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Origins of Chinese Political Philosophy

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Origins of Chinese Political Philosophy iii Origins of Chinese Political Philosophy Studies in the Composition and Thought of the Shangshu (Classic of Documents) Edited by Martin Kern Dirk Meyer LEIDEN | BOSTON For use by the Author only | © 2017 Koninklijke Brill NV ContentsContents v Contents Introduction 1 Martin Kern and Dirk Meyer 1 Language and the Ideology of Kingship in the “Canon of Yao” 23 Martin Kern 2 Competing Voices in the Shangshu 62 Kai Vogelsang 3 Recontextualization and Memory Production: Debates on Rulership as Reconstructed from “Gu ming” 顧命 106 Dirk Meyer 4 One Heaven, One History, One People: Repositioning the Zhou in Royal Addresses to Subdued Enemies in the “Duo shi” 多士 and “Duo fang” 多方 Chapters of the Shangshu and in the “Shang shi” 商誓 Chapter of the Yi Zhoushu 146 Joachim Gentz 5 The Qinghua “Jinteng” 金縢 Manuscript: What It Does Not Tell Us about the Duke of Zhou 193 Magnus Ribbing Gren 6 “Shu” Traditions and Text Recomposition: A Reevaluation of “Jinteng” 金縢 and “Zhou Wu Wang you ji” 周武王有疾 224 Dirk Meyer 7 The Yi Zhoushu and the Shangshu: The Case of Texts with Speeches 249 Yegor Grebnev 8 The “Harangues” (Shi 誓) in the Shangshu 281 Martin Kern 9 Speaking of Documents: Shu Citations in Warring States Texts 320 David Schaberg For use by the Author only | © 2017 Koninklijke Brill NV vi Contents 10 A Toiling Monarch? The “Wu yi” 無逸 Chapter Revisited 360 Yuri Pines 11 Against (Uninformed) Idleness: Situating the Didacticism of “Wu yi” 無逸3 39 Michael Hunter Contents 粊誓 Contents v 12 “Bi shi” , Western Zhou Oath Texts, and the Legal Culture of Early List of Figures and Tables vii Introduction 1 Martin Kern and Dirk Meyer China 416 Chapter 1 Language and the Ideology of Kingship in the “Canon of Yao” 23 Martin Kern Maria Khayutina Chapter 2 Competing Voices in the Shangshu 62 Kai Vogelsang Chapter 3 Recontextualization and Memory Production: Debates on Rulership as Reconstructed from “Gu ming” 顧命 106 Dirk Meyer Chapter 4 13 Concepts of Law in the Shangshu 446 One Heaven, One History, One People: Repositioning the Zhou in Royal Addresses to Subdued Enemies in the “Duo shi” 多士 and “Duo fang” 多方 Chapters of the Shangshu and in the “Shang shi” 商誓 Chapter of the Yi Zhoushu 146 Joachim Gentz Charles Sanft Chapter 5 The Qinghua “Jinteng” 金縢 Manuscript: What It Does Not Tell Us about the Duke of Zhou 193 Magnus Ribbing Gren Chapter 6 “Shu” Traditions and Text Recomposition: A Reevaluation of “Jinteng” 金縢 and “Zhou Wu Wang you ji” 周武王有疾 224 Dirk Meyer 14 Spatial Models of the State in Early Chinese Texts: Tribute Networks Chapter 7 The Yi Zhoushu and the Shangshu: The Case of Texts with Speeches 249 Yegor Grebnev Chapter 8 and the Articulation of Power and Authority in Shangshu “Yu gong” The “Harangues” (Shi 誓) in the Shangshu 281 Martin Kern 禹貢 王會 Chapter 9 and Yi Zhoushu “Wang hui” 5 47 Speaking of Documents: Shu Citations in Warring States Texts 320 David Schaberg Chapter 10 Robin McNeal A Toiling Monarch? The “Wu yi” 無逸 Chapter Revisited 360 Yuri Pines Chapter 11 Against (Uninformed) Idleness: Situating the Didacticism of “Wu yi” 無逸 393 Michael Hunter Chapter 12 “Bi shi” 粊誓, Western Zhou Oath Texts, and the Legal Culture of Early China 416 Index 497 Maria Khayutina Chapter 13 Concepts of Law in the Shangshu 446 Charles Sanft Chapter 14 Spatial Models of the State in Early Chinese Texts: Tribute Networks and the Articulation of Power and Authority in Shangshu “Yu gong” 禹貢 and Yi Zhoushu “Wang hui” 王會 475 Robin McNeal Index 496 For use by the Author only | © 2017 Koninklijke Brill NV 360 Pines Chapter 10 A Toiling Monarch? The “Wu yi” 無逸 Chapter Revisited Yuri Pines “Wu yi” 無逸 is a relatively marginal chapter of the Shangshu.* It is rarely cited in pre-imperial texts; it inspired only a few scholarly discussions; it lacks the ideological importance of such documents as “Kang gao” 康誥 or the theoreti- cal sophistication of “Lü xing” 呂刑; and it is less related to specific historical events of the early Zhou period than most of the “declarations” (誥) or “ha- rangues” (誓). My initial interest in “Wu yi” was spurred by the chapter’s most notable feature: it is arguably one of the earliest texts that systematically pres- ents Shang and early Zhou history so as to elucidate the functioning of Heaven’s Mandate (天命). Having reread the text, though, I discovered that its content is richer and more intellectually engaging; in particular, its views of the nature of rulership and of the monarch’s relation with the people deserve utmost attention. In what follows I first translate the chapter; then I analyze its major ideas; and then I try to contextualize the “Wu yi” ideology in the intellectual atmo- sphere of the early Zhou period and relate it to later developments during the formative age of Chinese political culture—namely, the Warring States period (Zhanguo 戰國, 453–221 BCE).1 Having done this, I shall try to date the text. I conclude with a few observations about the possibility of a fresh look at early Zhou ideology as reflected in the Shangshu. Translation “Wu yi” records an alleged admonition of the Duke of Zhou 周公 (d. ca. 1035)2 to his nephew, King Cheng 成王 (r. ca. 1042/1035–1021), soon after the latter’s enthronement. A significant portion of the text is cited (or partly retold) in the * This research was supported by the Israel Science Foundation (grant no. 240/15) and by the Michael William Lipson Chair in Chinese Studies at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. 1 Hereafter all the dates are before the Common Era unless indicated otherwise. 2 All dates for the Western Zhou and Shang kings follow the suggestions of the Xia-Shang-Zhou Chronology Project team (Xia-Shang-Zhou 2000). © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2017 | doi 10.1163/9789004343504_012 For use by the Author only | © 2017 Koninklijke Brill NV A Toiling Monarch 361 chapter “Lu Zhou gong shijia” 魯周公世家 (“Hereditary House the Duke of Zhou of Lu”) in the Shiji 史記; segments of the modern-script version survive in some of the Han citations and in the remnants of the Han steles. There are minor variants among different citations, but presupposing the existence of fixed ancient- and modern-script recensions is premature. Even in a single text such as the Shiji, the title “Wu yi” is transcribed differently: once as 毋逸 and once as 無佚.3 Probably, manifold versions of the text simply coexisted along- side one another. The chapter comprises seven sections, each of which opens with the phrase “The Duke of Zhou said” (周公曰). I have given numbers to each of the sections for the convenience of later discussion. My translation is based primarily on the punctuation and annotation by Pi Xirui 皮希瑞, with further consultations of the texts annotated by Sun Xingyan 孫星衍 and Liu Qiyu 劉起釪 and with the modern translation by Huang Huaixin 黃懷信.4 1. The Duke of Zhou said: “Wuhu! The superior man should not be idle in his position.5 First, he must understand the hardship of sowing and reap- ing, then he may be idle; only then will he know the distress of the lower men.6 Look at the lower men: the parents exert themselves sowing and reaping; but if the son has no idea of the hardship of sowing and reaping, 3 Shiji 33.1520 and 4.133. Cheng Yuanmin (2013: 276) counts the following variants in early cita- tions: the first character can be written as 無, 毋, or 亡; the second, as 逸, 佚, 佾, or 劮. 4 Pi Xirui 1998; Sun Xingyan 1998; Gu Jiegang and Liu Qiyu 2005; Huang Huaixin 2002. Liu Qiyu (1917–2012) started his work on the annotations of the Shangshu in the early 1960s, but the work was interrupted (and most of his note cards destroyed) at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976). The work restarted in 1976, owing to Mao Zedong’s explicit desire to see a modern annotated edition of the Shangshu that would make the text comprehensible. Liu Qiyu proceeded for more than two decades, finishing his magnum opus in 1999. Although Gu Jiegang (who died in 1980) could only proofread a few chapters (and not “Wu yi”), Liu added his mentor’s name as coauthor of the book. In what follows, I refer to the glosses in Gu and Liu’s edition as Liu Qiyu’s. For more details, see Liu’s preface (Gu Jiegang and Liu Qiyu 2005: 1–24). 5 Liu Qiyu (Gu and Liu 2005: 1531) suggests that junzi 君子 here refers to the ruler only; however, the text can easily be read as applying to elite members in general. See also Hunter’s discussion in chapter 11 in the present volume. 6 Following Wang Yinzhi 王引之 (1766–1834), I read yi 依 as yin 隐, which is then glossed as tong 痛 (pain, distress) (see, e.g., Huang Huaixin 2002: 310). Liu Kunshen (2000: 9–10) suggests that the text here depicts a dialectical mode of learning: first the king should experience the peasants’ hardships; then he may be idle; thereby he will understand the difference between idleness and hard work. For use by the Author only | © 2017 Koninklijke Brill NV 362 Pines he is idle, is sluggish in his tasks,7 and, moreover,8 humiliates his parents, saying: ‘These men of old, they know nothing!’”9 周公曰：「嗚呼！君子所，其無逸。先知稼穡之艱難，乃逸；則知小 人之依。相小人，厥父母勤勞稼穡，厥子乃不知稼穡之艱難乃逸，乃 諺既誕，否則，侮厥父母曰：『昔之人，無聞知！』」 2.
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