Before Confucius : studies in the creation of the Chinese classics / Edward L. Shaughnessy.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Shaughnessy, Edward L., 1952-

Series:

SUNY series in Chinese philosophy and culture

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Chinese classics--History and criticism.

Chinese classics.

China--Civilization--To 221 B.C.

China.

Genre:

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (ix, 262 p. ) ill. ;

Place of Publication:

Albany, N.Y. : State University of New York Press, c1997.

Summary:

"Edward L. Shaughnessy examines the original composition of China's oldest books, the Classic of Changes, the Venerated Documents, and the Classic of Poetry. By describing the original contexts in which these books were written and what they meant to their original authors and readers, this work sheds light on both the degree to which Chinese culture already was literate by 1000 BC, and also on how the later classical tradition eventually diverged from these origins."--Jacket.

Contents:

Marriage, divorce and revolution : reading between the lines of the Book of changes

"New" evidence on the Zhou conquest

On the authenticity of the Bamboo annals

The Duke of Zhou's retirement in the east and the beginnings of the minister-monarch debate in Chinese political philosophy

The role of Grand Protector Shi in the consolidation of the Zhou conquest

From liturgy to literature : the ritual contexts of the earliest poems in the Book of poetry

The composition of "Qian" and "Kun" hexagrams of the Zhouyi

How the poetess came to burn the royal chamber.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (p. 239-245) and index.

ISBN:

1-4384-1970-8

0-585-08740-7