Section F — Premodern History
Panel F1 — The Zhou Period in the Light of New Archaeological and Epigraphic Sources
Chair: Hans van Ess; 355 (Hall 19); Thursday, July 15th, 13:30-15:30
- Edward Shaughnessy
- "Still More New Sources of Western Zhou History: Inscribed Bronze Vessels That Have Appeared in the Last Decade"
- Wolfgang Behr
- Grammatical Inconsistencies in the Bronze Inscriptions: a Look at the Fringes of Linguistic “Zhouness”
- Kai Vogelsang
- The Birth of History in Ancient China
- Maria Khayutina
- Zhou and Non-Zhou: Who Was Who in Early China?
Panel F2 — Space, Place and Geography in Premodern China: Definitions and Transmissions
Chair: Timothy Baker, Jr.; 355 (Hall 19); Thursday, July 15th, 16:00-18:00
- Timothy Baker, Jr.
- Connections Between the Han and Tang Capitals: Was Chang’an Two Cities or One?
- Tracy Miller
- Architectural Style and Nautical Networks in Medieval China
- Maxim Korolkov
- “Ordinance on Fields” from Qingchuan: Land Survey and Qin Conquest
Panel F3 — Medieval Ages
Chair: Maxim Korolkov; 355 (Hall 19); Friday, July 16th, 09:00-11:00
- Kathrin Messing
- “… and the First Ruler Laughed Out Loud”: Humour in Chen Shou's Sanguo Zhi and Pei Songzhi's Commentary
- Michael Hoeckelmann
- Exclusion and Role Performance: Policies and Polemics Against Religious Personnel During the Tang Dynasty
- Brian Vivier
- The Song Currency Sphere in Medieval East Asia
- Jun Fang
- The Opportunity Society and the Loyalist Resistance in Jiangnan in 1640s
Panel F4 — Strategies of Conquest and Resistance
Chair: Kathrin Messing; 355 (Hall 19); Friday, July 16th, 11:30-13:30
- Martin Hofmann
- Mapping Arguments – The Debate on the “Three Jiang” in Late Imperial China
- Lucie Olivova
- Picture Map of the Summer Palace and Resort at Chengde
Panel F5a — Traditional Historiography I
Chair: Yuri Pines; 355 (Hall 19); Friday, July 16th, 15:00-16:30
- Mark Strange
- The Reception of Zizhi Tongjian
- Armin Selbitschka
- Chinese or “Barbarian”? A New Look at the Tuoba’s Diplomatic Strategies During the Northern Wei Period
- Susanne Schimanski
- "Tang Taizongs Difan 帝範 - Plan for an Emperor"
Panel F5b — Traditional Historiography II
Chair: Maria Khayutina; 355 (Hall 19); Friday, July 16th, 17:00-18:30
- Yuri Pines
- From Historical Evolution to the End of History: Past, Present and Future from Shang Yang to the First Emperor
- Hans van Ess
- Numbers and the Chapter Structure of the Shiji
Panel F6 — Christian Missionaries
Chair: Michael Hoeckelmann; 355 (Hall 19); Saturday, July 17th, 09:00-11:00
- Mitja Saje
- China Rediscovering Augustin Hallerstein and His Importance as a Cultural Link Between Europe and China
- Anna Busquets
- High Trade and Troubled Times: Victorio Riccio and the Manila Parian
Panel F1 — The Zhou Period in the Light of New Archaeological and Epigraphic Sources
Chair: Hans van Ess; 355 (Hall 19); Thursday, July 15th, 13:30-15:30
Edward Shaughnessy: "Still More New Sources of Western Zhou History: Inscribed Bronze Vessels That Have Appeared in the Last Decade"
Scholars of early China have been justifiably excited over the past ten years by the appearance of several caches of bamboo-strip manuscripts from the Warring States through the Han periods. However, in the excitement to study these new sources, other remarkable textual discoveries made over the same period have gone all but unnoticed. For instance, during this period there have been scores of Western Zhou bronze inscriptions that have appeared for the first time, several of them of tremendous historical significance. In this presentation, I will survey these new sources, introducing their archaeological and historical significance, and will comment in particular on their implications for the "Xia-Shang-Zhou Chronology Project," which concluded just as the decade was beginning.
Wolfgang Behr: Grammatical Inconsistencies in the Bronze Inscriptions: a Look at the Fringes of Linguistic “Zhouness”
Given the attestation of local calligraphic idiosyncracies in bronzes presumably manufactured in peripheral areas during the Western Zhou (Li Feng 2002), the geographically wide distribution of excavated BI texts (Zhou Shuxian 2001), the great diversity of regional clusters of writing peculiarities (He Linyi 2003, chap. 3, Zhao Xueqing 2005, Zhang Xiaoming 2006), especially during the Eastern Zhou period, as well as the lexical interaction of Old Chinese with half a dozen of neighbouring linguistic families, traceable in the reconstructed vocabularies (Behr 2004, Gassmann/Behr 2005, III.10, Sagart 2005), it is astonishing that conspicuous dialectal elements in BI syntax and phonology are few and far between. This uniformity seemingly presupposes the early presence of a standardized “refined speech” (雅言) among the literate elites, and corresponding normative communication and education systems, straddling political, ethnic, and, indeed, linguistic boundaries.
The present paper will look at the linguistic “gaps” in these systems, such as regionally confined BI lexemes, sometimes implying non-sinitic substrate influence, local tendencies in pronoun usage, as when the standard Western Zhou inscriptional 1st person pronoun *la(-q), typically written as yu 余 in the BI and as yu 予 in the edited literature when occuring in subject or object position, starts to assume a “clitic” or “umlaut” form *(s-)lə in the determiner position, represented by the orthographies 台, [台辛], [台勺], 怠 etc. in the states of 燕, 齊, 晋, 邾 and 徐 since the late 7th century (Djamouri 2006, Wu Zhenyu 2006), and some phonological mergers, thought to be characteristic of dialect developments. Moreover, it will try to assess, whether peculiar WZ syntactic structures, recently catalogued by Pan Yukun (2005: 234-252), can be shown to reflect regional tendencies from the perspective of their EZ continuations, or rather the conflicting syntactic typology of an underlying SOV language under conditions of language contact. More specifically, these structures include postposed NP modifiers (鑾旂四日 “a ceremonial carriage bell flag [decorated with] four suns” ), postposed VPs acting as NP modifiers (盾生皇畫内 “a shield with lively phoenixes drawn on the inside”), preposed object pronouns of non-negated verbs (是用左（佐）王 “use this to support the king”), “raised” adverbs in pre-NP position (永其萬年子子孫孫寶用 “may son’s sons and grandson’s grandson’s eternally treasure and use [this vessel]”), modal verbs in pre-nominal extraposition (俗（欲）我弗乍（作）先王憂 “Lest I be able to avoid causing sorrows to the former kings” exclamatives inserted between the subject NP and its verb (爾有雖小子 “even if you, my dear, are still a little squire”), constituent “reversals” in compounding and the like.
It is hoped that this perspective, albeit proceeding from small, and often fairly inconsistent inconsistent observations, will stimulate more detailed specifications of what constitutes “Zhouness” in which period.
Kai Vogelsang: The Birth of History in Ancient China
The paper traces the emergence of historical consciousness in Ancient China as it appears in archaeological sources. History, or so it argues, did not come to the Chinese with the invention of writing but only with its diffusion several centuries later. Only in Middle Western Zhou times there developed a growing awareness of a past that was distinctly different from the present. This disturbing awareness led to the narration and writing of history.
Maria Khayutina: Zhou and Non-Zhou: Who Was Who in Early China?
Zhou, originally a compact lineage-based state in western Shaanxi Province, rose to superpower after a series of conquest campaigns during the second half of the 11 c. B. C. The geopolitical structure thus established consisted of central territories under direct command of the Zhou king and of colonies spread over vast geographical space, and similarly representing lineage-based states. Most scholars regard it as an integral political body (“empire”, “kingdom”, or “state”). Although some colonies located at a great distance from the Zhou core areas carved out a very large territory, the space within its external boundaries did not belong to this polity thoroughly. Instead, the Zhou political network faced both external and internal “aliens,” who retained their political autonomy and cultural individuality. The present paper examines some recent archaeological and epigraphic finds reflecting the relations between the members of the Zhou political network and their non-Zhou counterparts. It also discusses the criteria, according to which the political affiliation of geopolitical entities can be identified, and suggests some new directions for the historical analysis of the early Chinese history.
back to topPanel F2 — Space, Place and Geography in Premodern China: Definitions and Transmissions
Chair: Timothy Baker, Jr.; 355 (Hall 19); Thursday, July 15th, 16:00-18:00
Timothy Baker, Jr.: Connections Between the Han and Tang Capitals: Was Chang’an Two Cities or One?
The Sui imperial capital, laid out by the last emperor of that dynasty and then gradually completed as the Tang capital, Chang’an, was one of the largest and most comprehensively planned cities in Chinese history. Yet little consideration has been given to its relationship with its Han dynasty predecessor of the same name, which lay just beyond the walls of the Tang city. My earlier research, based on detailed contour maps from the 1930’s, has indicated that traces of the Han dynasty road system surrounding the capital could be found. Now, based on a GIS mapping system that includes the Han and Tang cities within their context of the surrounding manmade landscape, this current study will show how the Tang city, rather than being a development ex nova, was in fact based on an existing road system and planning concepts that had evolved from the Han. At the same time, it will also help confirm which parts of the road system outside the city walls dated from the Han and which were from the Tang. This will enable a better understanding of the nature of the medieval Chinese city, less distinct than it appears from the defining boundaries of its walls. The Tang city can be seen to be closely meshed into a spatial matrix that included both its surroundings and the earlier capital city. More broadly, this study is significant since it links the archaeology and study of early Chinese cities to the discipline of landscape history, which has evolved along with the use of GIS mapping, especially for European and American environments.
Tracy Miller: Architectural Style and Nautical Networks in Medieval China
In the study of temple architecture in medieval China (ca. 900-1250), buildings are usually analyzed based on their manufacture within certain dynastic boundaries and/or through comparison with the Northern Song court architectural manual the Yingzao fashi, which was first published in 1103. Using GIS to map a series of temple buildings from the 10th through the 12th centuries, I have found the style of historic buildings is not constrained by the geographic boundaries of middle-period dynasties, nor were they prescribed by the Song Yingzao fashi.
In this paper I shall examine a series of buildings from northern Shanxi, Liaoning, Shandong, Hebei, and Zhejiang provinces to problematize the issue of dynastic style. I suggest that architectural style, at least in these temple buildings, was transmitted by way of trade and pilgrimage routes, including the nautical networks of rivers and oceans. This examination of bracketing and certain construction techniques in these structures can help illuminate not only the way in which the upper and lower reaches of the Yellow and Yangzi rivers worked more as conduits between, rather than centers of, larger macroregions (adding further nuance to models originally developed by Skinner), but also the way in which monks and merchants along China’s east coast transported visual culture from north to south, transcending the dynastic borders over which they traveled. In this way architecture in China can provide us with a more sophisticated understanding of the cultural identities associated with specific regions rather shifting polities during the medieval period.
Maxim Korolkov: “Ordinance on Fields” from Qingchuan: Land Survey and Qin Conquest
My study is devoted to one of the earliest paleographic samples of Ancient Chinese legislation – the so called “Statute on fields” inscribed on a wooden tablet unearthed from the late fourth century B.C. Qin burial in Qingchuan county, Sichuan province. This text contains a detailed description of the system of land survey that, according to traditional written sources, was introduced in the state of Qin by Shang Yang roughly forty years before the date of the Qingchuan text.
Although several Chinese scholars have proposed their own readings and interpretations of this text, some crucial questions concerning its nature, purpose and historical significance remain unanswered. Using methods of philological and comparative analysis to approach these problems, I demonstrate that the Qingchuan text – which, as I try to prove, is an ordinance, not a statute, and the difference between the two is significant – 1) was a piece of a larger legislation related to the land reform in Qin; 2) was designed for newly conquered Sichuan region or some part of it and 3) its purpose was to adjust the Qin land survey model to the conditions of the region with different terrain conditions.
Basing on this understanding of the text, I use both written and archaeological evidence to examine the process of the incorporation of the Sichuan basin into the Qin state. Its first and crucial stage was, in my opinion, the founding of the Qin colonies separated from the local population, with their own administrative and economic organization, including land survey system. This “colonial” strategy of developing the new territories, as archeology demonstrates, was typical for many other Chinese states of Zhanguo epoch. I argue that only those parts of the emerging Qin empire where the “colonies” were systematically founded (and are archaeologically attested) proved to be relatively well integrated into this empire. The ultimate collapse of Qin can be explained from its fail (probably, for the lack of time) to imply the “colonial” strategy of integration on the vast territories of the Great Plain, Huaihe and Yangtze basins that were rapidly conquered in the last decades and even last years of Zhanguo.
Panel F3 — Medieval Ages
Chair: Maxim Korolkov; 355 (Hall 19); Friday, July 16th, 09:00-11:00
Kathrin Messing: “… and the First Ruler Laughed Out Loud”: Humour in Chen Shou's Sanguo Zhi and Pei Songzhi's Commentary
Reading Chinese historiography is, to be honest, all too often a rather jejune and even boring endeavour. Nevertheless, dynastic histories also contain amusing and even humorous elements, a fact that has rarely been paid attention to in Western sinological works. In my paper on Chen Shous 陳壽 Sanguo zhi 三國志 and its commentary, I want to give a first impression about prevailing humorous instances and different kinds of humour in these texts, and try to answer the question what function(s) it might have fulfilled. My presentation is not (only) supposed to show an often neglected aspect of Chinese historiography in order to pretend it is something that it actually is not – namely, funny to the core. Rather, I would like to “take its humour seriously” by regarding it as something socially significant, i.e. something playing with existing social norms. As such it could, for example, serve as “a play upon form that affords an opportunity for realising that an accepted pattern has no necessity” (Douglas 1975), or – quite the contrary – serve to “reinforce social consensus” by playing with social norms or hierarchies in a solely “charming but quite benign fashion” (Critchley 2002). On this basis, I will try to show that humour is not only interesting because it is funny, but also because we can gain interesting insight from it, especially concerning societies that seem as alien to us as – for example – the society of early medieval China.
Michael Hoeckelmann: Exclusion and Role Performance: Policies and Polemics Against Religious Personnel During the Tang Dynasty
It is commonly held that the persecution of Buddhism under Wuzong 武宗 (840-846) of the Tang 唐 Dynasty was motivated predominantly by economic and religious considerations: The growth of monasteries had allowed large numbers of people to evade taxation, and Daoist ‘court clerics’ had incited Wuzong to persecute the Sangha on religious grounds. As important as these factors may be, they do not sufficiently explain why high ranking officials like Li Deyu 李德裕 supported the undertaking. Instead, the behaviour of officials can be explained as a political strategy to exclude rivals from imperial decision making and simultaneously reaffirm their own role as the guardians of ‘orthopractic’ governance.
Rather than limiting themselves to economic or religious arguments, officials employed other bureaucratic and rhetorical means as well. For example, they drafted the edicts curtailing the Sangha that can be found in Tang huiyao 唐會要, Tang da zhao ling ji 唐大詔令集, and other collections. During court ceremonies, they presented petitions and memoranda (e.g., Li’s “Expression of Felicitation for the Destruction of Buddhist Monasteries” 賀廢毀佛寺德音表) that fixed the norms of governance rhetorically.
During the Tang Dynasty, officials such as Li Deyu saw themselves as transmitters of the traditional way of governance. While they may have been free to follow either Buddhism or Daoism in their private lives, they were compelled to be protectors of a Confucianized ‘civil religion’ in their role as bureaucrat. In this talk, I will analyze how court officials performed this role by taking Li Deyu and his writings (e.g. „Discourse on fangshi” 方士論, “Remonstration against Jingzong looking for Daoists” 諫敬宗搜訪道士疏) and governmental documents concerning the persecution as an example.
Brian Vivier: The Song Currency Sphere in Medieval East Asia
Between about 750 and 1300, China’s economy experienced growth so dramatic that some have called it an economic revolution. Earlier generations of scholars have concentrated largely on its domestic economy, assuming that external trade had little to do with China’s economic growth in this period, but this domestic growth was closely connected to China's foreign trade. This foreign connection helped fuel domestic growth and also conveyed its effect to neighbouring countries. Combining transmitted sources with archeological materials, this study demonstrates the importance of commerce with the rest of East Asia to economic change within China, economic developments that enabled growth in neighbouring economies. I argue for the development of a Song (960-1276) Currency Sphere, a region whose commerce relied on coins cast in Song China. This sphere encompassed Japan, Korea, parts of Southeast Asia, and even touched sections of the Middle East and eastern Africa. Song currency played a crucial role in the monetization of East Asia and served to link the region economically.
Jun Fang: The Opportunity Society and the Loyalist Resistance in Jiangnan in 1640s
This paper is a case study of an unprecedented phenomenon in late imperial China, the active participation in late Ming politics by nonofficial literati societies and their subsequent crucial involvement in the military resistance to early Qing rule. Focusing on the Opportunity Society (Jishe), this study examines how this Songjiang literati organization started with a group of seven teachers and students in 1629, quickly attracted more than a hundred members after 1632, and eventually influenced the anti-Qing movements in Jiangnan in the 1640s. Contrary to the conventional view that the primary pursuit of this Society was literary creation and achievement, the paper argues that its major concern was the management of current state affairs, including military strategies, as evidenced by the publication of the widely acclaimed Huang Ming jingshi wenbian (Collection of statecraft writings in the Ming dynasty), Bingjia yan (Words of eminent military strategists), and Bingyuan zouyi (Memorials on military affairs) compiled by its leaders. The Opportunity Society carried forward the political tradition of its predecessors and brought out an unusually high rate of participation in the military resistance to the Manchu conquest. Although the anti-Qing leaders of the Opportunity Society suffered ultimate military failures, they inspired Chinese intellectuals to launch armed struggles against the Manchu rule and foreign encroachment at later stage. Their effort to mobilize anti-Manchu militias with Confucian ethics also set a precedent for the political indoctrination in modern Chinese armies.
back to topPanel F4 — Strategies of Conquest and Resistance
Chair: Kathrin Messing; 355 (Hall 19); Friday, July 16th, 11:30-13:30
Martin Hofmann: Mapping Arguments – The Debate on the “Three Jiang” in Late Imperial China
The “Tribute of Yu” chapter of the Book of Documents strongly influenced the conceptualization of space in China throughout the imperial period. Composed of only 1.193 characters, this chapter provides a rather concise listing of predominantly geographical details. In contrast to other geographical treatises the “Tribute of Yu” is explicitly linked to the actions of a Sage King – Yu the Great. This connection enhanced the credibility and authority of the information provided in the “Tribute of Yu,” while at the same time, the reference to antiquity transforms the geographical order described in the text into a pertinent benchmark for the present. However, several of the geographical terms used in the classical text, were vigorously debated in late imperial times as experts could not unequivocally match them with natural phenomena. Whereas most scholars compiled in-depth commentaries, in some cases even separate treatises to explain these passages, others appended intricate maps in order to clarify their interpretation.
Focusing on the discussion of the term “Three Jiang”, this paper proposes that maps were employed as a means of persuasion rather than for accurate depictions of spatial relations. It will investigate the argumentative strategies applied in the textual discussions and visual representations of the “Three Jiang”. How did scholars embed maps into their textual discourse and what were they used for? Were maps simply supplements to texts or were they able to demonstrate what words could not? What do the particularities of the polemic on the “Three Jiang” tell us about the general relation between text and image in late imperial China?
Lucie Olivova: Picture Map of the Summer Palace and Resort at Chengde
The subject of my presentation is the pictorial map of Bishu shanzhuang, i.e. the Qing emperors’ summer palace and resort at Chengde. The map was recently discovered in Náprstek Museum, Prague, among the artifacts confiscated in 1946 from the Des-Fours Walderode family.
The large (133.5 × 287 cm) oblique view was painted in ink and colours: it shows palaces, temples, lakes and hills inside the perimeter wall, as well as the outlying temples and some sections of the town as they were at the beginning of the nineteenth century – the date has not yet been ascertained. Features on the map are labeled with approx. 130 names, but there is no title, signature, or date. I shall point out some peculiarities of the map and make a brief comparison to similar manuscript maps of Chengde which survive in world museums.
As is known, the Bishu shanzhuang resort and the eight outlying temples were inscribed on the List of the World Heritage (1994). Today, the site is well quite preserved, nonetheless, most architectural complexes in the hilly area, documented on the map, are not extant any more. This makes the Náprstek map even more unique and valuable. In addition, the map reveals a good deal about Qing court cartography, and about the role of Chengde in Qing history.
Panel F5a — Traditional Historiography I
Chair: Yuri Pines; 355 (Hall 19); Friday, July 16th, 15:00-16:30
Mark Strange: The Reception of Zizhi Tongjian
In 1084 the statesman and scholar Sima Guang submitted to the throne his chronological history Zizhi tongjian. Here was a representation of China’s imperial past that would contain ‘what an emperor or sovereign ought to know,’ in which ‘the good could be taken as models, the bad as warnings.’ His work later shaped beliefs in China’s integral, unbroken political tradition and contributed to the formation of a Chinese self-identity. Much of its influence derived from a perception that it was an objective representation of the past.
Yet as Sima Guang himself clearly acknowledged in repeated statements, including in his 1084 presentation memorial, his work was informed by his political and social commitments. This was ‘what an emperor or sovereign ought to know,’ but only as Sima Guang saw it. Zizhi tongjian’s early readers recognised that inherent subjectivity. The work’s reputation for objectivity only became prominent after the composition in the late twelfth-century of Tongjian gangmu, a history that reworked Zizhi tongjian’s content and phrasing.
Why the shift in Zizhi tongjian’s reception? Zhu Xi, who oversaw the Tongjian gangmu’s composition, claimed for his work a morally-engaged role. For Zhu Xi, Sima Guang had misidentified the transmission of dynastic legitimacy, and was also inadequate in its didactic function. Tongjian gangmu would remedy those shortcomings. Zhu Xi was explicit that its representation of the past had been manipulated to fit a personal moral agenda; through the contrast, Zizhi tongjian began to look like the more objective version of events. Such an assessment made itself felt not only in China but also in Korea, Japan, Vietnam and, later, the West.
The present paper will explore the reception history of Zizhi tongjian. It will show that Zizhi tongjian’s later readers co-opted it to serve complex political and social functions. In doing so, it will bring into focus questions of historical authority and authenticity. Finally, it will propose a reading of Zizhi tongjian that rejoices in, not rejects, the subjectivity of its representation of China’s imperial past.
Armin Selbitschka: Chinese or “Barbarian”? A New Look at the Tuoba’s Diplomatic Strategies During the Northern Wei Period
How and why the Western and Eastern Han conducted foreign affairs has been well documented by Yü Ying-shih in his Trade and Expansion in Han China (1967), as has been the Southern Chinese foreign relations during the Six Dyansties by H. Bielenstein (BMFEA 68). More recently (2005), this author has also taken on Diplomacy and Trade in the Chinese World, 589-1276,. So far, however, a crucial period in Chinese history has almost been neglected as far as foreign affairs are concerned: The Northern Wei Dynasty established by the Tuoba tribe.
Considering the fact that, for the first time, a large part of China was controlled by alien rulers who fashioned themselves Chinese emperors, this is quite an unusual observation. One could assume questions of how and why emperors of foreign descent came in contact with other foreigners would have been answered long ago. On first glance, one would assume right. At least if one follows W. Eberhard’s interpretation of the single eligible source: the Weishu. In Das Toba-Reich Nordchinas (1949) he argued that the Tuoba rulers expected their vassals to pay tribute. In return the emperors duly compensated the gesture of subordination by bestowing valuable counter-gifts. Yet, only a few paragraphs later Eberhard tells us that the Weishu not even once records such a gift! Thereby he clearly adheres to the “traditional” and rather simplistic understanding of the so-called tributary system: the acknowledgement of Chinese sovereignity will be reciprocated by lavish gifts. However, a brief glimpse at the data recorded in the Weishu demonstrates that the Tuoba relied on various strategies to deal with foreign entities. My presentation is not only going to disclose those strategies but to analyse whether they were, for instance, reactions to a certain situation or devised as general rules of contact with a certain “state”.
Susanne Schimanski: "Tang Taizongs Difan 帝範 - Plan for an Emperor"
Tang Taizong (Li Shimin 李世民, r.626-649) wrote a document in which he set out his ideas about the role of the ideal ruler, and about the ruler's relationship with his ministers and subjects. Difan is a summary of his views on rulership intended for the guidance of his heir-apparent.
The Text is transmitted in two editions, one in China printed in the Sikuquanshu and one in Japan. The Japanese version by Lo Zhenyu 羅振玉 (1866-1940) is printed in 1924.
The only translation into a western language was Denis Twitchett's English version. The translation is mainly based on the Japanese edition, including notes and summary remarks, but still leaves much room for interpretation and analysis.
Difan is written in a poetic style and cites many episodes from the standard histories, especially from the Han Dynasty. Also there are many quotations from canonical literature and other sources, but the author not only cites from them directly, he also employs language and vocabulary items taken from them in his own writing style. It shows the broad knowledge of the author.
My dissertation is a new annotated translation into German, mainly based on the Sikuquanshu text. Research on those sources will show which chapters of which texts are cited and how often, and will give answers to a lot of questions about Taizong's mind. The Han Dynasty, with a unified empire, was a successful model for his own reign period. Furthermore, there are parallels to his biography, especially to his military experiences during the founding of the Tang-Dynasty. At last, I will address questions about what was his intention and if Difan was written as a political testament.
Panel F5b — Traditional Historiography II
Chair: Maria Khayutina; 355 (Hall 19); Friday, July 16th, 17:00-18:30
Yuri Pines: From Historical Evolution to the End of History: Past, Present and Future from Shang Yang to the First Emperor
Many scholars, such as Benjamin Schwartz and A.C. Graham, noticed the peculiarity of the "historic-evolutionary" outlook of the so-called "Legalists," particularly of Shang Yang (商鞅, d. 338 BCE) and Han Feizi (韓非子, d. 233 BCE). Graham specifically contrasts the Legalist approach with that of Confucians, who, in his eyes, are negligent of the need to "change with the times." Alternatively, Martin Kern pointed out at ubiquity of the "changing with the times" approach in Chinese political thought and ritual practices, and consequently rejected the "Legalist-Confucian" dichotomy promulgated by Graham. In Kern's eyes, there is nothing exceptional with the "Legalist" approach.
In my paper I attempt to address anew the question of the historical outlook of the "Legalists" first by analyzing systematically references to historical dynamics in the Book of Lord Shang (Shang jun shu 商君書) and in the Han Feizi, and second by contextualizing their views in contemporaneous intellectual discourse. I then shall show how their nascent view of historical progress correlates to an even more peculiar view of the "end of history" promulgated by the First Emperor of Qin (r. 221-210 BCE) in his propaganda materials. Finally, I shall propose an explanation why the historical outlook associated first with Shang Yang and Han Feizi and then with the First Emperor was ultimately rejected by the mainstream political thought of the imperial era.
Hans van Ess: Numbers and the Chapter Structure of the Shiji
The Shiji is a book of history and it has been used as such by scholars both ancient and modern. Yet, it is also a book of literature and a book of politics that has been read because of its ironical and satirical style. To decipher hidden messages of Sima Qian was one of the favourite games played by literati in late imperial China. One topic that has not been dealt with very exhaustively is the arrangement of the chapters of the Shiji. Yet, as this paper argues, here, too, a careful observer can recognize the brush of China's first great historian. Chapters were not just arranged in a chronological sequence. In my presentation I will try to suggest some other principles that guided the author of this first history of China.
back to topPanel F6 — Christian Missionaries
Chair: Michael Hoeckelmann; 355 (Hall 19); Saturday, July 17th, 09:00-11:00
Mitja Saje: China Rediscovering Augustin Hallerstein and His Importance as a Cultural Link Between Europe and China
Though the Jesuit missionary Augustin Hallerstein held a remarkable position in Beijing acting as the head of The Imperial Board of Astronomy from 1746 until his death in 1774, Chinese historians knew very little about his historic role. There are several reasons why Hallerstein has been almost completely forgotten in China. The main reason for it were profound changes in late Qing dynasty. First, the Chinese attitude towards Christianity and Christian missionaries has drastically changed in the 18th century and was far from the tolerant approach under Emperor Kangxi in the previous century. Second, a new attitude towards natural sciences and mathematics emerged in China in 17th century and there was an impression in 18th century that China is narrowing the gap between the level of sciences in China and in the West. There was a prevailing perception among later Chinese historians that foreign Jesuit missionaries of 18th century did not bring any new sciences to China, and such viewpoints were strengthened by the fact that there was strong competition between the Chinese and foreigners in the Imperial Board of Astronomy. The third cause was the immense influence of Opium Wars and later imperialistic behaviour on Chinese historic thinking and the perception of the role of foreigners in Chinese history. This kind of thinking has gradually encompassed also the second half of the 18th century and Hallerstein just happened to be part of the historic period, which the Chinese historians did not feel it was suitable to write about the activities of foreigners.
The process of rediscovering A. Hallerstein in China has recently started with the endeavors of Prof. Ju Deyuan and the researchers of The First Historic Archive in Beijing. A new step towards his wider recognition was the European Union project on cultural dialog between Europe and China, dedicated to the cultural role of Hallerstein’s sojourn in China. The project lasted from 2007 till 2009 and stimulated research on related topics. Especially significant was the International Symposium in Beijing on September 26th-27th 2009 focusing on Hallerstein. This was the first time that an international discussion on Hallerstein took place in China, thus marking a new start in rediscovering Hallerstein’s historic role in China.
Anna Busquets: High Trade and Troubled Times: Victorio Riccio and the Manila Parian
In 1677, the Italian Dominican Victorio Riccio wrote a text entitled "Discurso y parecer en que se demuestra que no combiene que la Nacion de china (que llaman sangleyes) habite ni viva de assiento en las Islas Philipinas", in which he developed a detailed argumentation, structured in six statements, on the reasons which justified the prohibition of the existence of the parian in Manila. During the 17th century, a number of Sangley insurrections took place (1603, 1639, 1662 and 1668). One of these insurrections coincided with Riccio’s arrival in Manila, who had been sent by Koxinga in order to collect taxes and to get the subjugation of the Spanish government to the Chinese pirate. This communication is aimed at, firstly, introducing the Italian Dominican figure and his relationship with Chinese community in Manila; and secondly, at analyzing both the parian, that is the Chinese district in Manila, and the manuscript written by Riccio on the convenience (or not) of the existence of a Chinese parian in Manila, as well as the reactions the manuscript caused.
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Last update: July 17, 2010, 11:43 EET