Reading Of Shāng Inscriptions

Author : Kuang Yu Chen,Zhenhao Song,Yuan Liu,Matthew Anderson
Publisher : Springer Nature
Page : 558 pages
File Size : 44,9 Mb
Release : 2020-11-09
Category : History
ISBN : 9789811562143

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Reading of Shāng Inscriptions by Kuang Yu Chen,Zhenhao Song,Yuan Liu,Matthew Anderson Pdf

This book introduces readers to oracle bone inscriptions (OBI), the oldest known form of Chinese writing. It presents 120 rubbings made from unearthed animal bones and turtle shells that the Shang royal court employed to record royal divinations 3500 years ago, covering topics ranging from ancestor worship, rituals, and astronomy to agriculture, war, and hunting. Each rubbing is accompanied by a graph-to-graph transcription, a translation and a detailed annotation. The book is intended for both general readers and scholars who are interested in ancient civilizations and Early China in particular, acquainting them not only with OBI graphs and the development of the Chinese writing system, but also the history of the Shang Dynasty. The didactic and tutorial format makes this book ideal for teaching and for self-learning. Sumerian, Egyptian, Chinese OBI and Mayan constitute the four pristine writing systems. Of these, only Chinese writing has remained logographic and survived to the present day. The study of OBI not only plays a pivotal role in connecting archaeology to history, but is also of great importance to the comparative study of the origin of writing and civilization. Though there are numerous books on Mayan and Egyptian hieroglyphs, there are very few on OBI; this book fills that gap.

Author : Dirk Meyer
Publisher : Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Page : 324 pages
File Size : 55,7 Mb
Release : 2021-07-05
Category : History
ISBN : 9783110708608

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Documentation and Argument in Early China by Dirk Meyer Pdf

This study uncovers the traditions behind the formative Classic Shàngshū (Venerated Documents). It is the first to establish these traditions—“Shū” (Documents)—as a historically evolving practice of thought-production. By focusing on the literary form of the argument, it interprets the “Shū” as fluid text material that embodies the ever-changing cultural capital of projected conceptual communities. By showing how these communities actualised the “Shū” according to their changing visions of history and evolving group interests, the study establishes that by the Warring States period (ca. 453–221 BC) the “Shū” had become a literary genre employed by diverse groups to legitimize their own arguments. Through forms of textual performance, the “Shū” gave even peripheral communities the means to participate in political discourse by conferring their ideas with ancient authority. Analysing this dynamic environment of socio-political and philosophical change, this study speaks to the Early China field, as well as to those interested in meaning production and foundational text formation more widely.

Author : Christoph Anderl,Halvor Eifring,Christoph Harbsmeier
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 528 pages
File Size : 44,5 Mb
Release : 2006
Category : China
ISBN : STANFORD:36105126932289

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Studies in Chinese Language and Culture by Christoph Anderl,Halvor Eifring,Christoph Harbsmeier Pdf

Author : Christian Schwermann,Raji C. Steineck
Publisher : BRILL
Page : 235 pages
File Size : 41,7 Mb
Release : 2014-09-03
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : 9789004279421

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That Wonderful Composite Called Author by Christian Schwermann,Raji C. Steineck Pdf

Did East Asian literatures, ranging from bronze inscriptions to zazen treatises, lack a concept of authorship before their integration into classical modernity? The answer depends on how one defines the term author. Starting out with a critical review of recent theories of authorship, this edited volume distinguishes various author functions, which can be distributed among several individuals and need not be integrated into a single source of textual meaning. Chinese, Japanese, and Korean literary traditions cover the whole spectrum from 'weak' composite to 'strong' individual forms and concepts of authorship. Divisions on this scale can be equated with gradual differences in the range of self-articulation. Contributors are Roland Altenburger, Alexander Beecroft, Marion Eggert, Simone Müller, Christian Schwermann, and Raji Steineck.

Author : Francesca Bray,Vera Dorofeeva-Lichtmann,Georges Métailié
Publisher : BRILL
Page : 786 pages
File Size : 42,5 Mb
Release : 2007-10-15
Category : History
ISBN : 9789047422655

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Graphics and Text in the Production of Technical Knowledge in China by Francesca Bray,Vera Dorofeeva-Lichtmann,Georges Métailié Pdf

Drawing on history of science and philosophy of knowledge, this wide-ranging collection of essays on varieties of diagram, schema, technical illustration and chart offers a challenging new interpretation of technical knowledge in Chinese thought and practice.

Author : Adam C. Schwartz
Publisher : Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Page : 487 pages
File Size : 52,7 Mb
Release : 2019-11-18
Category : History
ISBN : 9781501505294

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The Oracle Bone Inscriptions from Huayuanzhuang East by Adam C. Schwartz Pdf

Since 1899 more than 73,000 pieces of inscribed divination shell and bone have been found inside the moated enclosure of the Anyang-core at the former capital of the late Shang state. Nearly all of these divinations were done on behalf of the Shang kingsand has led to the apt characterization that oracle bone inscriptions describe their motivations, experiences, and priorities. There are, however, much smaller sets of divination accounts that were done on behalf of members of the Shang elite other than the king.First noticed in the early 1930's, grouped and periodized shortly thereafter, oracle bone inscriptions produced explicitly by or on behalf of "royal familygroups" reveal information about key aspects of daily life in Shang societythat are barely even mentioned in Western scholarship. The newly published Huayuanzhuang East Oracle Bone inscriptions are a spectacular addition to the corpus of texts from Anyang: hundreds of intact or largely intact turtle shells and bovine scapulae densely inscribed with records of the divinations in which they were used. They were produced on the behalf of a mature prince of the royal family whose parents, both alive and still very much active, almost certainly were the twenty-first Shang king Wu Ding (r. c. 1200 B.C.) and his consort Lady Hao (fu Hao). The Huayuanzhuang East corpus is an unusually homogeneous set of more than two thousand five hundred divination records, produced over a short period of time on behalf of a prince of the royal family. There are typically multiple records of divinations regarding the same or similar topics that can be synchronized together, which not only allows for remarkable access into the esoteric world of divination practice, but also produce micro-reconstructions of what is essentially East Asia's earliest and most complete "day and month planner." Because these texts are unusually linguistically transparent and well preserved, homogeneous in orthography and content, and published to an unprecedentedly high standard, they are also ideal material for learning to read and interpret early epigraphic texts. The Huayuanzhuang East oracle bone inscriptions are a tremendously important Shang archive of "material documents" that were produced by a previously unknown divination and scribal organization. They expose us to an entirely fresh set of perspectives and preoccupationscentering ona member of the royal family at the commencement of China's historical period. The completely annotated English translation of the inscriptions is the first of its kind, and is a vibrant new source of Shang history that can be accessedto rewrite and supplement what we know about early Chinese civilization and life in the ancient world. Before the discerning reader are the motives, preoccupations, and experiences of a late Shang prince working simultaneously in service both for his Majesty, his parents, and hisown family.

Author : Jeannine Bischoff,Stephan Conermann
Publisher : Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Page : 264 pages
File Size : 46,8 Mb
Release : 2022-10-03
Category : History
ISBN : 9783110786989

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Slavery and Other Forms of Strong Asymmetrical Dependencies by Jeannine Bischoff,Stephan Conermann Pdf

In this volume, we approach the phenomenon of slavery and other types of strong asymmetrical dependencies from two methodologically and theoretically distinct perspectives: semantics and lexical fields. Detailed analyses of key terms that are associated with the conceptualization of strong asymmetrical dependencies promise to provide new insights into the self-concept and knowledge of pre-modern societies. The majority of these key terms have not been studied from a semantic or terminological perspective so far. Our understanding of lexical fields is based on an onomasiological approach – which linguistic items are used to refer to a concept? Which words are used to express a concept? This means that the concept is a semantic unit which is not directly accessible but may be manifested in different ways on the linguistic level. We are interested in single concepts such as ‘wisdom’ or ‘fear’, but also in more complex semantic units like ‘strong asymmetrical dependencies’. In our volume, we bring together and compare case studies from very different social orders and normative perspectives. Our examples range from Ancient China and Egypt over Greek and Maya societies to Early Modern Russia, the Ottoman Empire and Islamic and Roman law.

Author : Anonim
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 518 pages
File Size : 55,8 Mb
Release : 1995
Category : Linguistic geography
ISBN : IND:30000008447009

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Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area by Anonim Pdf

Author : Dirk Meyer,Adam Craig Schwartz
Publisher : BRILL
Page : 234 pages
File Size : 55,5 Mb
Release : 2022-05-02
Category : Poetry
ISBN : 9789004512436

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Songs of the Royal Zhōu and the Royal Shào by Dirk Meyer,Adam Craig Schwartz Pdf

The songs of the Royal Zhōu (“Zhōu Nán” 周南) and of the Royal Shào (“Shào Nán” 召南) have formed a conceptual unit since at least the late Spring and Autumn period (771–453 BC). With this book Meyer and Schwartz provide a first complete reading of their earliest, Warring States (453–221 BC), iteration as witnessed by the Ānhuī University manuscripts. As a thought experiment, the authors seek to establish an emic reading of these songs, which they contextualise in the larger framework of studies of the Shī (Songs) and of meaning production during the Warring States period more broadly. The analysis casts light on how the Songs were used by different groups during the Warring States period.

Author : Thomas O. Höllmann
Publisher : Otto Harrassowitz Verlag
Page : 216 pages
File Size : 55,5 Mb
Release : 2009
Category : China
ISBN : 3447061065

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Time and Ritual in Early China by Thomas O. Höllmann Pdf

This is the publication of proceedings from the conference "Writing, Ritual and Cultural Memory in Early States" which took place in Munich in November 2007. It is dedicated to the German Sinologist Herbert Franke on the occasion of his 95th birthday on September 27th of 2009. The papers contained in this book examine ways in which time and ritual mutually stimulated each other in Early China. Attention is also paid to the role played by writing in encoding the calendar system and in the notation of time, and how time and history were linked. Most authors make use of archaeologically excavated inscriptions and try to coordinate them with received texts of Confucian classics. Their philological and historical examinations lead to in-depth views of the cultural complexity of early Chinese civilization as well as its non-linear development. Questions raised provide new perspectives and stimuli for future studies.

Author : Anson H. Laytner,Jordan Paper
Publisher : Lexington Books
Page : 291 pages
File Size : 45,8 Mb
Release : 2017-07-21
Category : History
ISBN : 9781498550277

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The Chinese Jews of Kaifeng by Anson H. Laytner,Jordan Paper Pdf

This scholarly collection examines the origins, history, and contemporary nature of Chinese Judaism in the community of Kaifeng. These essays, written by a diverse, international team of contributors, explore the culture and history of this thousand-year-old Jewish community, whose synthesis of Chinese and Jewish cultures helped guarantee its survival. Part I of this study analyzes the origin and historical development of the Kaifeng community, as well as the unique cultural synthesis it engendered. Part II explores the contemporary nature of this Chinese Jewish community, particularly examining the community’s relationship to Jewish organizations outside of China, the impact of Western Jewish contact, and the tenuous nature of Jewish identity in Kaifeng.

Author : Nathan W. Hill
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 389 pages
File Size : 41,9 Mb
Release : 2019-08-08
Category : Foreign Language Study
ISBN : 9781107146488

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The Historical Phonology of Tibetan, Burmese, and Chinese by Nathan W. Hill Pdf

An original new perspective on the shared history of Burmese, Chinese, and Tibetan, with a particular focus on their phonological development.

Author : Newell Ann Van Auken
Publisher : SUNY Press
Page : 354 pages
File Size : 50,5 Mb
Release : 2016-10-24
Category : History
ISBN : 9781438462998

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Commentarial Transformation of the Spring and Autumn, The by Newell Ann Van Auken Pdf

Shows how the text evolved from a non-narrative historical record into a Confucian classic. The Spring and Autumn is among the earliest surviving Chinese historical records, covering the period 722–479 BCE. It is a curious text: the canonical interpretation claims that it was composed by Confucius and embodies his moral judgments, but this view appears to be contradicted by the brief and dispassionate records themselves. Newell Ann Van Auken addresses this puzzling discrepancy through an examination of early interpretations of the Spring and Autumn, and uncovers a crucial missing link in two sets of commentarial remarks embedded in the Zu? Tradition. These embedded commentaries do not seek moral judgments in the Spring and Autumn, but instead interpret its records as produced by a historiographical tradition that was governed by rules related to hierarchy and ritual practice. Van Auken’s exploration of the Zu? Tradition and other early commentaries sheds light on the transformation of the Spring and Autumn from a simple, non-narrative historical record into a Confucian classic.

Author : Alison Matthews,Laurence Matthews
Publisher : Tuttle Publishing
Page : 388 pages
File Size : 50,8 Mb
Release : 2011-12-20
Category : Foreign Language Study
ISBN : 9781462901289

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Tuttle Learning Chinese Characters by Alison Matthews,Laurence Matthews Pdf

This user-friendly book is aimed at helping students of Mandarin Chinese learn and remember Chinese characters. At last--there is a truly effective and enjoyable way to learn Chinese characters! This book helps students to learn and remember both the meanings and the pronunciations of over 800 characters. This otherwise daunting task is made easier by the use of techniques based on the psychology of learning and memory. key principles include the use of visual imagery, the visualization of short "stories," and the systematic building up of more complicated characters from basic building blocks. Although Learning Chinese Characters is primarily a book for serious learners of Mandarin Chinese, it can be used by anyone with interest in Chinese characters, without any prior knowledge of Chinese. It can be used alongside (or after, or even before) a course in the Chinese language. All characters are simplified (as in mainland China), but traditional characters are also given, when available. Key features: Specially designed pictures and stories are used in a structured way to make the learning process more enjoyable and effective, reducing the need for rote learning to the absolute minimum. The emphasis throughout is on learning and remembering the meanings and pronunciations of the characters. Tips are also included on learning techniques and how to avoid common problems. Characters are introduced in a logical sequence, which also gives priority to learning the most common characters first. Modern, simplified characters are used, with pronunciations given in pinyin. Key information is given for each character, including radical, stroke-count, traditional form, compounds, and guidance on writing the character. This is a practical guide with a clear, concise and appealing layout, and it is well-indexed with easy lookup methods. The 800 Chinese characters and 1,033 compounds specified for the original HSK Level A proficiency test are covered.

Author : William H. Baxter,Laurent Sagart
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 449 pages
File Size : 55,9 Mb
Release : 2014
Category : Foreign Language Study
ISBN : 9780199945375

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Old Chinese by William H. Baxter,Laurent Sagart Pdf

This book introduces a new linguistic reconstruction of the phonology, morphology, and lexicon of Old Chinese, the language of the earliest Chinese classical texts (1st millennium BCE).