Buried Ideas: Legends of Abdication and Ideal Government in Early Chinese Bamboo-Slip Manuscripts

388 Pages·2015·11.249 MB·English

by  Sarah Allan

Buried ideas
SUNY series in Chinese Philosophy and Culture
Roger T. Ames, editor
Buried
ideas
Legends of Abdication
and Ideal Government
in Early Chinese
Bamboo‑Slip
Manuscripts
SaraH aLLan
SUNY
P R E S S
Published by
State UniverSity of new york PreSS
albany
© 2015 State University of new york
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
allan, Sarah.
Buried ideas : legends of abdication and ideal government in early Chinese
bamboo-slip manuscripts / Sarah allan.
pages cm. — (SUny series in Chinese philosophy and culture)
includes bibliographical references and index.
iSBn 978-1-4384-5777-2 (hardcover : alkaline paper) — iSBn 978-
1-4384-5779-6 (e-book) 1. China—History—warring States, 403-221
B.C.—Sources. 2. China—Politics and government—to 221 B.C.—Sources.
3. China—kings and rulers—abdication—History—Sources. 4. ideals
(Philosophy)—Political aspects—China—History—to 1500—Sources.
5. Merit (ethics)—Political aspects--China—History—to 1500—Sources.
6. Political science—China—History—to 1500—Sources. 7. China—
intellectual life—to 221 B.C.—Sources. 8. Manuscripts, Chinese. 9. Chinese
language—to 600—texts. i. title.
DS747.2.a55 2015
931'.03—dc23 2014041449
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
to Nicol Allan

Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xiii
Chapter One
introduction 1
Chapter Two
History and Historical Legend 9
Chapter Three
the Chu-script Bamboo-Slip Manuscripts 25
Chapter Four
advocating abdication: Tang Yú zhi dao 唐虞之道, “the way of
tang yao 唐堯 and yú Shun 虞舜” 79
Tang Yú zhi dao 唐虞之道: translation and Chinese edition 118
Chapter Five
the Zigao 子羔 and the nature of early Confucianism 135
Zigao 子羔: translation and Chinese edition 168
vii
viii Contents
Chapter Six
Rongchengshi 容成氏: abdication and Utopian vision 181
Rongchengshi 容成氏: translation and Chinese edition 223
Chapter Seven
the Bao xun 保訓: obtaining the Center to Become king 263
Bao xun 保訓: translation and Chinese edition 304
Chapter Eight
afterthoughts 315
Bibliography 329
Index 357
illustrations
Figure 1.1. xiv
Chu cemetery region, near Ji’nan, Hubei Province: Scenery with
unexcavated tumulus.
Figure 3.1. 28
writing brush and holding tube, Baoshan tomb two. after
Baoshan Chu mu 包山楚墓, ed. Hubeisheng Jingsha tielu ka-
ogudui 湖北省荊沙鐵路考古隊 (Beijing: wenwu, 1991), plate 15.1.
Figure 3.2. 29
Bao xun 保訓, Slips 1–11, tsinghua University collection. from
Qinghua Daxue cang Zhanguo zhujian 清華大學藏戰國竹簡,
vol. 1, 8. Courtesy of the Chutu wenxian yanjiu yu Baohu Zhongxin
出土文獻研究與保護中心, tsinghua University.
Figure 3.3. 30
oracle bone characters with bamboo-slip component (ce 册).
Figure 3.4. 32
wood tablet (du 牘), Taiyuan you sizhe 泰原有死者, Qin Dynasty,
Peking University collection. from Wenwu 2012.6: 71.
ix