"Xunzi" as a Historical Source

“Xunzi” is one of the most understudied texts of Zhangguo period (456-221 BC). Despite the fact, a wide range of studies was conducted on “Xunzi” it remains largely unclear, if it contains any pieces of reliable historical. Thus, the purpose of the paper was twofold: to reconstruct the model of historical process of Zhao state using one of the best-studied historical sources (“Historical notes” by Sima Qiang) and to identify if the data mentioned in “Xunzi” can provide us new knowledge about Zhao state. We determined the major trends in politics of Zhao using the information from “Zhao shi jia”- one of the chapters from “Historical notes”. At the next stage we identified the facts about Zhao society contained in “Xunzi”. The data obtained from “Zhao shi jia” shed light on the question of how the political elite functioned. The research showed that only relatives of the ruler and sons of old noble families had an opportunity to get the highest ranks and titles. At the same time the findings from “Xunzi” allowed us to consider, that intellectual elite of Zhao was open: the quantative analysis showed that philosophers from Zhao used plots and characters which were well-known in the most kingdoms during Zhanguo period. In addition, the paper contains the translation of two chapters of “Xunzi”m which were not translated into Russian to the moment said paper was published. The study may contribute to world sinology and introduce into scientific circulation “Xunzi” as a trustworthy historical source.