Presentations Scheduled for 2009-2010
(Seminar papers will be posted here about 10
days before the meetings in which they are presented).
Sunday, 25 October, 2009; 12:30-5:00 pm
Kuang Yu Chen (Rutgers University): “The beginning of writing in China: A
comparison with other original writings” pdf
Abstract: There have been only four or five original writing systems
independently invented in human history. The major questions related to the
study of these original writings deal with the dating, the driving forces that
led to the invention and the mode of their development. Based on the structural
analysis of Chinese writing, the recent archeological findings in China, and
the study of other original writings we proposed that the genesis of oracle
bone inscriptions (OBI) was very much like the production of cellular proteins
from a linear polypeptide to a functional three dimensional mature protein. As
such, we proposed a similar “funnel model” to illustrate the beginning of
Chinese writing in the form of OBI. We further proposed a linear model to
illustrate the development of Chinese writing. The models may explain the
relative stability of Chinese writing and why it did not become a phonetic
language.
Olivier
Venture (École Pratique des Hautes Études): “Inscriptions and writing in Early China” pdf
Abstract: In my presentation I propose an overview of
each kind of Shang and Western Zhou written materials. Relying on an analysis
of archaeological context, of the functions of inscribed objects, and of the
content of inscriptions, I highlight the relationship between these “excavated
texts” and what may be called “ritual practices”. Having established
this relationship, I become reluctant to consider that such inscriptions could
have been used, during this period, for “communication with spirits,” as
supported by some scholars. I am rather inclined to think that this last
practice developed later in Chinese history. The purpose of writing, in most of
these inscriptions, was to record various acts related to rituals. By giving
these ritual acts an everlasting form, Shang and Zhou people perhaps expected
in return to extend the spiritual (or divine) benefits proceeding from these
acts. On another hand, I will also show that, even if the context of the
inscriptions remained unchanged for centuries, many features indicate that the
way these texts were considered by members of the aristocratic society evolved
over time.
Duan Tianjing
(Jilin University, visiting Columbia): “Important Clues to Pre-Shang and Zhou
Cultures in Northern Hebei: The Excavation and
Discoveries at Nanfangshui site (2006)” pdf
Abstract: From April to July, 2006, Jilin University excavated the Nanfangshui site in Tangxian
County, Hebei Province of China. The present paper
discusses the discoveries we made at Nanfangshui,
based on first-hand materials. The cultural deposit in the site can be divided
into largely three periods: Pre-Shang, Western, and Eastern Zhou. These
materials offer us important clues to understanding the cultural image and
social political relations in the north part of the Central Plain the second
and first millenniums BC. The few Pre-Shang period remains indicate contacts
between the region and the Lower Xiajiadian Culture
in the north and the Yueshi
Culture on the Shandong Peninsula. Western Zhou remains constitute the main
cultural deposit in this site. Two culture traditions are detected at the site:
one probably belonged to the Zhou population, and the other was possibly
associated with Shang descendents. The Nanfangshui
site is significant because so few sites dating to the Western Zhou period have
been investigated in this region.
Saturday, 5 December,
2009; 1:00-5:00 pm
Moss
Roberts (New York University): “Reuniting Shen-self with Its Lost Word Family with a Comment on the Daoist Term for Self (Zi)” Pdf-1, pdf-2
Abstract: The Confucian clichés lishen
and xiushen, establish self, cultivate self, emphasize the social character of the term. While shen may refer to the physical body and also to the
life time of an individual and even pregnancy, the dominant significance is
social: character, identity, place in society.
Thus shen refers to performance of a service
(to an implied superior) or simply submission to the requirements of a given
role in life for which chen
and zi, vassal and child (hidden components of
the graph), are the archetypes of obedient conduct. The term zi plays a large role in the Dao De Jing.
The basic meaning is starting point, “first person,” and an important extended
meaning is ‘always remaining as it was from the start, not subject to
alteration (improvement).’ Nothing to li-establish
or xiu-develop; hence wuwei.
Zi represents the liberated and autonomous self, or self-as-being in creation’s infinite (ten thousand)
variety. (Being is unmodified; existence is mutable.) Laozi’s philosophical instinct is not too different from
Lucretius’ with his swerving atoms.
Paul Goldin
(University of Pennsylvania): “Persistent Misconceptions about Chinese
‘Legalism’” pdf
Abstract: The reasons for avoiding the term “legalism” in the study
of classical Chinese philosophy were summarized years ago by Herrlee G. Creel, and most scholars would probably agree,
if pressed, that the term is flawed, and yet one continues to find it deployed
in published books and articles—almost as though no one were prepared to admit
that it has to be abandoned. I believe that “legalism” is virtually
useless as a hermeneutic lens; indeed, in many contexts it obscures more than
it clarifies. Even as a bibliographical category, as it was frequently
used in imperial times, its value is questionable. In this paper, I shall
first review the weaknesses of the term “legalism,” then ask why scholars
persist in adopting it even though they can hardly be unaware of its defects,
and finally suggest a better approach to the material that is conventionally
categorized as “legalist.”
Saturday, 30 January,
2010; 1:00-5:00 pm
Anne B.
Kinney (University of Virginia): “Women in
the Book of Odes” pdf
Abstract:
Many scholars from the time of Zhu Xi onward have regarded many of the
interpretations of Mao’s Odes (Mao shi) as
far-fetched. Yet, while we might agree with Zhu Xi’s view, instead of simply
dismissing the commentaries as so much Confucian white-wash over romantic
subject matter, the “Minor Preface” can be mined for its wealth of information
concerning Han views on women’s roles irrespective of how strained these
interpretations may be for understanding the original meaning of the odes.
Thus, while the mysteries surrounding the original date, attribution, and
subject matter of a given ode remain, we can still use the commentaries to
understand how scholars and readers in Han times understood these texts and how
they might have been used as a vehicle for propagating women’s morality.
Reading the Odes, particularly the
“Airs of the States,” through the Mao-Zheng
commentaries also restores an astonishingly woman-centered focus of this text.
Furthermore, if we integrate what we can learn from the Mao recension
of the Odes with early narratives
such as the Zuo zhuan that
expand on the historical events the “Preface” only alludes to, we may approach
a view of early Chinese history that is both closer to Han understandings and
more accommodating to women’s voices than contemporary readings generally
allow.
Chang Pao-San (National
Taiwan University): “The Issue of
Hermeneutics in the Study of the Shijing” pdf
Abstract: Literary records, including both received and excavated
texts, are the basis for studies of the Shijing. Proper hermeneutic methods for the research of these
texts are a major foundation of these studies. A correct hermeneutic approach
can ensure the reliability of the results; on the other hand, if the
methodology is unsuitable, it will lead to an erroneous result. Therefore, here are five issues related to
the study of the Shijing
and textual hermeneutics: 1) Shijing textual hermeneutics must be based upon the
fundamental principles of word meanings and commentarial explications; 2) In Shijing textual
hermeneutics, one must possess an abundant knowledge of Shijing scholarship; 3) Shijing textual
hermeneutics cannot neglect related knowledge from other fields; 4) Shijing textual
hermeneutics should take into account the level of accuracy in other sources'
inferences; 5) In Shijing
textual hermeneutics, one should not make excessive annotations. Through a
discussion of the above five points, I hope to emphasize the importance of
textual hermeneutics in the study of the Shijing, and I look forward to
greater importance being given to these issues by Shijing scholars.
Saturday, 27 February,
2010; 1:00-5:00 pm
Kate
Pechenkina
(Queens College, CUNY): “Life in the Early Farming Communities of Northern China:
A Bioarchaeological Account” pdf
Abstract: Analysis
of human skeletal remains from archaeological contexts allows us to reconstruct
many aspects of life in ancient communities. During my talk, I will discuss how
diet, health, activities, and patterns of violence changed over time in ancient
David Sena (University of Texas at Austin): “Narratives of Lineage History in the Shi Qiang pan and Qiu pan” pdf