Format:
1 Online-Ressource (xx, 328 Seiten)
ISBN:
9780231556514
Series Statement:
Tang Center Series in Early China
Content:
The Spring and Autumn is an annals text composed of brief records covering the period 722–479 BCE and written from the perspective of the ancient Chinese state of Lu. A long neglected part of the Chinese canon, it is traditionally ascribed to Confucius, who is said to have embedded his evaluations of events within the text. However, the formulaic and impersonal records do not resemble the repository of moral judgments that they are alleged to be.Driven by her discovery that the Spring and Autumn is governed by a system of rules, Newell Ann Van Auken argues that Lu record-keepers—not a later editor—produced the formally regular core of the text. She demonstrates that the Spring and Autumn employs formulaic phrasing and selective omission to encode the priorities of Lu and to communicate the relative importance of individuals, states, and events, and that many of its records are derived from diplomatic announcements received in Lu from regional states and the Zhou court. The Spring and Autumn is fundamentally a document designed to enhance the prestige of Lu, and its records reveal a profound concern with relative rank, displaying an idealized hierarchy that positions the state of Lu and its rulers at the apex. By establishing the Spring and Autumn as a genuine Bronze Age record, this book transforms our understanding of its significance and purpose, and also offers new approaches to the study of ancient annals in early China and elsewhere
Content:
"The Spring and Autumn is an early Chinese register of events covering the eight to fifth centuries BCE, originating from the official state annals of Lu, the home state of Confucius. Tradition attributes the Spring and Autumn to Confucius, claiming that it employs subtle clues that convey his evaluations of its recorded events, and for over two thousand years, it was regarded as one of the most important Chinese classics. Despite its significance in China, the Spring and Autumn has been largely neglected and is poorly understood in the West, perhaps for the simple reason that its records, which are brief, impersonal, and highly formulaic, look nothing like the coded moral judgments that tradition claims them to be. The conventional interpretation of the Spring and Autumn focuses on irregularities in individual records, which may indeed have been the work of later editors. Spring and Autumn Historiography takes the opposite tack, analyzing categories of records that exhibit regular patterns with the aim of exposing the values and priorities that underlie the Spring and Autumn's formally regular core, which was likely produced by Lu record-keepers. This analysis shows that the key to the records lies not in their content but in their form: the records systematically use formal features to mark the relative importance of events, individual leaders, and states, and they reflect a deep concern with hierarchy, high position, and relative rank. Through its formulaic system of recording, the Spring and Autumn presents a Lu-centered hierarchy of individuals and states and seeks to display the exalted position of Lu and the Lu ruler at the pinnacle of this idealized hierarchy"--
Note:
Frontmatter
,
CONTENTS
,
LIST OF TABLES
,
LIST OF SETS
,
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
,
SCHOLARLY CONVENTIONS
,
CHRONOLOGY: LU RULERS OF THE SPRING AND AUTUMN
,
INTRODUCTION
,
Chapter One. ORIENTATIONS
,
Chapter Two. RECORDING THE DAY
,
Chapter Three. ENCODING INDIVIDUAL RANK
,
Chapter Four. AN IDEALIZED INTERSTATE ORDER
,
Chapter Five. REGISTERING JUDGMENTS
,
Chapter Six. CONCEALING SUBMISSION
,
CONCLUSIONS: Spring and Autumn Historiography and the Formally Regular Core
,
Appendix 1. DEFINING A “RECORD”
,
Appendix 2. EVENT TYPES IN THE SPRING AND AUTUMN
,
Appendix 3. DIACHRONIC CHANGES IN FREQUENCY AND FORM IN THE SPRING AND AUTUMN
,
NOTES
,
BIBLIOGRAPHY
,
INDEX
,
In English
Additional Edition:
ISBN 9780231206501
Additional Edition:
Erscheint auch als Druck-Ausgabe Van Auken, Newell Ann Spring and autumn historiography New York : Columbia University Press, 2023 ISBN 9780231206501
Language:
English
Keywords:
China
;
Kong, Qiu v551-v479 Chunqiu
;
Geschichtsschreibung
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