An Intellectual History of China, Volume One Brill’s Humanities in China Library Edited by Zhang Longxi, City University of Hong Kong Axel Schneider, Universität Göttingen VOLUME 6 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/bhcl An Intellectual History of China, Volume One Knowledge, Thought, and Belief before the Seventh Century CE By Ge Zhaoguang Translated by Michael S. Duke and Josephine Chiu-Duke LEIDEN | BOSTON This book is a result of the translation license agreement among Ge Zhaoguang of Fudan University, Fudan University Press and Koninklijke Brill NV. This book is translated into English from an abbreviated version of the original《中国思想史》(葛兆光著) (Zhongguo sixiang shi, by Ge Zhaoguang) with financial support from the Chinese Fund for the Humanities and Social Sciences (中华社会科学基金), China Book International from the Information Office of the State Council of China, and Fudan University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Ge, Zhaoguang, 1950– [Zhongguo si xiang shi. English] An intellectual history of China / by Ge Zhaoguang ; translated by Michael S. Duke and Josephine Chiu-Duke. p. cm. — (Brill’s humanities in China library ; v. 6) Translation of author’s abbreviation of his own work. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-90-04-17175-6 (hardback : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-90-47-42507-6 (e-book) 1. Philosophy, Chinese—History. I. Title. B126.G43613 2014 181’.11—dc23 2013045569 This publication has been typeset in the multilingual ‘Brill’ typeface. With over 5,100 characters covering Latin, ipa, Greek, and Cyrillic, this typeface is especially suitable for use in the humanities. For more information, please see brill.com/brill-typeface. issn 1874-8023 isbn 978-90-04-17175-6 (hardback) isbn 978-90-47-42507-6 (e-book) Copyright 2014 by Koninklijke Brill nv, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill nv incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Nijhoff, Global Oriental and Hotei Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill nv provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, ma 01923, usa. Fees are subject to change. Brill has made all reasonable efforts to trace all rights holders to any copyrighted material used in this work. In cases where these efforts have not been successful the publisher welcomes communications from copyright holders, so that the appropriate acknowledgements can be made in future editions, and to settle other permission matters. This book is printed on acid-free paper. Contents Chronology of Chinese States and Dynasties viii Abbreviations Used in Footnotes and Bibliography x Note on Translation xi Author and Translators xiv Series Editors’ Foreword xv Introduction: Chinese Intellectual History Writing 1 Prologue: The History of Chinese Intellectual History Itself 1 1. The History of General Knowledge, Thought and Belief 7 2. Between the History of Knowledge and the History of Thought 16 3. The Foundational Presupposition of Chinese Thought: “Dao” or the “Way of Heaven” 22 4. The Continuity of Intellectual History Emerges 29 5. Historical Memory, Intellectual Resources and Reinterpretation 39 6. Pictures Where There Are No Pictures: How to Deal with Empty Spaces in Intellectual History 45 7. Addition and Subtraction Methods in Intellectual History Research 53 8. What Can Be a Resource Material for Intellectual History? 58 1 Tracing the Origins of Chinese Intellectual History in the Three Dynasties (Ancient Times to ca. 6th Century BCE) 68 Brief Prologue: Remote Antiquity 68 1. Reconstructing the World of Ancient Thought: Traditional Written Documents, Modern Theory, and Archeological Discoveries 71 2. The Shang Conceptual System as Recorded in the Oracle Bone Inscriptions 82 3. Evolution of Thought as Recorded in the Written Documents and Bronze Inscriptions of the Western Zhou 91 4. Chinese Script and Chinese Intellectual History 99 5. Ceremonies, Symbols and a Numerological World Order as the Background of Later Intellectual History 106 vi contents 2 The Hundred Schools of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Period, I (ca. 6th to 3rd Century BCE) 120 Brief Prologue: China’s “Axial Age” 120 1. General Knowledge and Thought in the Spring and Autumn Period 121 2. Continuation and Renewal of the Intellectual Tradition, I: Ru or the Confucians 132 3. Continuation and Renewal of the Intellectual Tradition, II: Mo or the Moists 141 4. Continuation and Renewal of the Intellectual Tradition, III: Dao or the Daoists 148 5. Elite Thought and General Knowledge: Implications of Mantic and Medical Arts in Intellectual History 160 3 The Hundred Schools of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Period, II (ca. 6th to 3rd Century BCE) 170 1. Warring States Hundred Schools Contend, I: Cosmic Space and Time 170 2. Warring States Hundred Schools Contend, II: Social Order 179 3. Warring States Hundred Schools Contend, III: Life of the Individual 193 4. Language and Reality: The Warring States Period Disputations on Names 198 4 Intellectual Convergence in the Qin and Han Dynasties, from ca. the 3rd Century BCE to ca. the Mid-2nd Century CE 212 Prologue: Coda to the Hundred Schools of Thought Contending 212 1. General Knowledge Background and Intellectual Achievement in the Qin and Han Dynasties 214 2. Toward a Synthesis of Knowledge and Philosophy: From the Luxuriant Dew of the Spring and Autumn Annals to the Huainanzi 222 3. Establishment of a State Ideology: From the Luxuriant Dew of the Spring and Autumn Annals to the Discourses in the White Tiger Hall 237 4. Classics and Apocrypha—The Consequences of Mutual Interaction between General Knowledge and Elite Thought 253 contents vii 5 Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism from the End of the Eastern Han to the Early Tang Dynasty, I (ca. Mid-2nd to Mid-7th Centuries) 264 Prologue: Foreign Influence Enters China 264 1. Evolution of Autochthonous Chinese Thought and Learning from Han to Jin 266 2. The Mysterious and Profound: A Turning Point of Intellectual History in the Third Century CE 277 3. Purification of Daoist Teachings: The Religionization of Daoist Thought, Knowledge and Techniques 293 6 Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism from the Eastern Han to the Tang Dynasty, II 317 1. The Transmission of Buddhism to China and Its Significance in Intellectual History, I 317 2. The Transmission of Buddhism to China and Its Significance in Intellectual History, II 333 3. Buddhist Conquest of China? 350 4. Basic Outline of the Mainstream World of Knowledge and Thought in the Seventh Century 369 Bibliography 379 Index 395 Chronology of Chinese States and Dynasties Xia 2000?–1600? BCE Shang 1600?–1027? BCE Zhou 1027?–256 BCE Western Zhou 1027?–771 BCE Eastern Zhou 771–256 BCE Spring and Autumn Period 771–481 BCE Warring States Period 481–221 BCE Qin 221–206 BCE Western Han 202 BCE–8 CE Wang Mang 9–23 CE Eastern Han 25–220 CE Three Kingdoms 220–280 Wei 220–265 Shu 221–263 Wu 222–280 Western Jin 265–316 Sixteen Kingdoms 301–439 North-South Dynasties 317–589 South Eastern Jin 317–420 Liu Song 420–479 Southern Qi 479–520 Liang 502–557 Chen 557–589 North Northern Wei (Tuoba Wei) Xianbei or Särbi 386–535 Eastern Wei 534–550 Western Wei 534–557 Northern Qi 550–577 Northern Zhou 557–581 Sui 581–618 Tang 618–907 Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms 907–960 Northern Song 960–1127 Southern Song 1127–1276 chronology of chinese states and dynasties ix Liao Khitan 916–1125 Jin Jurchen 1125–1234 Xi Xia Tangut 1038–1227 Yuan Mongol 1271–1368 Ming 1368–1644 Qing Manchu 1636–1911 Abbreviations Used in Footnotes and Bibliography CASS 中國社會科學院 Chinese Academy of Social Science Chan, SB A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. CHC Cambridge History of China. Commercial Press 商務印書館 CQFL 春秋繁露 Chunqiu fanlu. CSJC 叢書集成 Congshu jicheng. CTP Chinese Text Project http://ctext.org/ ECT Michael Loewe, ed., Early Chinese Texts. ESEZ 二十二子 Ershi-er zi. ESWS 二十五史 Ershiwu shi, Zhonghua punctuated edition. HHS 後漢書 Hou Hanshu. HS 漢書 Hanshu. JTS 舊唐書 Jiu Tangshu. LSCQ 呂氏春秋 Lüshi chunqiu. MWD Explanations 老子乙本卷前古佚書釋文 Mawangdui Laozi yiben SBBY 四部備要 Sibu beiyao. SBCK 四部叢刊 Sibu congkan SKQS 四庫全書 Siku quanshu. Soothill, Dictionary A Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms, online. SSJZS 十三經注疏 Shisan jing zhushu. SSXYJJ 世說新語校箋 Shishuo xinyu jiaojian. SUNY State University of New York Tsukamoto, History A History of Early Chinese Buddhism. Watson, CT The Complete Works of Chuang Tzu. WSJC 緯書集成 Weishu jicheng. XTS 新唐書 Xin Tangshu. XZJJ 荀子集解 Xunzi jijie. Zhonghua 中華書局 Zhonghua shuju. ZZJC 諸子集成 Zhuzi jicheng. ZZJS 莊子集釋 Zhuangzi jishi. ZZTJ 資治通鑑 Zizhi tongjian. Note on Translation The work translated here was first published in two volumes as Zhongguo sixi- angshi, di yi juan: Qi shiji qian Zhongguo de zhishi, sixiang yu xinyang shijie 中國思想史, 第一卷, 七世紀前的知識、思想與信仰世界 (1998) and Zhongguo sixiangshi, di er juan: Qi shiji zhi shijiu shiji Zhongguo de zhishi, sixi- ang yu xinyang 中國思想史, 第二卷, 七世紀至十九世紀中國的知識、思 想與信仰 (2000). The original text ran to just over 1,400 pages. This transla- tion represents Professor Ge Zhaoguang’s abbreviation into a little over 660 pages of Chinese text. Volume One of this two-volume translation covers the first 371 pages of the Chinese text. This extensive work was a considerable success in China. It has been printed ten times with more than seventy thousand sets sold after its first publication, quite unusual for such a scholarly book. There may be many reasons for this success.