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Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6” x 9” black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. UMI A Bell & Howell Infonnation Company 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Aibor MI 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 PROTOTYPES IN LESSER SEAL SCRIPTS (CHINA, ca 220BC-AD220) DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Jian Tang, M.A. ***** The Ohio State University 1996 Dissertation Committee: Approved by Professor Marjorie K. M. Chan, Advisor Professor Richard W. Yerkes Professor Charles J. Quinn Advisor D épartent of East Asian Languages and Literatures UMI Number: 9639354 Copyright 1996 by T ang, J i a n All rights reserved. UMI Microform 9639354 Copyright 1996, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 ABSTRACT The nature of categories in cognition and the establishment of the cognition-based methods relevant to interdisciplinary studies are the pivotal issues under consideration by modern philosophers, psychologists, archaeologists, paleographers, linguists, and scholars in many of the other principle fields of academic studies. The main direction of the trend is to adopt the prototype theory for scientific research. The purpose of this study is to analyze the semantic radical system of Lesser Seal S crip ts (China, ca 220BC-AD220) and to trace the system atic interpretation of the Shang oracle bone scripts (1750BC-1100BC), the Zhou bronze scripts (1100BC-475BC), and various Warring States scripts (475BC- 221BC). The philosophy of the research is to use cognition based prototype theory in opposition to both the Aristotelian discrete categorization and Wittgensteinian contingent categorical model. The methodology adopted is the hypothetical deductive methods which first generate a legitimate hypothesis, then gather facts and observations permitting the testing of this hypothesis. The approach of this study takes an interdisciplinary orientation at the junction of the academic boundaries of several principle fields in philosophy, archaeology, cognitive psychology, linguistics, paleography, and history. The data base is a monumental work Shuo Wen Jie Zi [ The Interpretation of Graphs and Anatomy of Scripts] written by a great Chinese paleographer Xu Shen (AD58-147) during the first century, his brilliant theory known as The Six Principles of Writing (Zhi Shi [Indicative], Xiang Xing [Pictographic], Hui Yi [Joined Semantics], Xing Sheng [Semantic-Phonetic], Jia Jie [Mutual Loan], Zhuan Zhu [Shift-Install), and his famous 540 semantic radical system for the interpretation of the structures of the Lesser Seal Scripts. The archaeological evidence and the true Chinese paleographic legacy are important to this study. Since the prototype theory at the present stage remains a general idea based on some new concepts or new perspectives, how humans categorize the natural world from their cognitive structures is, and will be a question for long time to come. The present study establishes a theoretical model with a set of six plausible principles formulated on the basis of analyzing the true Chinese paleographic legacy. These six principles are as follows: [1] Categorical centralities; [2] Legitimate intersections; [3] Distinct gradations; [4] Fuzzy boundaries; [5] Flexible imaginations; and [6] Chaining linkages. These principles are regarded in this study as the basic principles which coherently structure a mosaic system from which u conceptualization and cognitive categorization of the world reflected in the behavioral patterns of the semantic radical system can be traced, reconstructed, and better understood. The first five principles have been analyzed in detail. The results explored five cognitive processes with ranges of paleographic instances and archaeological evidence as follows: The first cognitive process is the process of most minimum forms of semantic radicals for categorical centrality. The process of most minimum forms of semantic radical is a process whereby the limited set of 154 semantic radicals within the 540 semantic radical system, which can not be further decomposed into any smaller script units, are formed on the basis of the conceptualization of human exploitation of the natural world by cognitive capacity. This process is operated by three rules as follows: [1] The Limited 154 semantic radicals out of 540 semantic radicals are the most minimum forms, they can not be further decomposed structurally. These most minimum forms of semantic radicals are the base-stones and building blocks for the construction of the 540 semantic radical system by which all Chinese concepts in written forms are composed. They are the semantic categorical centers; hence, categorical centralities. [2] All the 154 most minimum forms of semantic radicals representing 154 semantic categories can be further grouped into sixty-four cognitive categories which reflect Chinese conceptualization of the natural world. These sixty-four cognitive categories are drawn from the invisible psychological realities upon which 154 linguistic semantic categories are formed. On the basis of these 154 invisible linguistic semantic categories, the 154 most minimum forms of semantic radicals, in clear and distinguishable visible written shapes, are originated. [3] The proposed sixty-four cognitive categories are developed as mental processes through seven factors and twenty-one internal sub­ factors involving the interrelationship between the exploitation of the environment by humans. The anthropological model for the reconstructed schema of these cognitive categories is a deviated anthropological model. The factors are listed as follows: [i] Environment (Nature, Flora, Fauna); [ii] Human (Human Population, Human Behavior, Human Relation); [iii] Technology (Agriculture, Industry, Techniques); [iv] Subsistence (Trade, Transportation, Subsistence Practices); [v] Settlement (Architecture; Spatial, Settlement Patterns); [vi] Organization (Government, Law, Military); [vii] ideology (Arts, Sciences, Beliefs). The second cognitive process is the process of cognitive licensing for legitimate intersection. The process of categorical intersection is a process whereby semantic categories represented by semantic radicals in written forms intersect with each other productively forming scripts for written communication. This process is operated by three rules as follows: [4] The categorical intersection of semantic radicals is legitimate only when the intersection is cognitively licensed. The legitimate categorical intersection must be permitted by Chinese cognition and cognitive categorization of the world, otherwise unexpected script forms will occur. iii [5] The cognitive licensing is legitimate only when the conceptualization is mapped with human exploitation of the given environment. The capacities of conceptualization is the only resource to motivate the cognitive licensing by which semantic radicals are legitimately intersected to create scripts to form a consistent system for written communication. [6] Conceptual mapping, which is understood as a developing historical notion, is legitimate only when it realizes itself in visible written forms. The cognitive licensing for different semantic radicals to form the new script reflects clearly the historical conditions for its creation. The third cognitive process is the process of gradate reduplication for distinct gradations. The process of gradate reduplication is a process whereby a semantic category represented by a semantic radical in written form reduplicates itself within a categorical configuration to produce scripts with distinct gradations indicating the quantitative differences and comparative degrees with distinctly gradated ranges within a categorical domain. This process is operated by three rules as follows: [7] The gradate reduplication operates on limited inventories within a categorical domain, technically taking the most minimum form of semantic radicals as the prerequisite, and the legitimate intersection as the antecedent. These inventories include verbs, adjectives, nouns, and numerals with consistent patterns