of the former to align it with the latter. The emergence of Chunqiu is thus a story about how numerology shaped the interaction between visions of the future and of history, textuality, temporality, political action, classical studies, and historiography in ancient China. The telling of this story complicates our understanding of the history of periodization, a problematic yet essential practice that concerns every historian.

「春秋時期」概念成立考  王棕琦 

任何對中國歷史稍有了解的人對「春秋時期」這一歷史分期概念都不會陌生。春秋時人卻未曾以此稱呼自己身處的時代。然則古人從何時開始覺察春秋二百四十二年是一段獨立的歷史時期，並以「春秋」稱之？本文通過考察「春秋」一詞的用例，指出「春秋」在西漢末年才普遍被用以指稱春秋時代。換言之，春秋時代很可能是西漢後期的發明。箇中原因似乎不難理解：元成哀平時代是經學全盛時期。此時《春秋》及其三傳被廣泛研習和應用，並得到官方體制的全面支持。只有在《春秋》已被典律化與廣為研習的先決條件下，春秋時期這一概念才有誕生並流行的可能。然而文本典律化和普及化是一永無休止的過程，只有程度之別。然則春秋時期為何於西漢晚期誕生，而非更早或更晚？而且，《春秋》在此以前已為不少專家群體所熟習，大儒董仲舒正是顯例。他們早已將《春秋》奉若聖典，為何卻未曾以「春秋」一詞指稱春秋時代？可見《春秋》典律化和普及化只是春秋時代誕生的先決條件，而非充分條件。本文進而指出，關鍵在於《春秋》詮釋學在西漢晚期出現了一範式轉移，即從過往針對微言大義的微觀研究，轉為同時關注《春秋》宏觀時間框架的現實意義。造成這一轉移的原因，是西漢中晚期官員、學者乃至漢帝都利用「《春秋》十二魯公二百四十二年」這一時間框架來推論漢室將亡於第十二位漢帝之時，此所謂「三七之厄」也。如此數術預測之所以深入人心，是因為漢末之人大多信納孔子為漢制法、志存《春秋》之說。這種以古律今的時段比附，使人們開始覺察《春秋》二百四十二年是一富有意義的獨立時期。而王莽大力推廣這一末世理論，最終更親手終結西漢，不但實現了三七預言，更將這一新興的歷史時間感推到極致：如果西漢╱前漢成了已完結的歷史時期，那麼作為其上古比附物的春秋時期亦應運而同生。故此，如果說孔子「創作」了《春秋》一書，那麼王莽（意外地）創造了春秋時期。