Writing & literacy in early China : studies from the Columbia early China seminar / edited by Li Feng and David Prager Branner.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Li, Feng, 1962-

Branner, David Prager.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Chinese language--To 600.

Chinese language.

Literacy--China--History.

Literacy.

Books and reading--China--History.

Books and reading.

History.

China.

Physical Description:

viii, 494 pages : illustrations (some color), maps ; 24 cm

Other Title:

Writing and literacy in early China

Place of Publication:

Seattle : University of Washington Press, [2011]

Summary:

Scholars of Chinese history and literature explore issues in literacy in Early China from perspectives of circumstances that gave rise to literacy; possible stages in the invention of the Chinese writing system; how literacy was acquired; influences on learning; the quality of current evidence; and the extent of literacy across regions, classes, genders, and professional social groups. Among specific topics discussed are phonology in the Chinese script and its relationship to early Chinese literacy, the evidence for scribal training at Anyang, education and the way of the former kings, and uses of writing by male and female artisans in Qin and Han China. Annotation ©2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Contents:

Introduction: writing as a phenomenon of literacy / Lie Feng and David Prager Branner

Getting "right" with heaven and the origins of writing in China / David W. Pankenier

Literacy and the emergence of writing in China / William G. Boltz

Phonology in the Chinese script and its relationship to early Chinese literacy / David Prager Branner

Literacy to the south and the east of Anyang in Shang China: Zhengzhou and Daxinzhuang / Ken-ichi Takashima

The evidence for scribal training at Anyang / Adam Smith

Textual identity and the role of literacy in the transmission of early Chinese literature / Matthias L. Richter

The royal audience and its reflections in western Zhou bronze inscriptions / Lothar von Falkenhausen

Literacy and the social contexts of writing in the western Zhou / Li Feng

Education and the way of the former kings / Constance A. Cook

Soldiers, scribes, and women: literacy among the lower orders in early China / Robin D.S. Yates

Craftsman's literacy: uses of writing by male and female artisans in Qin and Han China / Anthony J. Barbieri-Low.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0295991526

9780295991528

OCLC:

713189805

Publisher Number:

99946407251