Writing and Authority in Early China / Edition 1

by Mark Edward Lewis

Overview

This book traces the evolving uses of writing to command assent and obedience in early China, an evolution that culminated in the establishment of a textual canon as the foundation of imperial authority. Its central theme is the emergence of this body of writings as the textual double of the state, and of the text-based sage as the double of the ruler. The book examines the full range of writings employed in early China, such as divinatory records, written communications with ancestors, government documents, the collective writings of philosophical and textual traditions, speeches attributed to historical figures, chronicles, verse anthologies, commentaries, and encyclopedic compendia. Lewis shows how these writings served to administer populations, control officials, form new social groups, invent new models of authority, and create an artificial language whose mastery generated power and whose graphs became potent objects. Writing and Authority in Early China traces the enterprise of creating a parallel reality within texts that depicted the entire world. These texts provided models for the invention of a world empire, and one version ultimately became the first state canon of imperial China. This canon served to perpetuate the dream and the reality of the imperial system across the centuries.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780791441145
Publisher:	State University of New York Press
Publication date:	03/18/1999
Series:	SUNY series in Chinese Philosophy and Culture
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	544
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 8.80(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Mark Edward Lewis is University Lecturer in Chinese Studies at the University of Cambridge. He is the author of Sanctioned Violence in Early China, also published by SUNY Press.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

INTRODUCTION

Powers of Writing
Writing and the Formation of the Chinese Empire

1. WRITING THE STATE

The Archaic Background
Laws and Registers
Reports, Tallies, and Seals
Writing and the King
The Offices of Zhou
Conclusion

2. WRITING THE MASTERS

Scholarly Texts
Scholarly Traditions and the State
Social and Economic Bases of the Traditions
The Master as Model
Conclusion

3. WRITING THE PAST

The Past in Speeches
The Past in Political Philosophy
The Past in Cosmogony
The Past in Chronicle
Conclusion

4. WRITING THE SELF

Composing the Odes
Speaking through the Odes
The Odes as Proof and Sanction
Anthology and Authorship
Conclusion

5. THE POLITICAL HISTORY OF WRITING

The Mythology of Fu Xi
The Mythology of the Duke of Zhou
The Mythology of Confucius
Conclusion

6. THE NATURAL PHILOSOPHY OF WRITING

Between Divination and Philosophy
The Natural Philosophy of Signs
Images and Writing
Numbers and Writing
Conclusion

7. THE ENCYCLOPEDIC EPOCH

Totality and Truth
Canon and Commentary
State-Sponsored Compendia
Sima Qian and Universal History
Sima Xiangru and Universal Poetry
The Liu Family and the Universal Library
Conclusion

8. THE EMPIRE OF WRITING

Establishment of the Canon
Triumph of the Canon
Conclusion

Conclusion

Notes

Works Cited

Index

Editorial Reviews

"This book is a masterful study of the ideology and uses of writing in early China. The scholarship is impeccable—indeed, stunning—the interpretation of an array of difficult texts is brilliant, and the conclusions are of central importance to all subsequent studies of this period. This book, in my opinion, is the single most valuable study in the field of early China scholarship since Angus Graham's Disputers of the Tao. It is certain to be read, cited, and disputed for many decades." — Stephen W. Durrant, author of the The Cloudy Mirror

"Writing and Authority in Early China is a comprehensive presentation about the structure of society and authority in pre-imperial and early imperial China from a very important and heretofore unexplored perspective. I would not be surprised to see this book rise to a level of lasting importance that few modern works of scholarship, even good ones, can hope for." — William G. Boltz, University of Washington

From the Publisher

Traces the use of writing to command assent and obedience in early China, an evolution that culminated in the establishment of a textual canon as the foundation of imperial authority. Focuses on the emergence of this body of writings as the textual double of the state, and on the text-based sage as the double of the ruler. Examines the full range of writings employed in early China, such as divinatory records, written communications with ancestors, and government documents, showing how these writings were used to control officials and invent new models of authority. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknew.com)

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