Xun Xu and the Politics of Precision in Third-Century Ad China

Xun Xu and the Politics of Precision in Third-Century Ad China PDF Author: Howard L. Goodman
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 900418337X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 426

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Book Description
"This biography of the court scholar Xun Xu explores central areas of intellectual life in third-century China - court lyrics, music, metrology, pitch systems, archeology, and historiography. It clarifies the relevant source texts in order to reveal fierce debates. Besides solving technical puzzles about the material details of court rites, the book unfolds factional struggles that developed into scholarly ones. Xun's opponents were major figures like Zhang Hua and Zhi Yu. Xun Xu's overall approach to antiquity and the derivation of truth made appeals to an idealized Zhou for authority. Ultimately, Xun's precision and methods cost him both reputation and court status. The events mark a turning point in which ideals were moving away from such court constructs toward a relatively more philosophical antiquarianism and towards new terms and genres of self-expression."--Publisher's description.

Xun Xu and the Politics of Precision in Third-Century Ad China

Xun Xu and the Politics of Precision in Third-Century Ad China PDF Author: Howard L. Goodman
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 900418337X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 426

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Book Description
"This biography of the court scholar Xun Xu explores central areas of intellectual life in third-century China - court lyrics, music, metrology, pitch systems, archeology, and historiography. It clarifies the relevant source texts in order to reveal fierce debates. Besides solving technical puzzles about the material details of court rites, the book unfolds factional struggles that developed into scholarly ones. Xun's opponents were major figures like Zhang Hua and Zhi Yu. Xun Xu's overall approach to antiquity and the derivation of truth made appeals to an idealized Zhou for authority. Ultimately, Xun's precision and methods cost him both reputation and court status. The events mark a turning point in which ideals were moving away from such court constructs toward a relatively more philosophical antiquarianism and towards new terms and genres of self-expression."--Publisher's description.

Ancient and Early Medieval Chinese Literature (vol. 3 & 4)

Ancient and Early Medieval Chinese Literature (vol. 3 & 4) PDF Author:
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004271856
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 1036

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Book Description
The long-awaited, first Western-language reference guide, this work offers a wealth of information on writers, genres, literary schools and terms of the Chinese literary tradition from earliest times to the seventh century C.E. Indispensable for scholars and students of pre-modern Chinese literature, history, and thought. Part Three contains Xia - Y. Part Four contains the Z and an extensive index to the four volumes.

Problems of Han Administration

Problems of Han Administration PDF Author: Michael Loewe
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004314903
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 340

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Book Description
China’s early emperors must pay their respects to their predecessors in the correct form; the conduct of government and commercial practice depended on a generally accepted system of weights and measures; critics needed a secure means of expressing their views.

World in the Balance: The Historic Quest for an Absolute System of Measurement

World in the Balance: The Historic Quest for an Absolute System of Measurement PDF Author: Robert P. Crease
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393082040
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 321

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Book Description
The epic story of the invention of a global network of weights, scales, and instruments for measurement. Millions of transactions each day depend on a reliable network of weights and measures. This network has been called a greater invention than the steam engine, comparable only to the development of the printing press. Robert P. Crease traces the evolution of this international system from the use of flutes to measure distance in the dynasties of ancient China and figurines to weigh gold in West Africa to the creation of the French metric and British imperial systems. The former prevailed, with the United States one of three holdout nations. Into this captivating history Crease weaves stories of colorful individuals, including Thomas Jefferson, an advocate of the metric system, and American philosopher Charles S. Peirce, the first to tie the meter to the wavelength of light. Tracing the dynamic struggle for ultimate precision, World in the Balance demonstrates that measurement is both stranger and more integral to our lives than we ever suspected.

Rising Sons, The: China's Imperial Succession & The Art Of War

Rising Sons, The: China's Imperial Succession & The Art Of War PDF Author: Ian Huen
Publisher: World Scientific
ISBN: 9811240655
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 192

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Book Description
The Rising Sons: China's Imperial Succession & The Art of War recollects 2,000 years of China's history by examining how some of its most representative imperial rulers seized power by applying tactics and strategies from Sun Tzu's The Art of War. This volume brings together tales of the nine princes of the Qin to Qing dynasties who rose to power through their cunning wit and prowess at psychological warfare. Brimming in equal measure with narrative interest and analytical insight, this book is as much a page turner about human greed, ambition and its capacity for cruelty as it is a treatise on power dynamics and court politics.

Music, Cosmology, and the Politics of Harmony in Early China

Music, Cosmology, and the Politics of Harmony in Early China PDF Author: Erica Fox Brindley
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 1438443137
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Book Description
Explores the religious, political, and cultural significance attributed to music in early China. In early China, conceptions of music became important culturally and politically. This fascinating book examines a wide range of texts and discourse on music during this period (ca. 500100 BCE) in light of the rise of religious, protoscientific beliefs on the intrinsic harmony of the cosmos. By tracking how music began to take on cosmic and religious significance, Erica Fox Brindley shows how music was used as a tool for such enterprises as state unification and cultural imperialism. She also outlines how musical discourse accompanied the growth of an explicit psychology of the emotions, served as a fundamental medium for spiritual attunement with the cosmos, and was thought to have utility and potency in medicine. While discussions of music in state ritual or as an aesthetic and cultural practice abound, this book is unique in linking music to religious belief and demonstrating its convergences with key religious, political, and intellectual transformations in early China.

Ancient and Early Medieval Chinese Literature (vol.I)

Ancient and Early Medieval Chinese Literature (vol.I) PDF Author: David R. Knechtges
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004191275
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 802

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Book Description
The long-awaited, first Western-language reference guide, this work offers a wealth of information on writers, genres, literary schools and terms of the Chinese literary tradition from earliest times to the seventh century C.E.

Monographs in Tang Official Historiography

Monographs in Tang Official Historiography PDF Author: Daniel Patrick Morgan
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030180387
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 371

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Book Description
This book examines the role of medieval authors in writing the history of ancient science. It features essays that explore the content, structure, and ideas behind technical writings on medieval Chinese state history. In particular, it looks at the Ten Treatises of the current History of Sui, which provide insights into the writing on the history of such fields as astronomy, astrology, omenology, economics, law, geography, metrology, and library science. Three treatises are known to have been written by Li Chunfeng, one of the most important mathematicians, astronomers, and astrologers in Chinese history. The book not only opens a new window on the figure of Li Chunfeng by exploring what his writings as a historian of science tell us about him as a scientist and vice versa, it also discusses how and on what basis the individual treatises were written. The essays address such themes as (1) the recycling of sources and the question of reliability and objectivity in premodern history-writing; (2) the tug of war between conservatism and innovation; (3) the imposition of the author’s voice, worldview, and personal and professional history in writing a history of a field of technical expertise in a state history; (4) the degree to which modern historians are compelled to speak to their own milieu and ideological beliefs.

Historical Dictionary of Medieval China

Historical Dictionary of Medieval China PDF Author: Victor Cunrui Xiong
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1442276169
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 1007

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Book Description
The crucial period of Chinese history, 168-979, falls naturally into contrasting phases. The first phase, also known as that of 'early medieval China,' is an age of political decentralization. Following the breakup of the Han empire, China was plunged into civil war and fragmentation and stayed divided for nearly four centuries. The second phase started in 589, during the Sui dynasty, when China was once again brought under a single government. Under the Sui, the bureaucracy was revitalized, the military strengthened, and the taxation system reformed. The fall of the Sui in 618 gave way to the even stronger Tang dynasty, which represents an apogee of traditional Chinese civilization. Inheriting all the great institutions developed under the Sui, the Tang made great achievements in poetry, painting, music, and architecture. The An Lushan rebellion, which also took place during Tang rule, brought about far-reaching changes in the socioeconomic, political, and military arenas. What transpired in the second half of the Tang and the ensuing Five Dynasties provided the foundation for the next age of late imperial China. This second edition of Historical Dictionary of Medieval China contains a chronology, an introduction, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 1000 cross-referenced entries on historical figure. It expands on existing thematic entries, and adds a number of new ones with substantial content, including those on nobility, art, architecture, archaeology, economy, agriculture, money, population, cities, literature, historiography, military, religion, Persia, India, Japan, Korea, Arabs, and Byzantium, among others. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about medieval China.

Ancient and Early Medieval Chinese Literature (vol. 2)

Ancient and Early Medieval Chinese Literature (vol. 2) PDF Author:
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004201645
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 680

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Book Description
At last here is the long-awaited, first Western-language reference guide focusing exclusively on Chinese literature from ca. 700 B.C.E. to the early seventh century C.E. Alphabetically organized, it contains no less than 1095 entries on major and minor writers, literary forms and "schools," and important Chinese literary terms. In addition to providing authoritative information about each subject, the compilers have taken meticulous care to include detailed, up-to-date bibliographies and source information. The reader will find it a treasure-trove of historical accounts, especially when browsing through the biographies of authors. Indispensable for scholars and students of pre-modern Chinese literature, history, and thought. Part Two contains S to Xi.