Abstract This article looks beyond the dichotomy between silence (mo 默) and speech (yan 言) and discusses the functions of and attitudes toward silence in the Yanzi chunqiu 晏子春秋 as a case representing the variety of ideas of silence in early China. In the West, silence has been widely explored in fields such as religion and theology, linguistic studies, and communication and literary studies. The consensus has moved away from viewing silence as abstaining from speech and utterance—and therefore absence of meaning and intention, toward seeing it as a culturally dependent and significant aspect of communication. However, beyond a number of studies discussing unspoken teachings in relation to early Daoism, silence has received little attention in early China studies. This article approaches the functions of silence by pursuing questions regarding its rhetorical, emotive, political, and ethical aspects. Instead of searching for the nature of silence and asking what silence is, this article poses alternative questions: How do ancient Chinese thinkers understand the act of silence? What are the attitudes toward silence in early China? How does silence foster morality? How does silence function as performative remonstrance? How is it used for political persuasion? How does silence draw the attention of and communicate with readers and audiences? How does silence allow time for contemplation, reflection, and agreement among participants? How is silence related to various intense emotional states? These questions lead us to reflect on previous scholarship which regarded silence in early China as the most spontaneous and natural way to grasp the highest truth, which is unpresentable and inexpressible through articulated speech and artificial language. In this sense, the notion of the unspoken teaching is not only understood in opposition to speech, but also as a means to reveal the deficiency of language and the limits of speech. However, through a survey of dialogues, stories, and arguments in Yanzi chunqiu, I show that silence is explicitly marked and explained within the text, and is used actively, purposefully, and meaningfully, to persuade, inform, and motivate audiences. In other words, silence is anything but natural and spontaneous. Rather, it is intentionally adopted, carefully crafted, and publicly performed to communicate, remonstrate, criticize, reveal, and target certain ideas. That is to say, silence is as argumentative as speech and as arbitrary as language. Finally, an awareness of and sensitivity to silence provides a new perspective to engage with other early Chinese texts.
{"title":"THE PERFORMANCE OF SILENCE IN EARLY CHINA: THE YANZI CHUNQIU AND BEYOND","authors":"A. Yuan 袁","doi":"10.1017/eac.2021.4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/eac.2021.4","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This article looks beyond the dichotomy between silence (mo 默) and speech (yan 言) and discusses the functions of and attitudes toward silence in the Yanzi chunqiu 晏子春秋 as a case representing the variety of ideas of silence in early China. In the West, silence has been widely explored in fields such as religion and theology, linguistic studies, and communication and literary studies. The consensus has moved away from viewing silence as abstaining from speech and utterance—and therefore absence of meaning and intention, toward seeing it as a culturally dependent and significant aspect of communication. However, beyond a number of studies discussing unspoken teachings in relation to early Daoism, silence has received little attention in early China studies. This article approaches the functions of silence by pursuing questions regarding its rhetorical, emotive, political, and ethical aspects. Instead of searching for the nature of silence and asking what silence is, this article poses alternative questions: How do ancient Chinese thinkers understand the act of silence? What are the attitudes toward silence in early China? How does silence foster morality? How does silence function as performative remonstrance? How is it used for political persuasion? How does silence draw the attention of and communicate with readers and audiences? How does silence allow time for contemplation, reflection, and agreement among participants? How is silence related to various intense emotional states? These questions lead us to reflect on previous scholarship which regarded silence in early China as the most spontaneous and natural way to grasp the highest truth, which is unpresentable and inexpressible through articulated speech and artificial language. In this sense, the notion of the unspoken teaching is not only understood in opposition to speech, but also as a means to reveal the deficiency of language and the limits of speech. However, through a survey of dialogues, stories, and arguments in Yanzi chunqiu, I show that silence is explicitly marked and explained within the text, and is used actively, purposefully, and meaningfully, to persuade, inform, and motivate audiences. In other words, silence is anything but natural and spontaneous. Rather, it is intentionally adopted, carefully crafted, and publicly performed to communicate, remonstrate, criticize, reveal, and target certain ideas. That is to say, silence is as argumentative as speech and as arbitrary as language. Finally, an awareness of and sensitivity to silence provides a new perspective to engage with other early Chinese texts.","PeriodicalId":11463,"journal":{"name":"Early China","volume":"44 1","pages":"321 - 350"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2021-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46178000","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"LETTER FROM THE EDITOR: A SPECIAL REQUEST","authors":"Sarah Allan","doi":"10.1017/eac.2021.16","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/eac.2021.16","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":11463,"journal":{"name":"Early China","volume":"44 1","pages":"v - vi"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2021-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42493491","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
J. Baechler, Ren Lele, Zhao Xin, Dong Xiaoling, Wang Hui, Sheri A. Lullo, E. Childs-Johnson, Quanjia Chen, Youqian Li, Wanbo Li, Shituo Liu
Bertrand, Arnaud. “Conquête et Occupation de La Frontière NordOuest Au Temps Des Han Occidentaux (206 Av. J.-C.—9 Apr. J.-C.).” In La Guerre et Les Eléments, edited by Jean Baechler and Jérôme de Lespinois, 211–46. Paris: Hermann, 2019. Brunson, Katherine, Ren Lele, Zhao Xin, Dong Xiaoling, Wang Hui, Zhou Jing, and Rowan Flad. “Zooarchaeology, Ancient MtDNA, and Radiocarbon Dating Provide New Evidence for the Emergence of Domestic Cattle and Caprines in the Tao River Valley of Gansu Province, Northwest China.” Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 31 (2020), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2020.102262. Cao, Dingyun. “Late Shang: Fu Zi [Fu Hao] and M5 at Xiaotun.” In The Oxford Handbook of Early China, edited by Elizabeth Childs-Johnson, 350–61. New York: Oxford University Press, 2020. Caspari, Gino. “Quantifying Ritual Funerary Activity of the Late Prehistoric Southern Kanas Region (Xinjiang, China).” Asian Perspectives 59.2 (2020), 421–52. Chan, Annie. “Modules of Stone Construction and the Building of Ritual and Social Traditions in Prehistoric Xinjiang (China) and Mongolia.” Asian Perspectives 59.2 (2020), 330–37. Chan, Annie, and Dexin Cong. “Results of Field Research on Ancient Stonework in the River Valleys of Bortala and Ili in Western Tian Shan (Xinjiang, China).” Asian Perspectives 59.2 (2020), 385–420. Chi, Zhang, and Marcella Festa. “Archaeological Research in the Ili Region: A Review.” Asian Perspectives 59.2 (2020), 338–84. Childs-Johnson, Elizabeth. “Jade Age Adornment of the Liangzhu Elite.” In The Art and Archaeology of Bodily Adornment: Studies from Central and East Asian Mortuary Contexts, edited by Sheri Lullo and Leslie Wallace, 141–60. London: Routledge, 2021. ——. “The Jade Age Revisited, ca. 3500–2000 BCE.” In The Oxford Handbook of Early China, edited by Elizabeth Childs-Johnson, 101–17. New York: Oxford University Press, 2020. ——. “Late Shang Ritual and Residential Architecture at Great City Shang, Yinxu in Anyang, Henan.” In The Oxford Handbook of Early
伯特兰，阿诺。“Conquête et Occupation de La Frontière NordOuest Au Temps Des Han Occidentaux（206 Av.J.-C.——J.-C.4月9日）”，载于Jean Baechler和Jérôme de Lespinois编辑的《La Guerre et Les Eléments》，211–46。巴黎：赫尔曼，2019年。Brunson、Katherine、任乐乐、赵新、董晓玲、王辉、周静、Rowan Flad。“动物考古学、古MtDNA和放射性碳年代测定为中国西北甘肃洮河谷家畜和山羊的出现提供了新的证据。”《考古科学杂志》：2020年第31期，https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2020.102262.曹，丁云。“商晚期：傅子和M5在小屯”，载《牛津早期中国手册》，伊丽莎白·蔡尔德斯·约翰逊主编，350-61。纽约：牛津大学出版社，2020年。卡斯帕里，吉诺。“量化史前晚期南喀纳斯地区（中国新疆）的仪式葬礼活动”，《亚洲视角》59.2（2020），421-52。陈，安妮。“史前新疆（中国）和蒙古的石头建筑模块与仪式和社会传统的构建”，《亚洲视角》59.2（2020），330-37。Chan，Annie，and Dexin Cong。“天山西部博尔塔拉和伊犁河谷古代石工的实地研究结果（中国新疆）。”亚洲展望59.2（2020），385-420。迟、张、费斯塔。“伊犁地区的考古研究：回顾”，《亚洲展望》59.2（2020），338–84。Childs Johnson，Elizabeth。“良渚精英的玉时代装饰”，载于Sheri Lullo和Leslie Wallace主编的《身体装饰的艺术与考古：中亚和东亚丧葬环境研究》，141-60。伦敦：劳特利奇，2021。“重访翡翠时代，约公元前3500年至2000年。”载于伊丽莎白·蔡尔德斯·约翰逊主编的《牛津早期中国手册》，101-17。纽约：牛津大学出版社，2020。----。河南安阳殷墟大城商的晚商仪式与民居建筑
{"title":"ANNUAL BIBLIOGRAPHY","authors":"J. Baechler, Ren Lele, Zhao Xin, Dong Xiaoling, Wang Hui, Sheri A. Lullo, E. Childs-Johnson, Quanjia Chen, Youqian Li, Wanbo Li, Shituo Liu","doi":"10.1017/eac.2021.12","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/eac.2021.12","url":null,"abstract":"Bertrand, Arnaud. “Conquête et Occupation de La Frontière NordOuest Au Temps Des Han Occidentaux (206 Av. J.-C.—9 Apr. J.-C.).” In La Guerre et Les Eléments, edited by Jean Baechler and Jérôme de Lespinois, 211–46. Paris: Hermann, 2019. Brunson, Katherine, Ren Lele, Zhao Xin, Dong Xiaoling, Wang Hui, Zhou Jing, and Rowan Flad. “Zooarchaeology, Ancient MtDNA, and Radiocarbon Dating Provide New Evidence for the Emergence of Domestic Cattle and Caprines in the Tao River Valley of Gansu Province, Northwest China.” Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 31 (2020), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2020.102262. Cao, Dingyun. “Late Shang: Fu Zi [Fu Hao] and M5 at Xiaotun.” In The Oxford Handbook of Early China, edited by Elizabeth Childs-Johnson, 350–61. New York: Oxford University Press, 2020. Caspari, Gino. “Quantifying Ritual Funerary Activity of the Late Prehistoric Southern Kanas Region (Xinjiang, China).” Asian Perspectives 59.2 (2020), 421–52. Chan, Annie. “Modules of Stone Construction and the Building of Ritual and Social Traditions in Prehistoric Xinjiang (China) and Mongolia.” Asian Perspectives 59.2 (2020), 330–37. Chan, Annie, and Dexin Cong. “Results of Field Research on Ancient Stonework in the River Valleys of Bortala and Ili in Western Tian Shan (Xinjiang, China).” Asian Perspectives 59.2 (2020), 385–420. Chi, Zhang, and Marcella Festa. “Archaeological Research in the Ili Region: A Review.” Asian Perspectives 59.2 (2020), 338–84. Childs-Johnson, Elizabeth. “Jade Age Adornment of the Liangzhu Elite.” In The Art and Archaeology of Bodily Adornment: Studies from Central and East Asian Mortuary Contexts, edited by Sheri Lullo and Leslie Wallace, 141–60. London: Routledge, 2021. ——. “The Jade Age Revisited, ca. 3500–2000 BCE.” In The Oxford Handbook of Early China, edited by Elizabeth Childs-Johnson, 101–17. New York: Oxford University Press, 2020. ——. “Late Shang Ritual and Residential Architecture at Great City Shang, Yinxu in Anyang, Henan.” In The Oxford Handbook of Early","PeriodicalId":11463,"journal":{"name":"Early China","volume":"44 1","pages":"555 - 576"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2021-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49322126","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract This article studies the promulgation of law in Qin and Western Han China (221 b.c.e.–9 c.e.) based primarily on excavated legal and administrative texts. It shows that a new law was handed down from the emperor to the relevant offices on the day of enactment. The article argues that, to an extent, the subject matter and function of a law determined for whom it was passed and promulgated. Depending upon the location, rank, and official duties of the offices, the laws known and used could be quite different. Although it was required that documents of imperial decisions be forwarded swiftly and safely by courier at the prescribed speed, delays in forwarding such documents to distant local offices were probably common in Qin and Western Han China. Evidence indicates that district- and prefecture-level officials publicized laws that needed to be made known by the common people, by reading them aloud in local gatherings, for example, or posting them in conspicuous places. The article further argues that a law came into effect in offices on the day it arrived at local courts or on the day it was enacted in the central court, depending on the existence of related extant laws. It concludes that a new law in Qin and Western Han China was ex post facto, as it reached backwards to a past action and retroactively attached liabilities to the action at the point when it was performed.
{"title":"THE PROMULGATION OF LAW IN QIN AND WESTERN HAN CHINA","authors":"Li 婧嶸 Jingrong 李, Chen 松長 Songchang 陳","doi":"10.1017/eac.2021.3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/eac.2021.3","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This article studies the promulgation of law in Qin and Western Han China (221 b.c.e.–9 c.e.) based primarily on excavated legal and administrative texts. It shows that a new law was handed down from the emperor to the relevant offices on the day of enactment. The article argues that, to an extent, the subject matter and function of a law determined for whom it was passed and promulgated. Depending upon the location, rank, and official duties of the offices, the laws known and used could be quite different. Although it was required that documents of imperial decisions be forwarded swiftly and safely by courier at the prescribed speed, delays in forwarding such documents to distant local offices were probably common in Qin and Western Han China. Evidence indicates that district- and prefecture-level officials publicized laws that needed to be made known by the common people, by reading them aloud in local gatherings, for example, or posting them in conspicuous places. The article further argues that a law came into effect in offices on the day it arrived at local courts or on the day it was enacted in the central court, depending on the existence of related extant laws. It concludes that a new law in Qin and Western Han China was ex post facto, as it reached backwards to a past action and retroactively attached liabilities to the action at the point when it was performed.","PeriodicalId":11463,"journal":{"name":"Early China","volume":"11 1","pages":"393 - 418"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2021-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"56563607","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
K. Li 李, Quanyu Wang, J. G. Wilson, Fan Jeremy Zhang, Jody Ho Yee Cheung, Tsz Hin Chun, S. Lam, Mingyong Pang, H. Xie, Mingqiang Wei, Kin San Lee
Abstract This article examines the earliest examples of replication of bronze objects of complicated structure in China. It uses four quadrupeds from the Freer Gallery (National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution), the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, the British Museum, and the Yūrinkan Museum in Kyōto as examples to illustrate the complex technology required in replicating bronzes. It provides evidence to define identical bronzes and proves that the four quadrupeds shared the same decorated model. The application of section-mold casting, spacers, clay cores, and mold section assemblage will be examined using 3D scanning, X-ray photography, computerized tomography (CT) scanning, and alloy composition analysis.
{"title":"DECORATED MODELS, REPLICATION, AND ASSEMBLY LINES FOR BRONZE INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION IN 500 b.c.e. CHINA","authors":"K. Li 李, Quanyu Wang, J. G. Wilson, Fan Jeremy Zhang, Jody Ho Yee Cheung, Tsz Hin Chun, S. Lam, Mingyong Pang, H. Xie, Mingqiang Wei, Kin San Lee","doi":"10.1017/eac.2021.9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/eac.2021.9","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This article examines the earliest examples of replication of bronze objects of complicated structure in China. It uses four quadrupeds from the Freer Gallery (National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution), the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, the British Museum, and the Yūrinkan Museum in Kyōto as examples to illustrate the complex technology required in replicating bronzes. It provides evidence to define identical bronzes and proves that the four quadrupeds shared the same decorated model. The application of section-mold casting, spacers, clay cores, and mold section assemblage will be examined using 3D scanning, X-ray photography, computerized tomography (CT) scanning, and alloy composition analysis.","PeriodicalId":11463,"journal":{"name":"Early China","volume":"44 1","pages":"109 - 142"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2021-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45244414","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The description of the “Nine Provinces” (Jiu zhou 九州) found in the Rong Cheng shi 容成氏 (Mister Rong Cheng?, late fourth century b.c.e.) manuscript from the Shanghai Museum Bamboo Slips Collection (Shangbo cangjian 上博藏簡) is the only manuscript version of it known to date. Its discovery immediately raised the question of its relation to the cluster of descriptions on the “Nine Provinces” transmitted from the late Warring States to the early Western Han periods. There is general consensus that the manuscript description of the “Nine Provinces” has close affinity with the transmitted descriptions, as well as with a wide spectrum of transmitted early Chinese texts in general. It is distinguished by the eclectic combining of known spatial concepts, rather than manifesting any radically new or specifically Chu traits. In this study I reassess this impression with respect to the reference to the Han River in the manuscript, which up to now has been noted only in passing as an unsolved puzzle. I argue that the Han River is referred to here as the central axis that divides terrestrial space into southern and northern halves, something that implies a shifting of the mapped area to the South and thus conveys a Chu view of space. Together with philological analysis of the descriptions of terrestrial space, I apply an innovative method of investigation of these descriptions through landmarks, using as a visual aid traditional Chinese historical maps. In addition, I explore the predominance of waters as the distinguishing feature of the representation of terrestrial space in the Rong Cheng shi manuscript and demonstrate its difference from the structuring of terrestrial space proceeding from mountains to waterways to be seen in the majority of transmitted early Chinese texts.
{"title":"THE HAN RIVER AS THE CENTRAL AXIS AND THE PREDOMINANCE OF WATER: QUESTIONING THE CLAIM OF “NO CHU-RELATED TRAITS” IN THE VIEW OF TERRESTRIAL SPACE IN THE RONG CHENG SHI MANUSCRIPT (FOURTH CENTURY B.C.E)","authors":"Vera V. Dorofeeva-Lichtmann","doi":"10.1017/eac.2021.7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/eac.2021.7","url":null,"abstract":"The description of the “Nine Provinces” (Jiu zhou 九州) found in the Rong Cheng shi 容成氏 (Mister Rong Cheng?, late fourth century b.c.e.) manuscript from the Shanghai Museum Bamboo Slips Collection (Shangbo cangjian 上博藏簡) is the only manuscript version of it known to date. Its discovery immediately raised the question of its relation to the cluster of descriptions on the “Nine Provinces” transmitted from the late Warring States to the early Western Han periods. There is general consensus that the manuscript description of the “Nine Provinces” has close affinity with the transmitted descriptions, as well as with a wide spectrum of transmitted early Chinese texts in general. It is distinguished by the eclectic combining of known spatial concepts, rather than manifesting any radically new or specifically Chu traits. In this study I reassess this impression with respect to the reference to the Han River in the manuscript, which up to now has been noted only in passing as an unsolved puzzle. I argue that the Han River is referred to here as the central axis that divides terrestrial space into southern and northern halves, something that implies a shifting of the mapped area to the South and thus conveys a Chu view of space. Together with philological analysis of the descriptions of terrestrial space, I apply an innovative method of investigation of these descriptions through landmarks, using as a visual aid traditional Chinese historical maps. In addition, I explore the predominance of waters as the distinguishing feature of the representation of terrestrial space in the Rong Cheng shi manuscript and demonstrate its difference from the structuring of terrestrial space proceeding from mountains to waterways to be seen in the majority of transmitted early Chinese texts.","PeriodicalId":11463,"journal":{"name":"Early China","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2021-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48649374","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article explores how the memory of the conquest of Shang and the rise of the first Zhou kings was transmitted during the early centuries of the Zhou dynasty, specifically as it was reflected in inscriptions on excavated bronze vessels and bells from the Western Zhou period (ca. mid-eleventh to early eighth century b.c.e.). Approaching these inscribed objects and their texts from the perspective of the theories of social memory and cultural memory reveals that commemorating the foundational past of the dynasty became part of an intentional policy of the Zhou royal house as early as the first half of the tenth century b.c.e. It demonstrates that by the mid-tenth century b.c.e., a stable narrative emphasizing Kings Wen 文 and Wu 武 as the founding fathers of the Zhou dynasty was established at the expense of King Cheng 成, whose role was gradually downplayed following the general logic of lineage organization, according to which the commemoration of the earliest common ancestors serves as the foundation of corporate integrity in a network of patrilineally related families. It shows that most of the men who included such commemorations in inscriptions indeed belonged to the royal patrilineal network, wherein they occupied the highest positions. It further exemplifies that the royal house cultivated the memory of the first kings using various media, including rituals, utensils, royal speeches, and inscriptions. From the analysis of such inscriptions, we can infer that that the foundational memory of the Zhou dynasty was usually reactivated in the context of political negotiations, some of which included addressing lineage outsiders. Finally, it shows that both the royal house and other metropolitan lineages modified the foundational narrative according to their current needs. This article thus contributes both to tracing the roots of the early Chinese historiographic tradition and to understanding memory production in a society as an ongoing process of negotiations and adaptations.
{"title":"THE BEGINNING OF CULTURAL MEMORY PRODUCTION IN CHINA AND THE MEMORY POLICY OF THE ZHOU ROYAL HOUSE DURING THE WESTERN ZHOU PERIOD","authors":"Maria Khayutina","doi":"10.1017/eac.2021.10","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/eac.2021.10","url":null,"abstract":"This article explores how the memory of the conquest of Shang and the rise of the first Zhou kings was transmitted during the early centuries of the Zhou dynasty, specifically as it was reflected in inscriptions on excavated bronze vessels and bells from the Western Zhou period (ca. mid-eleventh to early eighth century b.c.e.). Approaching these inscribed objects and their texts from the perspective of the theories of social memory and cultural memory reveals that commemorating the foundational past of the dynasty became part of an intentional policy of the Zhou royal house as early as the first half of the tenth century b.c.e. It demonstrates that by the mid-tenth century b.c.e., a stable narrative emphasizing Kings Wen 文 and Wu 武 as the founding fathers of the Zhou dynasty was established at the expense of King Cheng 成, whose role was gradually downplayed following the general logic of lineage organization, according to which the commemoration of the earliest common ancestors serves as the foundation of corporate integrity in a network of patrilineally related families. It shows that most of the men who included such commemorations in inscriptions indeed belonged to the royal patrilineal network, wherein they occupied the highest positions. It further exemplifies that the royal house cultivated the memory of the first kings using various media, including rituals, utensils, royal speeches, and inscriptions. From the analysis of such inscriptions, we can infer that that the foundational memory of the Zhou dynasty was usually reactivated in the context of political negotiations, some of which included addressing lineage outsiders. Finally, it shows that both the royal house and other metropolitan lineages modified the foundational narrative according to their current needs. This article thus contributes both to tracing the roots of the early Chinese historiographic tradition and to understanding memory production in a society as an ongoing process of negotiations and adaptations.","PeriodicalId":11463,"journal":{"name":"Early China","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2021-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"56563492","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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