Mediation of Legitimacy in Early China: A Study of the Neglected Zhou Scriptures and the Grand Duke Traditions

366 Pages·2022·7.447 MB·English

by  Yegor Grebnev

M E D I AT I ON O F
L E G I T I M A C Y
I N E A R LY C H I NA
A Study of the Neglected Zhou Scriptures
and the Grand Duke Traditions
Yegor Grebnev
MEDIATION OF LEGITIMACY IN EARLY CHINA
TANG CENTER SERIES IN EARLY CHINA
TANG CENTER SERIES IN EARLY CHINA
Editors
Li Feng
Anthony Barbieri-Low
The dramatic increase of information about China’s early past made possible by recent archaeological
discoveries has reenergized the study of Early China. The Tang Center Series in Early China, sponsored
by the Tang Center for Early China at Columbia University and published by Columbia University
Press, presents new studies that make major contributions to our understanding of early Chinese
civilization and break new theoretical or methodological grounds in Early China studies, especially
works that analyze newly discovered paleographic and manuscript materials and archaeological data.
The disciplinary focus of the series includes history, archaeology, art history, anthropology, literature,
philosophy, and the history of science and technology. The time period covered spans from the
Neolithic to the end of the Han dynasty (220 ce) or to the end of the Tang dynasty (907 ce) for titles
in archaeology.
Modeling Peace: Royal Tombs and Political Ideology in Early China, Jie Shi
Kingly Splendor: Court Art and Materiality in Han China, Allison R. Miller
Many Worlds Under One Heaven: Material Culture, Identity, and Power in the Northern Frontiers
of the Western Zhou, 1045–771 bce, Yan Sun
Kingly Crafts: The Archaeology of Craft Production in Late Shang China, Yung-ti Li
Mediation of L egitimacy
in Early China
A STUDY OF THE NEGLECTED ZHOU SCRIPTURES AND
THE GRAND DUKE TRADITIONS
Yegor Grebnev
Columbia University Press
New York
Columbia University Press wishes to express its appreciation to the Tang Center for Early China
for funding and editorial support in the publication of this book.
Columbia University Press
Publishers Since 1893
New York Chichester, West Sussex
cup.columbia.edu
Copyright © 2022 Columbia University Press
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Grebnyev, Georgiy, 1983–author.
Title: Mediation of legitimacy in early China: a study of the Yi Zhou shu and the Grand Duke
traditions / Yegor Grebnev.
Description: New York : Columbia University Press, [2022] | Series: Tang Center series in early
China | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021053941 (print) | LCCN 2021053942 (ebook) | ISBN 9780231203401
(hardback) | ISBN 9780231555036 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Yi Zhou shu. | Yi Zhou shu—Criticism, Textual. | Transmission of texts—
China—History—To 1500. | Taoism—China—History—To 1500. | Legitimacy of governments—
Religious aspects—Taoism. | China—History—Zhou dynasty, 1122–221 B.C.—Historiography. |
China—Intellectual life—To 221 B.C.
Classification: LCC DS747.13.G74 2022 (print) | LCC DS747.13 (ebook) | DDC 931/.03—dc23/
eng/20220208
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021053941
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021053942
Columbia University Press books are printed on permanent and durable acid-free paper.
Printed in the United States of America
Cover design: Noah Arlow
Cover image: Zheng Xiao
CONTENTS
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS vii
LIST OF TABLES ix
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xi
CHRONOLOGY xiii
Introduction 1
Chapter One
The Structure of the Yi Zhou shu and Its Formation History 20
Chapter Two
Understanding Early Chinese Scriptures 58
Chapter Three
Appropriated and Created Scriptures 91
Chapter Four
Royal Colloquies as the Main Text Type in the Yi Zhou shu 101
Chapter Five
Daoist Scriptures of the Grand Duke 130
vi
CONTENTS
Chapter Six
Heirloom Treasures, Scriptures, and Legitimacy 178
Conclusion 217
Appendix One
Scenic, Formalistic, and Alarming Contextual Settings 225
Appendix Two
Summary of the Zhou shu in the Shi lüe 235
Appendix Three
“Sequential Outline of the Zhou Scriptures” 239
Appendix Four
Permutations of the Chapter(s) “Shifa” (Order of Posthumous Names) 245
NOTES 253
BIBLIOGRAPHY 321
INDEX 343
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Figure 1.1: St. George’s Cathedral in Yuryev-Polsky: current view. 21
Figure 1.2: St. George’s Cathedral in Yuryev-Polsky: reconstruction by
S ergey Zagraevsky. 21
Figure 6.1: The ding vessel from the tomb of King Cuo of Zhongshan. 185
Figure 6.2: The fanghu vessel from the tomb of King Cuo of Zhongshan. 185

LIST OF TABLES
Table 1.1: Records related to the Zhou shu and the Jizhong Zhou shu in the
bibliographic chapters of the standard histories 24
Table 1.2: Composition of the Yi Zhou shu 42
Table 2.1: Sequences of posthumous names of the kings of Western Zhou
(mid-eleventh to tenth centuries bce) and the rulers of Chu
(eighth to sixth centuries bce) 80
Table 3.1: Properties of chapters in the Shang shu and the Yi Zhou shu pre-
sented as future-projected instructions 97
Table 3.2: Properties of dramatic speeches in the Shang shu 98
Table 4.1: Summary of the Yi Zhou shu royal colloquies 103
Table 4.2: Formulaic cluster at the conclusion of royal colloquies 113
Table 4.3: Use of the patterns “何X非Y” and “何A何B何C” in the Yi Zhou
shu chapters 118
Table 5.1: Texts related to the Grand Duke mentioned in the Sui shu, Jiu
Tang shu, Xin Tang shu, and Song shi and their present state 132
Table 5.2: Intact and fragmentary recensions of the Liu tao 137
Table 5.3: Western Han excavated manuscripts with counterparts in the
historically attested Grand Duke traditions 138
Table 5.4: Textual authority in the Yi Zhou shu and the Grand Duke
traditions 175
Table A.1.1: Instances of scenic contextual setting in the Shang shu and the Yi
Zhou shu 225
Table A.1.2: Instances of formalistic contextual setting in the Shang shu and
the Yi Zhou shu 228
Table A.1.3: Instances of alarming contextual setting in the Shang shu and the
Yi Zhou shu 232