WRITING BEFORE INSCRIBING: ON THE USE OF MANUSCRIPTS IN THE PRODUCTION OF WESTERN ZHOU BRONZE INSCRIPTIONS

Early China ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
pp. 273-332
Author(s):  
Ondřej Škrabal
Keyword(s):  
Division Of Labor ◽  
Chinese History ◽  
Word Count ◽  
Technical Process ◽  
Warring States ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Display Function ◽  
Western Zhou ◽  
Bronze Inscriptions ◽  
Material Evidence

AbstractWhile research on Warring States, Qin, and Han manuscripts is flourishing, much less is known about the use of manuscripts during the earlier stages of Chinese history, for which material evidence has not been preserved. Based on the layout features and textual anomalies in the Western Zhou bronze inscriptions, this article explores the traces of use of perishable writing supports in the process of the production of bronze inscriptions in this period and reconstructs their functions and physical qualities. Based on the surveyed evidence, the article posits that two distinct exemplar manuscripts were used in the inscription-making process: an original “master copy” that was kept aside for proofreading purposes and a secondary “blueprint” that was employed directly in the technical process of inscription-making. A single blueprint would be used consecutively by several craftsmen to produce a set of inscriptions on different types of vessels. The word count and layout of many inscriptions were already carefully planned during the process of their composition, and any study of a bronze text should therefore begin with the evaluation of its visual qualities. Moreover, this probe provides unambiguous evidence for the use of tube-lining in the inscription-making process and reconstructs the complete chaîne opératoire of bronze inscription production in the Late Western Zhou period. The article also offers insights into the level of literacy and the division of labor in bronze workshops, and touches upon the display function of bronze epigraphy during the Western Zhou period.

KOSHI SHUNJŪ

Early China ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 213-226
Author(s):  
Lothar von Falkenhausen
Keyword(s):  
Historical Records ◽  
Warring States Period ◽  
Warring States ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Sima Qian ◽  
Western Zhou ◽  
Extensive Damage

The Fuyang bamboo-strip “Annals” was compiled prior to 165 B.C., at least sixty or seventy years earlier than Sima Qian edited the various chronological tables in the Shiji. The “Annals,” which begins about the time of the Gong He interregnum of the Western Zhou and continues through the time of Qin Shi huangdi, seems to be incompatible with the “Qin Records” and was perhaps compiled using the “Historical Records” of some state other than Qin. It possibly includes two different types of tables: one in which years denominate the vertical columns and statenames the horizontal rows, with events recorded therein horizontally; and one that records the number of years that the feudal lords reigned. Although extensive damage makes it impossible to reconstitute the “Annals,” it can still provide useful information regarding some historical questions, such as the Warring States-period states of “East Zhou” and “West Zhou,” the appellations “Current King” and “Current Duke,” etc.

Some Notes on the Organization of the Han Dynasty Bamboo “Annals” Found at Fuyang

Early China ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 1-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hu Pingsheng
Keyword(s):  
Han Dynasty ◽  
Historical Records ◽  
Warring States Period ◽  
Warring States ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Sima Qian ◽  
Western Zhou ◽  
Extensive Damage

The Fuyang bamboo-strip “Annals” was compiled prior to 165 B.C., at least sixty or seventy years earlier than Sima Qian edited the various chronological tables in the Shiji. The “Annals,” which begins about the time of the Gong He interregnum of the Western Zhou and continues through the time of Qin Shi huangdi, seems to be incompatible with the “Qin Records” and was perhaps compiled using the “Historical Records” of some state other than Qin. It possibly includes two different types of tables: one in which years denominate the vertical columns and statenames the horizontal rows, with events recorded therein horizontally; and one that records the number of years that the feudal lords reigned. Although extensive damage makes it impossible to reconstitute the “Annals,” it can still provide useful information regarding some historical questions, such as the Warring States-period states of “East Zhou” and “West Zhou,” the appellations “Current King” and “Current Duke,” etc.

Scribes, Cooks, and Artisans: Breaking Zhou Tradition

Early China ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 241-277 ◽  
Author(s):  
Constance A. Cook
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
The Other ◽  
Political Control ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Bronze Vessels ◽  
Western Zhou ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Bronze Inscriptions ◽  
Eastern Zhou

Bronze Inscriptions of the Western Zhou period show how ritualists were once dedicated to maintaining the ritual apparatus supporting the divine authority of the royal Zhou lineage. Bronze and bamboo texts of the Eastern Zhou period reveal, on the other hand, that ritualists able to manipulate local rulers reliant on their knowledge subsequently subverted power into their own hands. Ritualists such as scribes, cooks, and artisans were involved in the transmission of Zhou “power” through the creation and use of inscribed bronze vessels during feasts. The expansion and bureaucratization of their roles in the Chu state provided economic and ultimately political control of the state. This was particularly the case as the Chu, like the Zhou before them, fled east to escape western invaders.

Astronomical Evidence for the Bamboo Annals' Chronicle of Early Xia

Early China ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 87-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
David S. Nivison ◽  
Kevin D. Pang
Keyword(s):  
Chinese History ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Early China ◽  
Western Zhou ◽  
Zuo Zhuan

Tradition says that Yu, first ruler of the Xia Dynasty, was chosen by the “sage emperor” Shun as Shun's successor. The “Modern Text” Bamboo Annals (Jinben Zhushu jinian) dates this act of choice to the fourteenth year of Shun. (With E. L. Shaughnessy, “On the Authenticity of the Bamboo Annals,” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 46 (1986), we accept this text as at least in part the text found in a royal tomb of Wei in A.D. 281.) Following D. Pankenier's argument (“Mozi and the Dates of Xia, Shang and Zhou,” Early China 9–10 [1983–85]), we date this event to 1953 B.C., the year of a dramatic five-planet conjunction. (K. Pang independently dated this conjunction to Yu's reign in his article “Extraordinary Floods in Early Chinese History and their Absolute Dates,” Journal of Hydrology 96 [1987].)We next use K. Pang's discovery (“Extraordinary Floods”) that there was an eclipse of the sun on 16 October 1876 B.C., that exactly satisfies descriptions in the Zuo zhuan (Zhao 17) and in the Bamboo Annals for Xia, Zhong Kang fifth year, of an eclipse associated with the (post-Han Shang shu) “Punitive Expedition of Yin” (except for the day-cycle in the Annals, which we assume to be a later calculation); i.e., it occurred on the first of the ninth lunar month (Xia calendar), the sun's location at the time (188å) was in lunar lodge Fang, and the eclipse was visible in the probable Xia capital area. No other eclipse within many centuries satisfies these criteria.Extending D. Nivison's theory (“The Dates of Western Chou,” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 43 (1983)) that Western Zhou royal calendars began only after completion of mourning, i.e., two years after accession, we then assume that there were similar two-year mourning breaks between Xia royal calendars (possibly reflected in the irregular interregnums in the present Annals). For a demonstration of this chronology, see the chart on page 94.

A Classification Scheme for Interpretive Research in Information Systems

2011 ◽  
pp. 218-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heinz K. Klein ◽  
Michael D. Myers
Keyword(s):  
Information Systems ◽  
Division Of Labor ◽  
Classification Scheme ◽  
Research Priorities ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Research Articles ◽  
Interpretive Research ◽  
Philosophical Foundations ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Explicit Consideration

Given the increase in the number of interpretive research articles being published in IS today, we believe it is timely to develop and explain a classification scheme of the literature. Such a classification scheme draws attention to the tremendous variety and breadth of interpretive research today, from the most abstract and general philosophical foundations to the most in-depth, detailed field studies. The explicit consideration of different types may contribute to a more effective division of labor among scholars with different research interests. It should also help interpretive researchers to better focus their work and to identify their research priorities.

Aboriginal rights and title for archaeologists: A history of archaeological evidence in Canadian litigation

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 214-241
Author(s):  
Erin A Hogg ◽  
John R Welch
Keyword(s):  
Sufficient Evidence ◽  
Oral Histories ◽  
Aboriginal Rights ◽  
Archaeological Evidence ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
Different Types ◽  
History Of ◽  
Aboriginal Title ◽  
Temporal Dimensions ◽  
Material Evidence

Archaeological evidence has been used to assess pre-contact occupation and use of land since the first modern Aboriginal title claim in Canada. Archaeology’s ability to alternately challenge, support, and add substantive spatial and temporal dimensions to oral histories and documentary histories makes it a crucial tool in the resolution of Aboriginal rights and title. This article assesses how archaeological evidence has been considered in Aboriginal rights and title litigation in Canada, both over time and in different types of cases. The examination indicates that archaeological data have been judged to be sufficient evidence of pre-contact occupation and use. However, some limitations inherent in archaeological data, especially challenges in archaeology’s capacities to demonstrate continuous occupation and exclude possibilities for co-occupation, mean that it is best used in conjunction with ethnographies, oral histories, and historical documents. So long as courts affirm that it is the sole material evidence of pre-contact occupation, archaeological data will continue to be considered in future litigation.

The Eastern Zhou cemetery at Wenfengta, Suizhou City

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Complete Restoration ◽  
History Of ◽  
Western Zhou ◽  
Bronze Inscriptions ◽  
Eastern Zhou ◽  
Important Site

AbstractFrom August 2012 through January 2013, the Wenfengta Cemetery of the Eastern Zhou Period, located in the southeast portion of the present-day Yidigang Cemetery in Dongcheng District, Suizhou City, was excavated. 54 burials and three chariot-and-horse pits of the Eastern Zhou Period were found, from which 582 bronzes, including ritual vessels, weapons, chariot-and-horse fittings, tools, and other types, were unearthed. Many of these bronzes were relics of the Zeng State, and inscriptions including the terms “Zeng”, “Zeng Zi”, “Zeng Sun”, “Zeng Da sima” and so on were seen on some of them. Moreover, a bronze ge-dagger ax with an inscription containing the character “Sui” was unearthed from a tomb of the Zeng State. These bronze inscriptions show that the Wenfengta Cemetery was used by aristocrats of the Zeng State during the Eastern Zhou Period. The coexistence of inscriptions concerning the Zeng and Sui States has provided more evidence to support the suggestion that the Zeng and Sui States were one and the same. Following upon the discovery of the Western Zhou-era Zeng State cemetery at Yejiashan, the Wenfengta Cemetery is another important site of great significance for the complete restoration of the history of the Zeng State.

MARITAL ALLIANCES AND AFFINAL RELATIVES (SHENG甥 ANDHUNGOU婚購) IN THE SOCIETY AND POLITICS OF ZHOU CHINA IN THE LIGHT OF BRONZE INSCRIPTIONS

Early China ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 37 ◽  
pp. 39-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Khayutina
Keyword(s):  
Chinese Society ◽  
New Members ◽  
Weak Center ◽  
Western Zhou ◽  
Bronze Inscriptions ◽  
The Stability ◽  
The One ◽  
Eastern Zhou ◽  
Radial Network

AbstractSeveral hundred inscribed bronze objects dating from Western and Eastern Zhou periods were commissioned for or by married women. Several dozen inscriptions are known whose commissioners called themselvessheng生 (甥) of a number of lineages. In pre-Qin Chinese, the termsheng甥 designated several categories of affinal relatives: paternal aunts’ sons, maternal uncles’ sons, wives’ brothers, sisters’ husbands, and sons of sisters or daughters. The wide geographical and chronological spread of female- orsheng-related vessels, as well as dedications to “many affinal relatives” (hungou婚購) in bronze inscriptions point to the importance of marital ties in early Chinese society and politics.Focusing on the inscriptions commissioned bysheng, the present article suggests that even when concluded at a considerable distance, marriages produced long-term mutual obligations for male members of the participating lineages or principalities. Affinal relationships represented social and political capital that could be converted in terms of individuals’ careers and prestige or benefits for their whole lineages/states. In sum, starting from the early Western Zhou period, marital alliances represented a substantial integrative factor in early Chinese politics. On the one hand, marital alliances helped to consolidate the radial network of Zhou states centered on the Zhou king. On the other hand, they facilitated the construction of decentralized regional and interregional inter-state networks. The latter guaranteed the stability of the Zhou political system even when it had a weak center. As a result, the Zhou networks did not fall apart following crises in the Zhou royal house, but continued to expand by the inclusion of new members.

The Spread of Erlitou Yazhang to South China and the Origin and Dispersal of Early Political States

2020 ◽  
pp. 201-223
Author(s):  
Chung Tang ◽  
Fang Wang
Keyword(s):  
East Asia ◽  
South China ◽  
Southwest China ◽  
Political Order ◽  
Chinese History ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Archaeological Remains ◽  
History Analysis ◽  
Political Symbolism ◽  
Material Evidence

One of the major offshoots of the Jade Age and urban evolution of Erlitou is the role played by jade and stone as symbols of political order. The chapter considers how specific attributes of yazhang may be used to differentiate capital and secondary sites of influence in terms of state formation and Erlitou’s role in early Chinese history. Analysis of yazhang unearthed in East Asia suggests that one major and representative type and style of yazhang, Erlitou VM3:4, had a significant influence in south China during the Erlitou period. Erlitou appears to have had direct contact with the Jinsha culture in today’s Sichuan in southwest China and had relatively indirect interactions with southeast China’s Tai Wan culture in Hong Kong and the Hulinshan culture in Fujian. The replication of Erlitou yazhang in south China can be seen as representative of a political order spreading from a primary state to secondary states. Through analyses of Erlitou yazhang and other material evidence, it is possible to understand the political symbolism used in the early state. This is also significant in illustrating how states and political systems originated in wider East Asia. While the search for written evidence from the Xia period continues, archaeological remains and artifacts can provide scientific and crucial evidence to substantiate the early political state in China.

scholarly journals THE XINIAN: AN ANCIENT HISTORICAL TEXT FROM THE QINGHUA UNIVERSITY COLLECTION OF BAMBOO BOOKS

Early China ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 39 ◽  
pp. 53-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olivia Milburn
Keyword(s):  
Autumn Period ◽  
Warring States ◽  
Reliable Source ◽  
Historical Text ◽  
Spring And Autumn Period ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Western Zhou ◽  
Complete Translation ◽  
Entire Text

AbstractThe Xinian or Annalistic History is one of an important collection of ancient bamboo texts donated anonymously to Qinghua University in 2008. The Xinian covers events from the history of the Western Zhou dynasty (1045–771 b.c.e.), through the Spring and Autumn Period (771–475 b.c.e.) and into the Warring States era (475–221 b.c.e.). Since the first publication of this manuscript in 2011, it has been the subject of much research, though this has usually been focused on the sections which have important parallels within the transmitted tradition. This article proposes a new way of understanding the Xinian, as a compilation produced from at least five source texts, and provides a complete translation of the entire text. Furthermore, although the contents of the Xinian are frequently at variance with the transmitted tradition, in particular the account of events given in the Zuozhuan, in some instances it may prove the more reliable source. The Xinian also provides some information concerning the history of the early Warring States era that helps to explain events in this generally badly documented era.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document