Memorial on Annexation of Feudal States and Memorial on the Burning of Books, by Li Si (As Recorded by Sima Qian)
Primary Source Document with Questions (DBQs) M E M O R I A L O N A N N E X A T I O N O F F E U D A L S T A T E S A N D M E M O R I A L O N T H E B U R N I N G O F B O O K S B y L i S i ( a s r e c o r d e d b y S i m a Q i a n ) Introduction Li Si (d. 208 BCE) was, along with the Legalist philosopher Han Fei (d. 233 BCE), a student of Xunzi (c. 310-c. 219 BCE) and an official for the kingdom of Qin. When Qin conquered the remaining feudal states of the Zhou dynasty and built a new, centralized empire, Li Si was prime minister to the first emperor, Qin Shihuang. As prime minister, Li Si had the opportunity to bring Legalist political philosophy to bear on the task of uniting and ruling the patchwork of now-conquered feudal states of the former Zhou kingdom. The memorials below are two examples of the policies that Li Si successfully urged Qin Shihuang to follow. The memorials, in the form that we have them, are recorded by the Han dynasty historian Sima Qian (145?-86? BCE). They may, therefore, reflect Han bias in either the choice made or the accuracy of the record. However, we have no alternative sources from which to compare the record and investigate the nature and extent of whatever bias may be present.
Volume 19 (2012), Article 2 http://chinajapan.org/articles/19/2 Fogel, Joshua A. “On Saeki Arikiyo’s Monumental Study of the ‘Treatise on the People of Wa’” Sino-Japanese Studies 19 (2012), article 2. Abstract: Saeki Ariyiko was one of the world’s premier historians of ancient Japanese and East Asian history. His knowledge of texts and his ability to use them in creative ways and thus bring antiquity to life were virtually unmatched. One of his last works was a reading of the single most commented upon text in Sino-Japanese historical and cultural relations, the Treatise on the People of Wa in the Chronicle of the Kingdom of Wei (known in Japan as Gishi Wajinden). Saeki’s book, entitled Gishi Wajingden o yomu 魏 志倭人伝を読む (Reading the Treatise on the People of Wa in the Chronicle of the Kingdom of Wei), appeared in two volumes (over 450 pages in total) and was published by Yoshikawa kōbunkan in 2000. To give a flavor of the work, I offer a translation of the introductions to each of the volumes. Sino-Japanese Studies http://chinajapan.org/articles/19/2 On Saeki Arikiyo’s Monumental Study of the “Treatise on the People of Wa” Joshua A. Fogel Saeki Ariyiko 佐伯有清 (1925-2005) was one of the world’s premier historians of ancient Japanese and East Asian history. His knowledge of texts and his ability to use them in creative ways and thus bring antiquity to life were virtually unmatched. Although I never had the honor to study with or even meet him, I have long been an admirer of his scholarship both for his approach and product.
The First Emperor: Selections from the Historical Records (Oxford
oxford world’s classics THE FIRST EMPEROR Sima Qian’s Historical Records (Shiji), from which this selection is taken, is the most famous Chinese historical work, which not only established a pattern for later Chinese historical writing, but was also much admired for its literary qualities, not only in China, but also in Japan, where it became available as early as the eighth cen- tury ad. The work is vast and complex, and to appreciate its nature it is necessary to make a selection of passages concerning a particu- lar period. To this end the short-lived Qin Dynasty, which unified China in the late third century bc, has been chosen for this transla- tion as a key historical period which well illustrates Sima’s method. Sima himself lived from 145 bc to about 86 bc. He inherited the post of Grand Historiographer from his father, and was so deter- mined to complete his work that he suffered the penalty of castra- tion rather than the more honourable alternative of death when he fell foul of the Emperor. Raymond Dawson was an Emeritus Fellow of Wadham College, Oxford. He was Editor of The Legacy of China (1964) and his other publications include The Chinese Chameleon: An Analysis of European Conceptions of Chinese Civilization (1967), Imperial China (1972), The Chinese Experience (1978), Confucius (1982), A New Introduction to Classical Chinese (1984), and the Analects (Oxford World’s Classics, 1993). K. E. Brashier is Associate Professor of Religion (Chinese) and Humanities (Chinese) at Reed College. oxford world’s classics For over 100 years Oxford World’s Classics have brought readers closer to the world’s great literature.
On Shao Yong’s Method for Observing Things The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters Citation Bol, Peter. 2013. On Shao Yong’s Method for Observing Things. Monumenta Serica 61:287-299. Published Version http://www.monumenta-serica.de/monumenta-serica/publications/ journal/Catolog/Volume-LXI-2013.php Citable link http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:17935880 Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Open Access Policy Articles, as set forth at http:// nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of- use#OAP On Shao Yong’s Method for Observing Things Peter K. Bol Charles H. Carswell Professor of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University, 2 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA Title: 論邵雍之觀物法 Abstract: Shao Yong’s “Inner Chapters on Observing Things” develops a method for understanding the unity of heaven and man, tracing the decline of civilization from antiquity, and determining how the present can return to the ideal socio-political order of antiquity. Shao’s method is based on dividing any topic into fours aspects (for example, four Classics, four seasons, four kinds of rulers, etc.) and generating the systematic relations between these four member sets. Although Shao’s method was unusual at the time, the questions he was addressing were shared with mid-eleventh statecraft thinkers. 摘要:邵雍在《觀物內篇》中發展出了一種獨特的方法,用來理解天人合一、追溯三代以 後之衰、並確定如何才能復原三代理想的社會政治秩序。邵雍的方法立足於將任意一個主 題劃分為四個種類(例如,四種經典,四種季節,四種統治者,等等),並賦予這四個種 類之間以系統性的聯繫。雖然邵雍的方法在當時並非尋常,可是他所試圖解決的問題卻是 其他十一世紀中葉的政治制度思想家所共同思考的。 Shao’s claim to philosophical importance is based on a single book, the Huangji jingshi shu 皇極 經世書 (Supreme Principles for Governing the World) and the various charts and diagrams associated with it, and to much lesser extent his collection of poems, the Jirang ji 擊壤集.
Te Tomb Inscription ( Muzhiming) and Offi Cial Biographies of Wang Chuzhi
Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 52 (2009) 14-56 www.brill.nl/jesho A Buried Past: ! e Tomb Inscription (Muzhiming) and Offi cial Biographies of Wang Chuzhi (863-923) Angela Schottenhammer* Abstract ! e present article investigates the tomb inscription of Wang Chuzhi (863-923), a military governor whose career spanned the end of the Tang and the beginning of the Five Dynas- ties. By comparing the inscription with representations of the deceased in offi cial sources, the article reveals that the tomb inscription presents a critical attitude toward the moral standards of conventional historiography, and demonstrates a shifting moral geography in the works of Song historians. ! is new standard increasingly excluded nomadic peoples from the newly imagined political body, and excluded with them the pragmatic diplomacy that had characterized the politics of the Five Dynasties. Cet article analyse l’inscription funéraire de Wang Chuzhi (863-923). Ce gouverneur mili- taire vécut à la fi n des Tang et au début de la période des Cinq Dynasties. La comparaison de l’inscription à diverses représentations du défunt contenues dans les sources offi cielles montre la manière dont l’auteur de l’inscription critique les standards moraux de l’historiographie offi cielle. Elle montre aussi le cadre géographique mouvant dans lequel s’appliquait la morale Song : les populations nomades étaient de plus en plus exclues du corps politique tel qu’il était alors imaginé ; la diplomatie pragmatique qui avait dominé la période des Cinq Dynasties était abandonnée. Keywords tomb inscriptions, historiography, dynastic histories, Five Dynasties, Wang Chuzhi Introduction Wang Chuzhi !"# (863-923) was a high-ranking Military Commis- sioner who lived during the closing decades of the Tang (618-907) and the early years of the Five Dynasties (907-960), a time characterized by unceas- *! Angela Schottenhammer, Sinology, Japanese Studies, Munich University and Mar- burg University, Germany, angela.schottenhammer@ostasien.fak12.uni-muenchen.de.
The Aesthetic and Ethic of the Chinese Diasporic Artist Mu Xin
“Art Is to Sacrifice One’s Death”: The Aesthetic and Ethic of the Chinese Diasporic Artist Mu Xin by Muyun Zhou Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Duke University Date:_______________________ Approved: ___________________________ Carlos Rojas, Supervisor ___________________________ Eileen Chow ___________________________ Leo Ching Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Critical Asian Humanities in the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies in the Graduate School of Duke University 2021 ABSTRACT “Art Is to Sacrifice One’s Death”: The Aesthetic and Ethic of the Chinese Diasporic Artist Mu Xin by Muyun Zhou Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Duke University Date:_______________________ Approved: ___________________________ Carlos Rojas, Supervisor ___________________________ Eileen Chow ___________________________ Leo Ching An abstract of a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Critical Asian Humanities in the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies in the Graduate School of Duke University 2021 Copyright by Muyun Zhou 2021 Abstract In his world literature lecture series running from 1989 to 1994, the Chinese diasporic writer-painter Mu Xin (1927-2011) provided a puzzling proposition for a group of emerging Chinese artists living in New York: “Art is to sacrifice.” Reading this proposition in tandem with Mu Xin’s other comments on “sacrifice” from the lecture series, this study examines the intricate relationship between aesthetics and ethics in Mu Xin’s project of art. The question of diasporic positionality is inherent in the relationship between aesthetic and ethical discourses, for the two discourses were born in a Western tradition, once foreign to Mu Xin.
& liu e-yin zHen (1886–1920?) was a theo- ko Hrist who figured centrally in the birth , karl of Chinese feminism. Unlike her contem- , poraries, she was concerned less with China’s eds fate as a nation and more with the relation- . , ship among patriarchy, imperialism, capi- talism, and gender subjugation as global historical problems. This volume, the first translation and study of He-Yin’s work in English, critically reconstructs early twenti- eth-century Chinese feminist thought in a transnational context by juxtaposing He-Yin The Bir Zhen’s writing against works by two better- known male interlocutors of her time. The editors begin with a detailed analysis of He-Yin Zhen’s life and thought. They then present annotated translations of six of her major essays, as well as two foundational “The Birth of Chinese Feminism not only sheds light T on the unique vision of a remarkable turn-of- tracts by her male contemporaries, Jin h of Chinese the century radical thinker but also, in so Tianhe (1874–1947) and Liang Qichao doing, provides a fresh lens through which to (1873–1929), to which He-Yin’s work examine one of the most fascinating and com- responds and with which it engages. Jin, a poet and educator, and Liang, a philosopher e plex junctures in modern Chinese history.” Theory in Transnational ssential Texts Amy— Dooling, author of Women’s Literary and journalist, understood feminism as a Feminism in Twentieth-Century China paternalistic cause that liberals like them- selves should defend. He-Yin presents an “This magnificent volume opens up a past and alternative conception that draws upon anar- conjures a future.
A City with Many Faces: Urban Development in Pre-Modern China (C
A city with many faces: urban development in pre-modern China (c. 3000 BC - AD 900) WANG TAO Introduction Urbanism is an important phenomenon in human history. Comparative studies have, however, shown that each city possesses its own characteristics within a particular historical context. The fundamental elements that determine the construction and functions of a city, such as the economic, political, military and religious factors, play different roles in different cases. In other words, each city may potentially be unique. Modern scholars have now realised that the most appropriate way to approach a city is to approach it in its own cultural tradition. To understand the cultures of different cities and the idea of urbanism and its manifestations in various contexts, we must consider the experiences and feelings of the people who lived in these cities rather than just the half-buried city walls and broken roof tiles. In this chapter I will examine different models and the crucial stages of urbanisation in pre-modern China, mainly from an archaeological perspective, but also in conjunction with some contemporary historical sources. The aim is to reveal a general pattern, if there is one, and the key elements that underlay the development of Chinese cities from 3000 BC to AD 900. The ideal city and some basic terms: cheng/yi, du, guo, she, jiao, li/fang, shi A good way to detect what people think of their cities is to find out what they call them. The most common word in the Chinese language for city is cheng, meaning a walled settlement.
526 Chapter Three 經學昌明時代 The Period of Advancement of Classical Scholarship [3/1 SVA Introductory Comments: In the opening section of Chapter Three, Pi Xirui quotes extensively from the "Rulin zhuan" chapter of the Shi ji so as to support his position that during the reign of Emperor Wu (141-87 B.C.), Classical Scholarship was in its purest and most orthodox form. He also uses the lack of information in the "Rulin zhuan" regarding the Old Script Documents, Zhouli, Mao Shi, and Zuozhuan to argue that Sima Qian did not have access to these texts, which are texts of the "Old Script" school.] 3/11 The "Rulin zhuan" chapter of the Shi ji states, "When the present emperor2 ascended the throne, there were men such as Zhao Wan 趙綰 and Wang Zang 王臧3 who clearly understood Confucian learning and the 1[SVA: Section 3/1 corresponds to pp.69-72 of the Zhonghua ed. and to pp.60-64 of the Yiwen ed.] 2(3/1, n.1) Zhou Yutong comments: In the Chinese jinshang 今上, "the present emperor," refers to Emperor Wu of the Han. 3(3/1, n.2) Zhou Yutong comments: Zhao Wan 趙綰 was a native of Dai 代 and Wang Zang 王臧 was a native of Lanling 蘭陵. They both studied the Lu 527 emperor himself was also inclined toward it.4 He thereupon issued an order recruiting scholar-officials in the recommendation categories of Straightforward and Upright, Worthy and Excellent, and Learned.5 After this, as for giving instruction in the Songs, in Lu it was Master Shen Pei 申 培公, in Qi it was Master Yuan Gu 轅固生, and in Yan, it was Grand Tutor Han Ying 韓(嬰)太傅.