Buried Ideas

Sarah Allan

Description

The discovery of previously unknown philosophical texts from the Axial Age is revolutionizing our understanding of Chinese intellectual history. Buried Ideas presents and discusses four texts found on brush-written slips of bamboo and their seemingly unprecedented political philosophy. Written in the regional script of Chu during the Warring States period (475–221 BCE), all of the works discuss Yao's abdication to Shun and are related to but differ significantly from the core texts of the classical period, such as the Mencius and Zhuangzi. Notably, these works evince an unusually meritocratic stance, and two even advocate abdication over hereditary succession as a political ideal. Sarah Allan includes full English translations and her own modern-character editions of the four works examined: Tang Yú zhi dao, Zigao, Rongchengshi, and Bao xun. In addition, she provides an introduction to Chu-script bamboo-slip manuscripts and the complex issues inherent in deciphering them.
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments

1. Introduction

2. History and Historical Legend

3. The Chu-script Bamboo-Slip Manuscripts

4. Advocating Abdication: Tang Yú zhi dao 唐虞之道, “The Way of TangYao 唐堯 and YúShun 虞䑞”
Tang Yú zhi dao 唐虞之道: Translation and Chinese Edition

5. The Zigao 子羔 and the Nature of Early Confucianism
Zigao 子羔: Translation and Chinese Edition

6. Rongchengshi 容成氏: Abdication and Utopian Vision
Rongchengshi 容成氏: Translation and Chinese Edition

7. The Bao xun 保訓: Obtaining the Center to Become King
Bao xun 保訓: Translation and Chinese Edition

8. Afterthoughts

Bibliography
Index

Sujets

• History of Asia
• Asia
• China

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 21 octobre 2015
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781438457796
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 27 Mo

Extrait

BURIED IDEAS
SUNY SERIES IN C HINESE P HILOSOPHY AND C ULTURE
Roger T. Ames, editor
BURIED IDEAS
Legends of Abdication and Ideal Government in Early Chinese Bamboo-Slip Manuscripts
SARAH ALLAN
Published by
STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK PRESS
Albany
© 2015 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.
For information, contact
State University of New York Press
www.sunypress.edu
Production and book design, Laurie D. Searl
Marketing, Anne M. Valentine
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Allan, Sarah.
Buried ideas : legends of abdication and ideal government in early Chinese bamboo-slip manuscripts / Sarah Allan.
pages cm. — (SUNY series in Chinese philosophy and culture)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4384-5777-2 (hardcover : alkaline paper) — ISBN 978-1-4384-5779-6 (e-book) 1. China—History—Warring States, 403-221 B.C.—Sources. 2. China—Politics and government—To 221 B.C.—Sources. 3. China—Kings and rulers—Abdication—History—Sources. 4. Ideals (Philosophy)—Political aspects—China—History—To 1500—Sources. 5. Merit (Ethics)—Political aspects--China—History—To 1500—Sources. 6. Political science—China—History—To 1500—Sources. 7. China—Intellectual life—To 221 B.C.—Sources. 8. Manuscripts, Chinese. 9. Chinese language—To 600—Texts. I. Title.
DS747.2.A55 2015
931’.03—dc23 2014041449
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
to Nicol Allan
Contents
L IST OF I LLUSTRATIONS
A CKNOWLEDGMENTS
C HAPTER O NE Introduction
C HAPTER T WO History and Historical Legend
C HAPTER T HREE The Chu-script Bamboo-Slip Manuscripts
C HAPTER F OUR Advocating Abdication: Tang Yú zhi dao 唐虞之道 , “The Way of Tang Yao 唐堯 and Yú Shun 虞舜 ”
Tang Yú zhi dao 唐虞之道 : Translation and Chinese Edition
C HAPTER F IVE The Zigao 子羔 and the Nature of Early Confucianism
Zigao 子羔 : Translation and Chinese Edition
C HAPTER S IX Rongchengshi 容成氏 : Abdication and Utopian Vision
Rongchengshi 容成氏 : Translation and Chinese Edition
C HAPTER S EVEN The Bao xun 保訓 : Obtaining the Center to Become King
Bao xun 保訓 : Translation and Chinese Edition
C HAPTER E IGHT Afterthoughts
B IBLIOGRAPHY
I NDEX
Illustrations
F IGURE 1.1. Chu cemetery region, near Ji’nan, Hubei Province: Scenery with unexcavated tumulus.
F IGURE 3.1. Writing brush and holding tube, Baoshan Tomb Two. After Baoshan Chu mu 包山楚墓 , ed. Hubeisheng Jingsha Tielu Kaogudui 湖北省荊沙鐵路考古隊 (Beijing: Wenwu, 1991), plate 15.1.
F IGURE 3.2. Bao xun 保訓 , Slips 1–11, Tsinghua University collection. From Qinghua Daxue cang Zhanguo zhujian 清華大學藏戰國竹簡 , vol. 1, 8. Courtesy of the Chutu Wenxian Yanjiu yu Baohu Zhongxin 出土文獻研究與保護中心 , Tsinghua University.
F IGURE 3.3. Oracle bone characters with bamboo-slip component ( ce 册 ).
F IGURE 3.4. Wood tablet ( du 牘 ), Taiyuan you sizhe 泰原有死者 , Qin Dynasty, Peking University collection. From Wenwu 2012.6: 71.
F IGURE 3.5. Silk manuscript, Laozi 老子 ( jia 甲 version), Mawangdui Tomb One, Changsha, Hunan Province. From Mawangdui Han mu Boshu 馬王堆漢墓帛書 (Beijing: Wenwu, 1980), vol. 1, frontispiece.
F IGURE 3.6. Plan of Guodian Tomb One. After Wenwu 1997.1: 36.
F IGURE 3.7. Inscribed lacquer wine-cup from Guodian Tomb One.
F IGURE 3.8. Inscription on bottom of lacquer wine-cup from Guodian Tomb One.
F IGURE 3.9. Map of Chu cemetery region, near Ji’nan, Hubei Province, showing Guodian and Guojiagang. After Wenwu 1997.1: 35.
F IGURE 3.10. Bamboo slips upon arrival at Tsinghua University, wrapped in plastic. Courtesy of the Chutu Wenxian Yanjiu yu Baohu Zhongxin 出土文獻研究與保護中心 , Tsinghua University.
F IGURE 3.11. Bamboo slips when first opened after arrival at Tsinghua University. Courtesy of the Chutu Wenxian Yanjiu yu Baohu Zhongxin 出土文獻研究與保護中心 , Tsinghua University.
F IGURE 3.12. Bamboo slips ( Shifa 筮法 ) with residue of fabric holder. Courtesy of the Chutu Wenxian Yanjiu yu Baohu Zhongxin 出土文獻研究與保護中心 , Tsinghua University.
F IGURE 3.13. Bamboo slips preserved in trays of pure water. Courtesy of the Chutu Wenxian Yanjiu yu Baohu Zhongxin 出土文獻研究與保護中心 , Tsinghua University.
F IGURE 4.1. Tang Yú zhi dao , detail of mark left on Slips 26, 27, 28, 4, 5, 6, stepped to show the slant at which the slips were skewed after placement in the tomb. After Jingmenshi Bowuguan 荊門市博物館 , ed. Guodian Chu mu zhujian 郭店楚墓竹簡 , (Beijing: Wenwu, 1998), 39–41, based on Chūgoku no kiso shiryō kenkyū han 中國の基礎史料研究班 , “Du Guodian Chu mu zhujian zhaji 讀郭店楚墓竹簡札記 ” (4), Yuegu 曰古 10 (2007.9): 1–18.
F IGURE 4.2. Tang Yú zhi dao , rearranged, Slips 1–3, 22–28, 4–7. After Jingmenshi Bowuguan, ed. Guodian Chu mu zhujian (Beijing: Wenwu, 1998), 39–41.
F IGURE 4.3. Tang Yú zhi dao , rearranged, Slips 8–10, 12–13, 18–21, 11, 14–17, 29. After Jingmenshi Bowuguan, ed. Guodian Chu mu zhujian (Beijing: Wenwu, 1998), 39–41.
Acknowledgments
This book has taken many years to write during which I have received substantial institutional support, for which I would like to express my gratitude. I owe particular thanks to Dartmouth College, which has long supported my research on bamboo-slip manuscripts, beginning with the first International Conference on the Guodian Laozi held here at Dartmouth in 1998. This includes, most recently, the Dartmouth-Tsinghua International Conference on the Tsinghua University bamboo-slip manuscripts, held at Dartmouth, August 30–September 1, 2013, for which we received assistance from the Leslie Center for the Humanities, Offices of the President, Provost, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Languages and Literatures, Anne and Steven Tseng, Jennifer and Peter M. Kurz, and Xiao Nan Liao. I am grateful for the receipt of a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities in 2006–07 and am happy to include the required disclaimer: any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this book do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities. I am also grateful for a Chiang Ching-kuo Senior Research Fellowship in 2009–10. Though I was overly optimistic about the time necessary to complete this work in making those applications, without the uninterrupted time these fellowships gave me for research and writing, this book would not have been possible.
On the personal level, my debts are too numerous to acknowledge herein. Many are longstanding. The ideas in this book are a development of my earliest research, and I am grateful to my teachers, Wolfram Eberhard and Peter Boodberg, who sparked my interest in the relationship between historical accounts and philosophical thought in early China. Since the publication of the Guodian manuscripts in 1998, the field has developed exponentially and over the years, I have presented many of the ideas found in these books at various conferences and workshops. This interchange has contributed greatly to my understanding. The complexity of the materials and the speed with which research on Warring States manuscripts has developed are reasons that this book has taken so long to write, but I have been buoyed by the enthusiasm and generosity of very many colleagues.
Among my more specific debts, I would like to thank my colleague at Dartmouth, Susan Blader, for proofreading and many helpful comments and suggestions that have much improved the book. I would also like to thank Diana Matias for copy editing an earlier version of this book, Cai Yuqian 蔡雨錢 , who has brought various mistakes and infelicities of language to my attention in the course of translating the book into Chinese, and Andrew West for making the font of archaic characters used herein. The mistakes, of course, remain my own.
Finally, but most importantly, my husband, Nicol Allan, has always inspired my work and thi