Documentation and Argument in Early China: The Shàngshū 尚書 (Venerated Documents) and the Shū Traditions

Dirk Meyer

book: Documentation and Argument in Early China

Open Access Published by De Gruyter Mouton 2021

Documentation and Argument in Early China

The Shàngshū 尚書 (Venerated Documents) and the Shū Traditions

Dirk Meyer
Funded by: Jao Tsung-I Academy of Sinology

Volume 5 in the series Library of Sinology [LOS]

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110708530

Overview
Contents

About this book

This study uncovers the traditions behind the formative Classic Shàngshū (Venerated Documents). It is the first to establish these traditions—“Shū” (Documents)—as a historically evolving practice of thought-production. By focusing on the literary form of the argument, it interprets the “Shū” as fluid text material that embodies the ever-changing cultural capital of projected conceptual communities. By showing how these communities actualised the “Shū” according to their changing visions of history and evolving group interests, the study establishes that by the Warring States period (ca. 453–221 BC) the “Shū” had become a literary genre employed by diverse groups to legitimize their own arguments. Through forms of textual performance, the “Shū” gave even peripheral communities the means to participate in political discourse by conferring their ideas with ancient authority. Analysing this dynamic environment of socio-political and philosophical change, this study speaks to the Early China field, as well as to those interested in meaning production and foundational text formation more widely.

Author information

Dirk Meyer, The Queen's College, Oxford, UK.

Reviews

"Meyer’s book is certainly a valuable addition to the scholarly literature on early Chinese culture. When the resources available for studying this subject have been so vastly expanded in our own generation by the manuscripts newly unearthed by archaeologists, studies like this which digest some of the new material and make it accessible to Western students are to be welcomed with open arms." Geoffrey Sampson: LinguistList, 28 March 2022.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	I
Acknowledgements Publicly Available Download PDF	VII
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	IX
Introduction Open Access Download PDF	1
1 Shū traditions and philosophical discourse Open Access Download PDF	33
2 Archiving cultural capital Open Access Download PDF	63
3 The materiality of meaning networks Open Access Download PDF	100
4 Moulds of discourse Open Access Download PDF	120
5 Shū traditions in narrative Open Access Download PDF	158
6 Shū genre in manuscript cultures Open Access Download PDF	185
7 Conclusion: the Shū and political argument in early China Open Access Download PDF	236
Bibliography Open Access Download PDF	249
Index Open Access Download PDF	277

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter Mouton
Audience: Readers of Sinology, Chinese Philosophy,History of Thought, Manuscript Studies, Text Formation, Genre Studies
Pages
- Front matter: 10
- Main content: 281
Illustrations
- Illustrations: 3
Keywords: Chinese Philosophy; Genre; Text formation; Text Performance; Warring Statets Period; Zhou Dynasty; Codicology

eBook

Published: July 5, 2021
ISBN: 9783110708530

Hardcover

Published: July 5, 2021
ISBN: 9783110708417