The talent of Shu : Qiao Zhou and the intellectual world of early medieval Sichuan / J. Michael Farmer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Farmer, J. Michael, 1965-

Series:

SUNY series in Chinese philosophy and culture

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Intellectuals--China--Sichuan Sheng.

Intellectuals.

Sichuan Sheng (China)--History.

Sichuan Sheng (China).

China--History--Han dynasty, 202 B.C.-220 A.D.

China.

History.

China--Sichuan Sheng.

Physical Description:

xviii, 246 pages : maps ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Albany, N.Y. : State University of New York Press, 2007.

Summary:

The Talent of Shu reconstructs the intellectual world of early medieval Sichuan through a critical biography of Qiao Zhou, a noted classicist, historian, and official of Shu-Han. Countering conceptions of Sichuan as an intellectual backwater, author J. Michael Farmer provides an analytical narrative history of the significant intellectual and scholarly activity in the region during the late second through third centuries CE. Qiao Zhou stands as an apt figure to represent the intellectual world of third-century Sichuan. An heir to a long-standing regional intellectual tradition, he was trained in political prophesy, canonical studies, and ancient history, and in true Confucian fashion, employed these skills in the service of the state. While some of Qiao's scholarship, as well as his political engagement, was conservative, he also stands as an innovator in the fields of canonical and historical criticism and local history. As such, he embodies not only the scholarly tradition of Sichuan, but also the intellectual transitions of the age.

Contents:

Chapter 1 The Intellectual World of Early Sichuan 7

"Civilizing" the Southwest: Intellectual Activity in the Former Han

Observing the Stars: Intellectual Activity in the Later Han

A Three States "Forest of Classicists": Intellectual Activity in Shu-Han

Chapter 2 The Early Life of Qiao Zhou 31

The Qiao Family in Ba

Youth and Education

Chapter 3 Scholarship and the State 45

The Founding of Shu-Han

Educating the Heir and the Province

Debates on Military Policy

The Fall of Shu-Han

Chapter 4 Critical Approaches to the Canon 75

The State of Canonical Studies

Discourse on Truth and Falsehoods in the Five Canonical Texts

Critique of the Ritual Canon

The Influence of Qiao Zhou's Canonical Criticism

Chapter 5 Critical Approaches to Ancient History 95

The State of Historical Studies

Investigations of Ancient History

Critique of The Grand Scribe's Records and Other Ancient Histories

The Influence of Qiao Zhou's Historical Criticism

Chapter 6 New Approaches to Local History 121

The State of Local Historiography

The Local Histories of Qiao Zhou

The Influence of Qiao Zhou's Local Histories

Evaluating the Life of Qiao Zhou

Toward an Intellectual History of Third-Century China

Chronology: The Life of Qiao Zhou 157.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780791471630

0791471632

OCLC:

71833371