Zuo Zhuan
For many centuries, the "Zuo Zhuan" was the primary text through which educated Chinese gained an understanding of their ancient history. Unlike the other two surviving "Annals" commentariesthe "Gongyang" and "Guliang" commentariesthe "Zuo Zhuan" does not simply explain the wording of the "Annals", but greatly expounds upon its historical background, and contains many rich and lively accounts of Spring and Autumn period (771476) history and culture. The "Zuo Zhuan" is the source of more Chinese sayings and idioms than any other classical work, and its concise, flowing style came to be held as a paragon of elegant Classical Chinese. Its tendency toward third-person narration and portraying characters through direct speech and action became hallmarks of Chinese narrative in general, and its style was imitated by historians, storytellers, and ancient style prose masters for over 2000 years of subsequent Chinese history.