A philological study of the excavated texts included in the seventh volume of the Compilation of Warring States Chu bamboo slips housed at the Shanghai Museum = "Shanghai bo wu guan cang Zhan guo Chu zhu shu (qi)" cong kao

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wing-kin Lee
Keyword(s):  
Warring States ◽  
Shanghai Museum ◽  
Bamboo Slips

The one text in the many: separate and composite readings of an Early Chinese historical manuscript

2019 ◽  
Vol 82 (3) ◽  
pp. 473-492
Author(s):  
Rens Krijgsman ◽  
Paul Nicholas Vogt
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Memory ◽  
Manuscript Culture ◽  
Warring States ◽  
The Past ◽  
Additional Layer ◽  
Shanghai Museum ◽  
Bamboo Slips ◽  
The Many ◽  
The One ◽  
Deep Sense

AbstractThe manuscript carrying the title Zhuangwang ji Cheng 莊王既成, from the Shanghai Museum corpus of bamboo slips, bears two related anecdotes concerning the early Chinese monarch King Zhuang of Chu. In this article, we translate both stories and offer interpretations of them both as individual texts and as a composite narrative, situating both readings in a context of intertextual references based on shared cultural memory. Approaching the anecdotes together, we argue, generates an additional layer of meaning, yielding both a deep sense of dramatic irony and a critique of the value of foreknowledge – and, by extension, of the explanatory value of historiography. In detailing how this layer of meaning is generated, we explore the range of reading experiences and approaches to understanding the past enabled by combining separate but related textual units, a prevalent mode of composition and consumption in the manuscript culture of Warring States China.

Explanation of the Term cuo shu 蔖疋 on Strip No. 1 of the Yangtianhu 仰天湖 Bamboo Manuscript

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-205
Author(s):  
Wu Zhenwu
Keyword(s):  
Warring States ◽  
Bamboo Slips ◽  
Shoe Insoles

There have been different explanations of the text written on strip no. 1 of the Chu bamboo slips excavated from Yangtianhu 仰天湖, Changsha 長沙, Hunan. Based on a newly published Warring States private seal inscription containing a two-word first name as well as the ancient habit of using loan graphs, this article suggests that the expression cuo shu 疋in the bamboo manuscript should be read as cuo ju 蔖苴, meaning “shoe insoles made of straw.”

scholarly journals THE HAN RIVER AS THE CENTRAL AXIS AND THE PREDOMINANCE OF WATER: QUESTIONING THE CLAIM OF “NO CHU-RELATED TRAITS” IN THE VIEW OF TERRESTRIAL SPACE IN THE RONG CHENG SHI MANUSCRIPT (FOURTH CENTURY B.C.E)

Early China ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 44 ◽  
pp. 143-235
Author(s):  
Vera Dorofeeva-Lichtmann
Keyword(s):  
Wide Spectrum ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Central Axis ◽  
Spatial Concepts ◽  
Warring States ◽  
Han River ◽  
Bamboo Slips ◽  
Visual Aid ◽  
Chinese Texts ◽  
Manuscript Description

AbstractThe description of the “Nine Provinces” (Jiu zhou 九州) found in the Rong Cheng shi 容成氏 (Mister Rong Cheng?, late fourth century b.c.e.) manuscript from the Shanghai Museum Bamboo Slips Collection (Shangbo cangjian 上博藏簡) is the only manuscript version of it known to date. Its discovery immediately raised the question of its relation to the cluster of descriptions on the “Nine Provinces” transmitted from the late Warring States to the early Western Han periods. There is general consensus that the manuscript description of the “Nine Provinces” has close affinity with the transmitted descriptions, as well as with a wide spectrum of transmitted early Chinese texts in general. It is distinguished by the eclectic combining of known spatial concepts, rather than manifesting any radically new or specifically Chu traits. In this study I reassess this impression with respect to the reference to the Han River in the manuscript, which up to now has been noted only in passing as an unsolved puzzle. I argue that the Han River is referred to here as the central axis that divides terrestrial space into southern and northern halves, something that implies a shifting of the mapped area to the South and thus conveys a Chu view of space. Together with philological analysis of the descriptions of terrestrial space, I apply an innovative method of investigation of these descriptions through landmarks, using as a visual aid traditional Chinese historical maps. In addition, I explore the predominance of waters as the distinguishing feature of the representation of terrestrial space in the Rong Cheng shi manuscript and demonstrate its difference from the structuring of terrestrial space proceeding from mountains to waterways to be seen in the majority of transmitted early Chinese texts.

Some Minor Insights from Reading the Anhui University Warring States Bamboo Slips of the Classic of Poetry

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 172-188
Author(s):  
Hung-sen Chen (陳鴻森)
Keyword(s):  
Warring States ◽  
Bamboo Slips

Abstract This article discusses three topics. First, it discusses the line “I could not fill my slanting basket” 不盈頃筐 in the poem “Juan er” 卷耳. The Anhui University Bamboo Slip version’s qing 頃 (slanting) is written . This, as with the Chu Silk Manuscript character, should be explained as qi 攲 (lopsided). Second, regarding the line “Do you not understand me?” 不諒人只 in the poem “Bai zhou” 柏舟 of the Yong Airs 鄘風 section, the Anhui University Bamboo Slip version of liang 諒 (understanding) is written jing 京. This character should be understood as qiang 強 in the sense of “coerce/force” 強迫. In the line “Supporting King Wu” 涼彼武王 in the poem “Da ming” 大明 of the Major Elegantiae 大雅, liang 涼 is similarly explained as 強 in the sense of “coerce” 威強. These two characters have always been traditionally glossed as either “trust” 信 or “assist” 佐. Third, regarding the line “… it cannot be recited” 不可讀也 of the poem “Qiang you ci” 牆有茨, du 讀 (reciting) in the Han Poetry 韓詩 is glossed in the sense of “record and narrate” 記述, which is superior to the traditional gloss.

On exegesis methods of Warring States bamboo-slip manuscripts

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-75
Author(s):  
Qi Wu
Keyword(s):  
Future Research ◽  
Research Needs ◽  
Research Focus ◽  
Tsinghua University ◽  
Warring States ◽  
Shanghai Museum ◽  
Study Results ◽  
New Research

With the continuous publication of Guodian bamboo-slip manuscripts, Shanghai Museum bamboo-slip manuscripts and Tsinghua University bamboo-slip manuscripts, the study of Warring States bamboo-slip manuscripts has become a new research focus in recent years. Exegesis study is one of the most important aspects in bamboo-slip manuscripts research. As can be seen from those exegesis study results, it is found that some of them are widely accepted. However, some results are debateable. Furthermore, in many cases it is difficult to provide clear answers in exegesis study. Therefore, it is necessary to summarize the exegesis methods of these accepted and debateable results. Also, theoretical guidance for future research needs to be provided. This article will discuss applying traditional exegesis methods into exegesis study. Then it will discuss applying the special features of Warring States bamboo-slip manuscripts into exegesis study. Finally, it will discuss some problems which should be emphasized in exegesis study.

On Shu 書 (Documents) and the origin of the Shang shu 尚書 (Ancient Documents) in light of recently discovered bamboo slip manuscripts

2012 ◽  
Vol 75 (3) ◽  
pp. 547-557 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Allan
Keyword(s):  
Literary Form ◽  
Read Aloud ◽  
Warring States Period ◽  
Tsinghua University ◽  
Warring States ◽  
Bamboo Slips ◽  
History Of ◽  
Ancient Times ◽  
Ancient Documents ◽  
Confucian Classic

AbstractIn light of the recent discovery of Warring States period bamboo slips, now in the collection of Tsinghua University, inscribed with texts described as shu, “documents” or “similar to shu”, this article explores the question of “what were shu?” It suggests that shu can be understood as a literary form apart from the history of the Confucian classic, the Shang shu 尚書 (Ancient Documents) or Shu jing 書經 (Book of Documents) and the Yi Zhou shu 逸周書. Formal characteristics include: shu were – or pretended to be – contemporaneous records; and shu include formal speeches by model kings and ministers from ancient times. Many shu include the expression wang ruo yue 王若曰, which is also found in bronze inscriptions, where it indicates that a royal speech was read aloud by an official. Thus, the literary form originated with the practice of composing speeches in writing before they were read out in formal ceremonies, with a bamboo slip copy presented to the officials addressed. Later shu were fictional compositions, written in the style of these ancient documents.

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