"Guoyu" is said to be a work of the national - style compilation written by Zuo Qiuming during the Spring and Autumn Period. Its compilation method is to classify by states and focus on speeches, hence the name "Guoyu". By the Tang Dynasty, some people began to have doubts. Some thought it was compiled by Liu Xiang of the Western Han Dynasty when he was collating books, while others believed that it was compiled successively by many people in different historical periods. In modern times, many scholars, including Kang Youwei, suspected that it was edited by scholars after the Warring States Period or the Han Dynasty, who pretended to use the original materials recorded by the historians of various states during the Spring and Autumn Period. The doubtful points will be verified. The scope of records in this work ranges from the 12th year of King Mu of Zhou (990 BC) when he launched a western expedition against the Quanrong tribe (around 947 BC) to the downfall of Zhi Bo (453 BC). "Guoyu" contains exchanges such as court visits, banquets, admonitions, arguments, and responses among nobles of various states, as well as some historical events and legends. "Guoyu" is China's first national - style historical book. From a historical perspective, it has extremely high historical value; from a literary perspective, its writing style is rather simple and concise. Many excellent chapters are full of wit in recording the dialogues of characters and have unique artistic charm. Compared with "Shangshu" and "Spring and Autumn Annals", the ideological content of "Guoyu" has many new features. Among them, "valuing the people", "advocating rituals" and "upholding virtue" are the main manifestations. Although its ideological concepts are complex and impure, they still basically reflect the ideological tendency of Confucianism. However, there are also many records about the Mandate of Heaven, gods and ghosts, and prophecies of good and bad fortune, which are influenced by the legacy of witch - historians. Liu Zongyuan wrote "Criticism of Guoyu" because of this, to reproach its "departure from the teachings of sages" ("Preface to Criticism of Guoyu"). From a literary perspective, it comprehensively and vividly reflects to a certain extent the sharp class contradictions and complex political struggles in the Spring and Autumn Period, shows the outline of the political changes at that time, and depicts many kinds of characters. In terms of specific writing, it is also different from "Shangshu", which mostly contains admonitory texts, and "Spring and Autumn Annals", which mostly implies praise and criticism. Instead, it specially records teachings, that is, it mostly cites the remarks of nobles and well - known scholar - officials of various states, evaluates the merits of figures being admonished, and analyzes the gains and losses of historical facts, thus appearing very persuasive.