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Liu, Yangruxin (2019) When the reader became the book: eleventh century voices on the Shiji. PhD thesis. SOAS University of London. http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/30900 Copyright © and Moral Rights for this thesis are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non‐commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder/s. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. When referring to this thesis, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given e.g. AUTHOR (year of submission) "Full thesis title", name of the School or Department, PhD Thesis, pagination. When the Reader Became the Book: Eleventh Century Voices on the Shiji Yangruxin Liu Thesis submitted for the degree of PhD in Chinese and Inner Asian Studies 2019 Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures SOAS, University of London Declaration for SOAS PhD thesis I have read and understood Regulation 21 of the General and Admissions Regulations for students of the SOAS, University of London concerning plagiarism. I undertake that all the material presented for examination is my own work and has not been written for me, in whole or in part, by any other person. I also undertake that any quotation or paraphrase from the published or unpublished work of another person has been duly acknowledged in the work which I present for examination. Signed: ____________________________ Date: _________________ i Abstract With a focus on eleventh century material pertaining to the Shiji (Scribes’ Records), this dissertation investigates the synchronic and diachronic diversity of approaches to this text. Whereas research on the reception of the Shiji often regards criticism formulated by Song (960– 1279) intellectuals as “misreadings” of the presumed “true” intentions of Sima Qian 云 (c. 145–c. 85 BC), this study proposes an alternative perspective and reads eleventh century responses to the Shiji in light of contemporary (i.e. eleventh century) textual, intellectual, and socio-political environments, regarding them as appropriations of the Shiji situated in contemporary discourses. This dissertation is divided into four main chapters. The first two chapters position the Shiji in a wider context. Chapter one focuses on the question of “Did the Shiji matter?” by discussing the Shiji in relation to other important texts and alternative sources of historical knowledge. Chapter two answers the question of “What was the problem?” with an emphasis on how the criticism of the Shiji was integrated in contemporary discourses and served specific aims. The last two chapters, each presenting a case study on the reception of one particular chapter of the Shiji, combine textual analysis and historical enquiries in emphasising the contexts of historical recipients of the Shiji. Chapter three discusses synchronic diversity of the appropriation of Jia Yi’s 乎 (c. 200–169 BC) legacy transmitted in the Shiji and Hanshu (Book of the Han). Chapter four investigates Su Zhe’s (1039–1112) protest to the portrayal of Confucius in the Shiji. Through the dynamic picture explored in the abovementioned four chapters, this dissertation argues that the value of historical readings of the Shiji goes far beyond the question of whether they are up to modern standards. The abundance of historical readings represents valuable testimony to the ways readers read themselves into their texts, hence shedding light on various modes of interactions between the human and textual world. ii Acknowledgements Looking back at my academic journey over the past years at SOAS, I see many teachers, friends and colleagues who helped me along. From the very beginning of this project, my main supervisor Professor Bernhard Fuehrer provided most generous support and was a great source of advice and inspiration. He tirelessly encouraged me to venture out of the traditional realm of Sinology and to think about how to relate my study to a wider intellectual landscape. Without his patient determination, I would not have been able to enjoy as much pleasure of seeing intellectual paths of different cultures cross in the vast span of human history. My supervisors Professor Andrew Lo and Professor Tian Yuan Tan have also generously lent their expertise to me and widened my horizons. I also owe much to my supervisor Dr Andrea Janku, who kindly read through my immature drafts with great patience and challenged me with her thoughtful comments. I also benefited enormously from highly productive discussions with Professor Joachim Gentz and Professor Hans van Ess. They both provided tremendously helpful and detailed suggestions for the final draft of this dissertation. I extend my thanks to the participants of our Pre-modern Chinese Reading Group at SOAS, where I received much appreciated help with my translations and had truly enjoyable excursions into texts on which my fellow colleagues worked. Particular thanks go to Connor Judge and Eleanor Lipsey, both of whom read my various drafts over the years and never failed to spot weaknesses in my writing. Finally, it is beyond words to express my gratitude to my parents. This dissertation would not have been possible without their support. iii Table of Contents Declaration for SOAS PhD thesis ....................................................................................................... i Abstract ............................................................................................................................................. ii Acknowledgements ..........................................................................................................................iii Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Towards a Reception History ......................................................................................................... 2 Sources ........................................................................................................................................ 15 Temporal Parameters and the Choice of Focus ............................................................................. 18 A Note on the Title of the Shiji..................................................................................................... 23 Structure of this Study ................................................................................................................. 25 Chapter One: Did the Shiji matter? .............................................................................................. 27 Getting a Copy of the Shiji ........................................................................................................... 28 Alternative Forms of Historical Knowledge ................................................................................. 38 Teaching and Assessing Historical Knowledge before the New Policies ....................................... 48 After Wang Anshi’s New Polices ................................................................................................. 56 Concluding Remarks .................................................................................................................... 62 Chapter Two: What was the Problem? ......................................................................................... 66 A Case in Focus: A Treacherous Sage-King ................................................................................. 67 The Shiji as Part of Imperfect Reconstructions of Antiquity .......................................................... 77 Too Little or Too Much? .............................................................................................................. 88 The Person and the History He Tells ............................................................................................ 97 Concluding Remarks .................................................................................................................. 103 Chapter Three: A Contest Between Two Accounts .................................................................... 106 Setting the Tone: A Mistreated Man of Talents .......................................................................... 107 Disappearance of the Mistreated Talent ...................................................................................... 118 An Alternative Approach to Textual Management ...................................................................... 126 4 Different Voices on the Same Ground ........................................................................................ 137 Concluding Remarks .................................................................................................................. 142 Chapter Four: A Forgotten Protest............................................................................................. 146 Some General Facts about the Gushi Project .............................................................................. 147 Two Different Masters in the Shiji and the Gushi ....................................................................... 153 Family Style or Contemporary Spirit? .......................................................................................