DOCSLIB.ORG

REMONSTRANCE in EASTERN ZHOU HISTORIOGRAPHY Author(S): David Schaberg Source: Early China, Vol

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
REMONSTRANCE in EASTERN ZHOU HISTORIOGRAPHY Author(S): David Schaberg Source: Early China, Vol Society for the Study of Early China REMONSTRANCE IN EASTERN ZHOU HISTORIOGRAPHY Author(s): David Schaberg Source: Early China, Vol. 22 (1997), pp. 133-179 Published by: Society for the Study of Early China Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/23354245 Accessed: 29-03-2017 08:21 UTC REFERENCES Linked references are available on JSTOR for this article: http://www.jstor.org/stable/23354245?seq=1&cid=pdf-reference#references_tab_contents You may need to log in to JSTOR to access the linked references. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://about.jstor.org/terms Society for the Study of Early China is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Early China This content downloaded from 218.106.182.161 on Wed, 29 Mar 2017 08:21:05 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms REMONSTRANCE IN EASTERN ZHOU HISTORIOGRAPHY* David Schaberg Despite the extraordinary care which went into their composition, the speeches of the Zuozhuan have generally attracted less schol arly attention and appreciation than the narrative passages which frame them. The terse, rugged language of Zuozhuan narration appealed to later stylists, particularly to those who entertained archaist sympathies. But the more expansive rhetoric of the longer speeches, a rhetoric which these speeches share to varying degrees with historiographical works like the Guoyu H g§ and the Zhanguoce PJ W., and with some of the Warring States philosophical writings, was not considered the work's distinctive strength.1 The Zuozhuan's immense importance as a source for the history of the Spring and Autumn period may also discourage scrutiny of speech rhet oric and of the relation of speeches to surrounding narrative. Because it is the earliest work to provide historical details for all of the years included in the Chwiqiu scholars have long treated it as a largely accurate record of events during that period; accounts which differ from the Zuozhuan version—like some in the Guoyu, the Shiji jfeSB, and such Han collections as the Shuoyuan —are regularly compared with it * This paper is a development of ideas first presented in my dissertation, "Foun dations of Chinese Historiography: Literary Representation in Zuozhuan and Guoyu" (Harvard University, 1996). I warmly thank Lothar von Falkenhausen, Donald Harper, and two anonymous reviewers for Early China for their very precise and helpful comments on the manuscript. 1. Zuozhuan references in this article are to Yang Bojun |§{0|lEfo Chunqiu Zuozhuan zhu rev. ed. (Beijing: Zhonghua, 1990), in the form Zuozhuan, Xiang 14.3 (Yang, 1009), which indicates the third section of the Zuozhuan's entry for the four teenth year of Duke Xiang's ft i'; rule, the relevant passage appearing on p. 1009 of Yang's work. Guoyu references are numbered as in the Shanghai guji edition (Shang hai: Shanghai guji, 1978), which includes Wei Zhao's if:Hp commentary: Guoyu, Chu 1.7 (550), is the seventh entry in the first juan & of the three juan devoted to Chu and the passage in question appears on p. 550 of that edition. Early China 22, 1997 This content downloaded from 218.106.182.161 on Wed, 29 Mar 2017 08:21:05 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 134 REMONSTRANCE IN EASTERN ZHOU HISTORIOGRAPHY and judged to be inaccurate. Certainly there is much about the work that argues for its accuracy: it is generally correct in matters that can be confirmed scientifically like eclipses and other astronomical events;2 it contains a profusion of detailed information that would have been diffi cult or impossible to transmit without the help of writing; and in a number of cases archaeology has succeeded in corroborating its reports about early Eastern Zhou objects, practices, and places. It is possible that the Zuozhuan's accounts of both events and speeches, while marred in places by later interpolations, were composed for the most part on the basis of records made and preserved throughout the Spring and Autumn period. The Chunqiu itself and the Zhushu jinian Y\ U Id /rf- show that scribes in more than one state kept accurate annalistic records of important events.3 As for speeches, the Liji ijijifB mentions two officials who were responsible for keeping records, the "scribe of the right" (youshi tl <£) recording words (jiyan |HU) and the "scribe of the left" (zuoshi fr^l) recording events (jishi IB (I); the Hanshu Mlt mentions the same institution, though it reverses the duties of the two scribes.4 No pre-Han text mentions the youshi, and we never catch the zuoshi in the act of taking notes, but it is not impossible that during the Spring and Autumn period scribes attended court occasions and more private gatherings, writing down speeches and comments as they were made. Bernhard Karlgren's analyses showed that the Zuozhuan, while closest to the Guoyu among all early works, preserves some unique lin guistic features which indicate a relatively early date of composition.5 2. For a demonstration that the Chunqiu and corresponding passages in the Zuozhuan contain accurate records of eclipses, see William Hung WrM, "Introduction," Combined Concordances to Ch'un-ch'iu, Kung-yang, Ku-liang and Tso-chuan, Harvard Yenching Index no. 11 (1937; reprint, Taipei: Chinese Materials and Research Aids Service Center, 1966), vol. 1, i-v. 3. Edward Shaughnessy has advanced convincing arguments for the accuracy and authenticity of the received text of the Zhushu jinian. See his "On the Authenticity of the Bamboo Annals," Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 46 (1986), 149-80. 4. See A Concordance to the Liji, ed. D.C. Lau and Chen Fong Ching (Hong Kong: Commercial Press, 1992), "Yuzao" 3£iS, 80; and Hanshu (Beijing: Zhonghua, 1970), 30.1715 ("Yiwenzhi" fS3t/i>). Youshi is not attested in either the Zuozhuan or the Guoyu. For references to zuoshi, see Zuozhuan, Xiang 14.3 (Yang, 1009), Zhao 12.11 (Yang, 1340), Ai 17.4 (Yang, 1709); Guoyu, Chu 1.7 (550). Other types of scribe include the Zhou neishi |?3 StJ, Guoyu, Zhou 1.12-14 (29-44); and the heroic taishi of Jin H and Qi ^ at Zuozhuan, Xuan 2.3 (Yang, 662) and Xiang 25.2 (Yang, 1099) respectively. 5. Bernhard Karlgren, "On the Authenticity and Nature of the Tso chuan," Geteborgs hogskolas drsskrift 32, no. 3 (1926), 3-65. William Boltz argues forcefully for derivation, at least of certain sections of the texts, from a shared third written source; see Boltz, "Notes on the Textual Relation between the Kuo yti and the Tso chuan," Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 53 (1990), 491-502. Comparison of the two texts This content downloaded from 218.106.182.161 on Wed, 29 Mar 2017 08:21:05 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms DAVID SCHABERG 135 Further, oracle bones, bronze inscriptions, and recently excavated examples of writings on bamboo slips and silk show that events and speeches (of several distinct types) were often recorded in some detail as early as the beginning of the Western Zhou.6 However, in an era when philologists have located the origins of the Homeric epics and of Biblical narratives in oral traditions, and theorists of diverse schools have emphasized the importance of literary elements such as narrative structuring in even the most self-consciously scientific historiography,7 it is important that we maintain some skepticism, if not about the narration of events, then about the notion that the Zuozhuan's speeches as we have them are word-for-word transcriptions of utter ances made during the Spring and Autumn period. The historiographers of the Zuozhuan, unlike Thucydides, never tell us that they have recon structed speeches to fit remembered circumstances (in fact they make no methodological remarks at all about their own work), but readers have long remarked that Zuozhuan speeches involving prediction always come true, and that they must therefore have been composed or revised in the light of later events.8 Further, the scribes depicted in the Zuozhuan and other early works write only brief Chunqiu-style notations of events;9 has suggested to me a fluid, not entirely literary transmission of the two proto-works in a single milieu before separate transcription and composition; see Schaberg, "Foun dations of Chinese Historiography," 262-77. 6. For a strong and erudite argument for early dating of the Zuozhuan speeches, see the work of Yuri Pines, including his article in this issue of Early China. 7. The works which introduced this view of historical writing are by now canonical. They include, among others: Hayden White, Metahistory: The Historical Imagination in Nineteenth-Century Europe (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1973); Hayden White, Tropics of Discourse: Essays in Cultural Criticism (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1978), especially "The Historical Text as Literary Artifact"; and Paul Ricoeur, Narrative and Time, vol. 3 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1988). 8. See the comments of the Siku quanshu OKIiirit editors in their entry on the Chunqiu Zuozhuan zhengyi "Predictions of disaster and blessings re corded in the Zuozhuan are without exception fulfilled; likely they could not avoid post facto joining and matching" (Wang Yunwu 3E.SS, chief ed., Heyin siku quanshu zongmu tiyaoji siku weishou shumu jinhui shumu (r @ @ [Taipei: Shangwu, 1971], 516).
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Earthquake Engineering and Hazards Reduction in China
    CSCPRC REPORT NO.8 Earthquake Engineering and Hazards Reduction in China A Trip Report of the American Earthquake Engineering and Hazards Reduction Delegation Edited by Paul C. Jennings Submitted to the Committee on Scholarly Communication with the People's Republic of China Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES Washington, D.C. 1980 NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the Councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the Committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance. This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors ac­ cording to procedures approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. This exchange was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation. This visit was part of the exchange program operated by the Committee on Scholarly Communication with the People's Republic of China, founded jointly in 1966 by the American Council of Learned Socie­ ties, the National Academy of Sciences, and the Social Science Research Council. Sources of funding for the Committee include the National Science Foundation, the International Communications Agency, the Ford Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
    [Show full text]
  • 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.
    [Show full text]
  • The Zuozhuan Account of the Death of King Zhao of Chu and Its Sources
    SINO-PLATONIC PAPERS Number 159 August, 2005 The Zuozhuan Account of the Death of King Zhao of Chu and Its Sources by Jens Østergaard Petersen Victor H. Mair, Editor Sino-Platonic Papers Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305 USA [email protected] www.sino-platonic.org SINO-PLATONIC PAPERS FOUNDED 1986 Editor-in-Chief VICTOR H. MAIR Associate Editors PAULA ROBERTS MARK SWOFFORD ISSN 2157-9679 (print) 2157-9687 (online) SINO-PLATONIC PAPERS is an occasional series dedicated to making available to specialists and the interested public the results of research that, because of its unconventional or controversial nature, might otherwise go unpublished. The editor-in-chief actively encourages younger, not yet well established, scholars and independent authors to submit manuscripts for consideration. Contributions in any of the major scholarly languages of the world, including romanized modern standard Mandarin (MSM) and Japanese, are acceptable. In special circumstances, papers written in one of the Sinitic topolects (fangyan) may be considered for publication. Although the chief focus of Sino-Platonic Papers is on the intercultural relations of China with other peoples, challenging and creative studies on a wide variety of philological subjects will be entertained. This series is not the place for safe, sober, and stodgy presentations. Sino- Platonic Papers prefers lively work that, while taking reasonable risks to advance the field, capitalizes on brilliant new insights into the development of civilization. Submissions are regularly sent out to be refereed, and extensive editorial suggestions for revision may be offered. Sino-Platonic Papers emphasizes substance over form.
    [Show full text]
  • 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.
    [Show full text]
  • Inscriptional Records of the Western Zhou
    INSCRIPTIONAL RECORDS OF THE WESTERN ZHOU Robert Eno Fall 2012 Note to Readers The translations in these pages cannot be considered scholarly. They were originally prepared in early 1988, under stringent time pressures, specifically for teaching use that term. Although I modified them sporadically between that time and 2012, my final year of teaching, their purpose as course materials, used in a week-long classroom exercise for undergraduate students in an early China history survey, did not warrant the type of robust academic apparatus that a scholarly edition would have required. Since no broad anthology of translations of bronze inscriptions was generally available, I have, since the late 1990s, made updated versions of this resource available online for use by teachers and students generally. As freely available materials, they may still be of use. However, as specialists have been aware all along, there are many imperfections in these translations, and I want to make sure that readers are aware that there is now a scholarly alternative, published last month: A Source Book of Ancient Chinese Bronze Inscriptions, edited by Constance Cook and Paul Goldin (Berkeley: Society for the Study of Early China, 2016). The “Source Book” includes translations of over one hundred inscriptions, prepared by ten contributors. I have chosen not to revise the materials here in light of this new resource, even in the case of a few items in the “Source Book” that were contributed by me, because a piecemeal revision seemed unhelpful, and I am now too distant from research on Western Zhou bronzes to undertake a more extensive one.
    [Show full text]
  • Assessment of the Transition from Pinyin to Hanzi in University Level Introductory Chinese Language Courses
    Old Dominion University ODU Digital Commons OTS Master's Level Projects & Papers STEM Education & Professional Studies 12-2014 Assessment of the Transition from Pinyin to Hanzi in University Level Introductory Chinese Language Courses Ronnie Hess Old Dominion University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/ots_masters_projects Part of the Education Commons Recommended Citation Hess, Ronnie, "Assessment of the Transition from Pinyin to Hanzi in University Level Introductory Chinese Language Courses" (2014). OTS Master's Level Projects & Papers. 3. https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/ots_masters_projects/3 This Master's Project is brought to you for free and open access by the STEM Education & Professional Studies at ODU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in OTS Master's Level Projects & Papers by an authorized administrator of ODU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ASSESSMENT OF THE TRANSITION FROM PINYIN TO HANZI IN UNIVERSITY LEVEL INTRODUCTORY CHINESE LANGUAGE COURSES A Research Study Presented to the Graduate Faculty of The Department of STEM Education and Professional Studies At Old Dominion University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree Master of Science in Instructional Design and Technology By Ronnie Hess December, 2014 i SIGNATURE PAGE This research paper was prepared by Ronnie Alan Hess II under the direction of Dr. John Ritz for SEPS 636, Problems in Occupational and Technical Studies. It was submitted as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Science degree. Approved By: ___________________________________ Date: ____________ Dr. John Ritz Research Paper Advisor ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Dr.
    [Show full text]
  • Title <Translated Article> Western Zhou History in the Collective
    <Translated Article> Western Zhou History in the Collective Title Memory of the People of the Western Zhou: An Interpretation of the Inscription of the "Lai pan" Author(s) MATSUI, Yoshinori Citation 東洋史研究 (2008), 66(4): 712-664 Issue Date 2008-03 URL https://doi.org/10.14989/141873 Right Type Journal Article Textversion publisher Kyoto University 712 WESTERN ZHOU HISTORY IN THE COLLECTIVE MEMORY OF THE PEOPLE OF THE WESTERN ZHOU: AN INTERPRETATION OF THE INSCRIPTION OF THE "LAI PAN" MATSUI Y oshinori Introduction On January 19, 2003, twenty-seven bronze pieces were excavated from a hoard at Yangjiacun (Meixian county, Baoji city, Shaanxi province).l All the bronzes, which include twelve ding ~, nine Ii rn, two fanghu 11 if., one pan ~, one he :ii\'t, one yi [ffi, and one yu k, have inscriptions. Among them, the bronzes labeled "Forty-second-year Lai ding" ~ ~ (of which there are two pieces), "Forty-third-year Lai ding" (ten pieces), and "Lai pan" ~~ (one piece) have in­ scriptions that are particularly long for inscriptions from the Western Zhou period and run respectively to 281, 316 and 372 characters in length. The inscription of the "Lai pan," containing 372 characters, is divided into two parts, the first part is narrated from Lai's point of view but employs the third-person voice, opening with the phrase, "Lai said." The second part records an appointment (ceming :IlJt frJ) ceremony that opens, "The King said." The very exceptional first part records the service of generations of Lai's ancestors to successive Zhou Kings. The inscription mentions eleven former kings, King Wen X3:., King Wu TIk3:., King Cheng JIlG3:., King Kang *3:., King Zhao BR3:., King Mu ~~3:., King Gong *3:., King Yi i~3:., King Xiao ~(~)3:., King Yi 1J$(~)3:., King Li Jj1U (J~)3:.
    [Show full text]
  • Rethinking the Relationship Between China and the West: a Multi- Dimensional Model of Cross-Cultural Research Focusing on Literary Adaptations
    CULTURA CULTURA INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY OF CULTURE CULTURA AND AXIOLOGY Founded in 2004, Cultura. International Journal of Philosophy of 2012 Culture and Axiology is a semiannual peer-reviewed journal devo- 2 2012 Vol IX No 2 ted to philosophy of culture and the study of value. It aims to pro- mote the exploration of different values and cultural phenomena in regional and international contexts. The editorial board encourages OLOGY the submission of manuscripts based on original research that are I judged to make a novel and important contribution to understan- LOSOPHY OF I ding the values and cultural phenomena in the contempo rary world. CULTURE AND AX AND CULTURE ONAL JOURNAL OF PH I INTERNAT ISBN 978-3-631-62905-5 www.peterlang.de PETER LANG CULTURA 2012_262905_VOL_9_No2_GR_A5Br.indd 1 16.11.12 12:39:44 Uhr CULTURA CULTURA INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY OF CULTURE CULTURA AND AXIOLOGY Founded in 2004, Cultura. International Journal of Philosophy of 2014 Culture and Axiology is a semiannual peer-reviewed journal devo- 1 2014 Vol XI No 1 ted to philosophy of culture and the study of value. It aims to pro- mote the exploration of different values and cultural phenomena in regional and international contexts. The editorial board encourages the submission of manuscripts based on original research that are judged to make a novel and important contribution to understan- ding the values and cultural phenomena in the contempo rary world. CULTURE AND AXIOLOGY CULTURE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY INTERNATIONAL www.peterlang.com CULTURA 2014_265846_VOL_11_No1_GR_A5Br.indd.indd 1 14.05.14 17:43 Cultura.
    [Show full text]
  • Downloaded 4.0 License
    Return to an Inner Utopia 119 Chapter 4 Return to an Inner Utopia In what was to become a celebrated act in Chinese literary history, Su Shi be- gan systematically composing “matching Tao” (he Tao 和陶) poems in the spring of 1095, during his period of exile in Huizhou. This project of 109 poems was completed when he was further exiled to Danzhou. It was issued in four fascicles, shortly after his return to the mainland in 1100.1 Inspired by and fol- lowing the rhyming patterns of the poetry of Tao Qian, these poems contrib- uted to the making (and remaking) of the images of both poets, as well as a return to simplicity in Chinese lyrical aesthetics.2 Thus far, scholarship has focused on the significance of Su Shi’s agency in Tao Qian’s canonisation. His image was transformed through Su’s criticism and emulation: Tao came to be viewed as a spontaneous Man of the Way and not just an eccentric medieval recluse and hearty drinker.3 In other words, Tao Qian’s ‘spontaneity’ was only created retrospectively in lament over its loss. The unattainability of the ideal is part and parcel of its worth. In this chapter, I will further examine what Su Shi’s practice meant for Su Shi himself. I argue that Su Shi’s active transformation of and identification with Tao Qian’s image were driven by the purpose of overcoming the tyranny of despair, deprivation and mortality. The apparent serenity of the “matching Tao” poems was therefore fundamentally paradoxical, a result of self-persua- sion.
    [Show full text]
  • 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, [email protected].
    [Show full text]
  • The Zuo Zhuan Revisited*
    《中國文化研究所學報》 Journal of Chinese Studies No. 49 - 2009 REVIEW ARTICLE Rethinking the Origins of Chinese Historiography: The Zuo Zhuan Revisited* Yuri Pines The Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Readability of the Past in Early Chinese Historiography. By Wai-yee Li. Cam- bridge, MA and London, England: Harvard University Asia Center, 2007. Pp. xxii + 449. $49.50/£36.95. The Readability of the Past in Early Chinese Historiography is a most welcome addition to the growing number of Western-language studies on the Zuo zhuan 左傳. Wai-yee Li’s eloquent book is the fruit of impeccable scholarship. It puts forward an abundance of insightful and highly original analyses and fully demonstrates the advantages of the skilful application of literary techniques to early Chinese historiography. This work is sure to become an indispensable tool for any scholar interested in the Zuo zhuan or early Chinese historiography in general. Furthermore, many of Li’s observations are likely to encourage further in-depth research on this foundational text. To illustrate the importance of The Readability of the Past, it is worth high- lighting its position vis-à-vis prior Western-language studies on the Zuo zhuan. Oddly enough, despite its standing as the largest pre-imperial text, despite its canonical status, and despite its position as a fountainhead of Chinese historiography—the Zuo zhuan was virtually neglected by mainstream Occidental Sinology throughout the twentieth century. Notwithstanding the pioneering (and highly controversial) study of Bernhard Karlgren, “On the Authenticity and Nature of the Tso Chuan,” which was published back in 1928, the Zuo zhuan rarely stood at the focus of scholarly endeavour.1 The only Western-language publication dedicated entirely to * This review article was prepared with the support by the Israel Science Foundation (grant No.
    [Show full text]
  • Studies on the Inscriptions on the Three Bronzes of Diaosheng
    Chinese Archaeology 11 (2011): 160–164 © 2011 by Walter de Gruyter, Inc.· Boston · Berlin. DOI 10.1515/CHAR–2011–020 Studies on the inscriptions on the three bronzes of Diaosheng Shi Feng* the King [an unnamed king of the Zhou Dynasty], the Duke of Shao summoned Diaosheng to discuss * Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social his participation in the management of the land and Sciences, Beijing 110710 retainers of the Shao lineage, and Shao Bo Hu came to join them. Diaosheng was self-confident on account of Abstract his good virtue. Dame Shao [later referred to as Fu Shi; the Duke of Shao’s wife] held a District Symposium Based on the ritual background of Xiang Yinjiu Li (District ceremony for this internal lineage meeting, and two Symposium), this paper re-examined the inscriptions of vases of wine were ceremonially displayed. Fu Shi the bronze gui of Diaosheng (the owner’s name marked told the people attending the meeting: “Now let me in the inscriptions) with dates of “the fifth year” and “the convey the personal message of the Duke of Shao, the sixth year” discovered in the past, and that of bronze xi- head of our lineage, to you. He says, ‘I am becoming vessel with date of “the fifth year” recently unearthed old. At present, the retainers of our lineage often raise in Fufeng County, Shaanxi Province, and revealed the complaints, accusations and disturbances. I require connotation of the inscriptions and the patriarchal rules, Bo Hu and Diaosheng to promise me not to let these ritual systems and social life and customs of the Western retainers flee and leave the Shao lineage.
    [Show full text]