Early Chinese Intellectual History Flashcards

Question

Zhou Hierarchy

Answer 1

Zhōu 周 Hierarchy 1. Zhou king (Zhōu wáng 周王) 2. rulers of vassal states (zhūhóu 諸侯) 3. ministers (qīng 卿) 4. high officers or grandees (dàifu 大夫) 5. shì 士 6. commoners (shùmín 庶民)

Answer 2

Axial Age ("Achse" = axis, pivot) * term coined by German philosopher Karl Jaspers to describe the period from 800 to 200 BCE, during which similar thinking appeared in Persia, India, China, and Greece * according to Jaspers, the Axial Age gave birth to philosophy as a discipline, and he saw in developments in religion and philosophy striking parallels (without stimulus diffusion) between the different regions * "the spiritual foundations of humanity were laid simultaneously and independently in China, India, Persia, Judea, and Greece. And these are the foundations upon which humanity still subsists today" (Jaspers, The Origin and Goal of History) * Axial thinkers in China: Confucius and Laozi * Cho-yun Hsu (Zhuōyún Xǔ) 許倬雲, David Nivison, Heiner Roetz, A. C. Graham

Answer 3

Zǐ Huázǐ 子華子 * early Chinese thinker said to be from the state of Wèi 魏 * his writings survive only in quotations in the Lǚshì Chūnqiū 呂氏春秋 * he argues that what is most important is quán shēng 全生 "keeping one's own life complete" (全生為上)

Answer 4

Yáng Zhū 楊朱 (440–360 BCE) * Chinese philosopher during the Warring States Period * Yáng Zhū's surviving ideas, known as "Yangism," appear primarily in the Chinese texts Huáinánzǐ 淮南子, Lǚshì Chūnqiū 呂氏春秋, Mèngzǐ 孟子, and possibly the Lièzǐ 列子 and Zhuāngzǐ 莊子 * known for his philosophy of the self-cultivation of shēng 生

Answer 5

Shèn Dào 慎到 or Shènzǐ 慎子 (?350-?275 BCE) * Warring States "Daoist" philosopher at the Jìxià 稷下 Academy at the turn of the fourth and third centuries BCE * his own original 42 essays have been lost, and only 7 are still extant, and he is known largely through short references and the writings of others, notably Hánfēizǐ 韓非子 and Zhuāngzǐ 莊子 * a critical reconstruction of the lost book of Shènzǐ 慎子 was made by Paul Thompson, and published in 1979 as The Shen Tzu Fragments * among the Shangbo manuscripts are six bamboo slips with sayings of Shènzǐ

Answer 6

Jìxià 稷下 Academy * scholarly academy during the Warring States Period in the state of Qí 齊 * scholars said to have attended the Jìxià Academy: - Shèn Dào 慎到 - Zhuāngzǐ 莊子 - Zōu Yǎn 鄒衍 - Mèngzǐ 孟子 - Xúnzǐ 荀子 - Chúnyú Kūn 淳于髡

Answer 7

Chúnyú Kūn 淳于髡 (4th century BCE) * philosopher, emissary, and official during the Warring States Period * scholar at the Jìxià 稷下 Academy * contemporary of Mèngzǐ 孟子 * known for his wit * he is discussed in the Shǐjì 史記 chapter called "Jesters" (Huájī lièzhuàn 滑稽列傳)

Answer 8

Zōu Yǎn 鄒衍 (305 BC – 240 BCE) * Warring States thinker and scholar at the Jìxià 稷下 Academy * retrospectively classified as a representative thinker of the Yin and Yang School (Yīn Yáng jiā 陰陽家) in Hàn 漢 sources (e.g. Shǐjì 史記 and Hànshū 漢書) * Joseph Needham described Zōu Yǎn as "The real founder of all Chinese scientific thought" * his teachings combined and systematized two theories: Yīn Yáng 陰陽 and Wǔ xíng 五行 * all of Zōu Yǎn's writings are lost and are only known through quotations in early Chinese texts * biography in Shǐjì 史記 devotes 3 times more space to Zōu Yǎn than to Mèngzǐ 孟子 or Xúnzǐ 荀子 * of pre-Hàn sources, only the Hánfēizǐ 韓非子 and Zhànguócè 戰國策 mention him once

Answer 9

Gàozĭ 告子 (ca. 420-350 BCE) * philosopher during the Warring States Period * Gàozĭ's teachings are no longer extant * contemporary of Mèngzǐ 孟子 * most of our knowledge about him comes from the Mèngzǐ chapter titled "Gàozĭ" 告子, which deals with human nature (xìng 性)

Answer 10

Huì Shī 惠施 or Huìzǐ 惠子 (380-305 BCE) * sophist philosopher during the Warring States Period * famous for ten paradoxes about the relativity of time and space (see "Tiānxià" 天下 chapter of Zhuāngzǐ 莊子)

Answer 11

Huì Shī shí shì 惠施十事 "Huì Shī's Ten Paradoxes/Theses" * in "Tiānxià" 天下 chapter of Zhuāngzǐ 莊子: 1. "The largest thing has nothing beyond it; it is called the One of largeness. The smallest thing has nothing within it; it is called the One of smallness." 2. "That which has no thickness cannot be piled up; yet it is a thousand lǐ in dimension." 3. "Heaven is as low as earth; mountains and marshes are on the same level." 4. "The sun at noon is the sun setting. The thing born is the thing dying." 5. "Great similarities are different from little similarities; these are called the little similarities and differences. The ten thousand things are all similar and are all different; these are called the great similarities and differences." 6. "The southern region has no limit and yet has a limit." 7. "I set off for Yuè today and came there yesterday." 8. "Linked rings can be separated." 9. "I know the center of the world: it is north of Yān and south of Yuè." 10. "Let love embrace the ten thousand things; Heaven and earth are a single body."

Answer 12

Gōngsūn Lóng 公孫龍 (ca. 325–250 BCE) * Warring States sophist philosopher said to belong to the "School of Names" (Míng jiā 名家) * supposed author of the Gōngsūn Lóngzǐ 公孫龍子 * best known for paradoxes in the tradition of Huì Shī 惠施, e.g. "White horses are not horses" 白馬非馬也

Answer 13

Gōngsūn Lóngzǐ 公孫龍子 * the only extant book ascribed to one of the sophists, Gōngsūn Lóng 公孫龍 * Hànshū Yìwénzhì 漢書藝文志 enters a Gōngsūn Lóngzǐ in 14 piān 篇, under Míng jiā 名家, the extent text, however, consists of only 6 piān 篇

Answer 14

Zōngfǎ 宗法 system * a Zhōu 周 kinship system which provided for the succession of the Zhōu kings and rulers by primogeniture: the eldest son took his place in the "principal lineage" (dà zōng 大宗)

Answer 15

Bà 霸 hegemony system * first institutionalized by Duke Huán of Qí 齊桓公 and his adviser Guǎn Zhòng 管仲 during the Spring and Autumn Period (7th century BCE) * Wǔ Bà 五霸 "Five Hegemons": Duke Huán of Qí 齊桓公, Duke Wén of Jìn 晉文公, King Zhuāng of Chǔ 楚莊王

Answer 16

Chūnqiū 春秋 "Spring and Autumn Annals" *a terse chronicle of events in the state of Lǔ 魯, covering the reigns of twelve dukes from Lǔ 魯 during the period from 722-479 BCE

Answer 17

Yuè lìng 月令 * "ordinances of the month": a type of calendar * focus on: (Harper) 1. seasonal phenomena and the correct human activities to be observed throughout the year 2. unseasonal phenomena and incorrect conduct which disturbed the essential harmony between nature and mankind * these calendars clearly have a political nature: astrological and calendrical data, including yīn-yáng 陰陽 and wǔxíng 五行 correlations, are set forth as the foundation of an orderly state (Harper) * Yuè lìng 月令 calendars are found in: 1. Lǐjì 禮記, "Yuè lìng" 月令 chapter 2. twelve opening chapters of each monthly section in the first part of the Lǚshì Chūnqiū 呂氏春秋 3. Huáinánzǐ 淮南子, "Shízé" 時則 chapter 4. Guǎnzǐ 管子, "Xuángōng" 玄宮 chapter

Answer 18

Gānzhī 干支 1. "ten heavenly stems" 十天干 2. "twelve earthly branches" 十二地干 => when combined, they form the cycle of sixty

Answer 19

Yí gǔ pài 疑古派 * initiated by Hú Shì 胡適 * headed by Gù Jiégāng 顧頡剛 * mid 1910s and 1920s (May Fourth and New Culture Movement) * group of scholars and writers who showed doubts and uncertainty of antiquity in Chinese academia: they doubted the authenticity of pre-Qín texts and the existence of the Xià 夏 dynasty * influenced western scholars such as Bernhard Karlgren

Answer 20

Invention of Chinese Writing William Boltz Three developmental stages: 1. zodiographic stage => zodiographs as the graphic representation of speech 2. multivalent stage: a. rebus or paronomastic use of graphs b. polyphonic use of graphs 3. determinative stage => adding: a. semantic determinatives b. phonetic determinatives

Answer 21

Periodization of Early Chinese Language (William Boltz) 1. archaic period (1200-1000 BCE): OBI and short bronze inscriptions 2. pre-classical period (1000-600 BCE): bronze inscriptions, Shàngshū 尚書, Shījīng 詩經, Zhōuyì 周易 3. classical period (600-200 BCE): "standard Classical Chinese"

Answer 22

Cambridge History of Ancient China * from Shāng 尚 (first written records) until Qín 秦 unification in 221 BCE * multidisciplinary approach: integration of material and textual sources * four periods: 1. Shāng 尚 2. Western Zhōu 西周 3. Spring and Autumn 春秋 4. Warring States 戰國 => each period has two chapters: one based on written sources, one based on archaeological records

Answer 23

Time in Early China (Shaughnessy, CHAC) * time in early China is based on: 1. natural changes: seasons, waxing and waning of the moon, cycle of day and night 2. social changes: reigns of kings

Answer 24

Sān huáng wǔ dì 三皇五帝 1. Sān huáng 三皇: i. Fúxī 伏羲: writing (bāguà 八卦), fishing ii. Shénnóng 神農: agriculture iii. Suìrén 燧人: fire (or Nǚwā 女媧: creation myth) 2. Wǔ dì 五帝: i. Huángdì 皇帝 ii. Zhuānxū 顓頊 iii. Dì Kù 帝嚳 iv. Yáo 堯 v. Shùn 舜 (vi. Yǔ 禹)

Answer 25

Yáo 堯, Shùn 舜, Yǔ 禹 * three mythological rulers * they all wanted to abdicate the throne to the next in view of the latter's virtues, and the latter eventually succeeded to their high positions despite their intent of yielding to the sons of the former ruler

Answer 26

Shānhǎijīng 山海經 * compilation of early geography and myth * three main textual layers compiled and assembled by different authors over a period of some six to eight centuries * the compilers conceived the earth as being divided into three concentric rectangles: 1. a central territory 2. four seas 3. a 'great wilderness' * traditionally ascribed to Yǔ 禹 and his assistant Yì 益 * Karlgren: "product of the Han era, in parts not even of the early Han"

Answer 27

Huángdì nèijīng 黃帝內經 * ancient Chinese medical text * the name Huángdì nèijīng 黃帝內經 is usually prefixed to the titles of four books: 1. Sùwèn 素問 2. Língshū 靈樞 3. Tàisù 太素 4. Míngtáng 明堂 => since the Northern Sòng it has been used as a collective title for the first two * composed of dialogues between the Yellow Emperor (Huángdì 黃帝) and one of six legendary ministers * Graham: cosmological doctrine based on Yin-Yang and Five Phases * now seen not as a single book but as a collection of inter-related short writings from distinct medical lineages at different times * Nathan Sivin: Sùwèn 素問 and Língshū 靈樞 probably date to the 1st century BCE (based on comparison with Mǎwángduī 馬王堆 medical manuscripts)

Answer 28

Zuǒzhuàn 左傳 * Schaberg: a collection of anecdotes and exegetical comments related to the Chūnqiū 春秋 * organized around the years of the reigns of the twelve dukes who ruled the state of Lǔ 魯 * it covers a slightly longer period than the Chūnqiū (722 to 463 BC) * two traditional assumptions about Zuǒzhuàn: 1. witten by Zuǒ Qiūmíng 左丘明 who is mentioned in the Lúnyǔ 論語 and taken to be a contemporary of Confucius (implausible) 2. composed as a commentary on the Chūnqiū 春秋 * the longest of all the pre-Qin texts

Answer 29

Guóyǔ 國語 * "dialogues or discourses of the states": accounts of the sayings of rulers and prominent persons, which were drawn up for the various states of the Spring and Autumn period * 21 juǎn 卷, in eight geographical sections, arranged chronologically: 1. Zhou 周 (周語) 2. Lu 魯 (魯語) 3. Qi 齊 (齊語) 4. Jin 晉 (晉語) 5. Zheng 鄭 (鄭語) 6. Chu 楚 (楚語) 7. Wu 吳 (吳語) 8. Yue 越 (越語) * according to the Shǐjì 史記 compiled by Zuǒ Qiūmíng 左丘明, but probably a compilation of several authors * the scope of the Guóyǔ overlaps to a considerable extent with that of the Chūnqiū 春秋 and the Zuǒzhuàn 左傳, but it differs in organization, emphasis, and in many of its historical details

Answer 30

Early Chinese historiographical works (such as Zuǒzhuàn 左傳 and Guóyǔ 國語) * not readings them as historical documents, but rather as documents of intellectual history => as traces of historiographical practice (Schaberg) rather than faithful historical records