The Yields of Transition: Literature, Art and Philosophy in Early Medieval China

Editors:
Jana S. Rošker and Nataša Vampelj Suhadolnik

Publication Year:
2011

Publisher:
Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Abstract:
The present volume is dedicated to the Wei Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties (220- 589 AD), which is generally regarded as one of the most fascinating phases in Chinese history. The collection opens new theoretical and methodological pathways in sinological studies, bringing to the forefront a new idea of intercultural encounters based upon a culture of recognition. It highlights the significance of transition in the making of Chinese culture and history, revises prevailing historical approaches in the study and research of China and develops and enhances existing theories or methodologies in this specific area of research. The wide diversity of contributions to the present volume reflects the multifaceted potential for creativity and renewal of this period. The focus is upon the interaction of ideas, researches and perspectives concerning a broad scope of relevant and significant issues in contemporary sinology. In order to understand this diversity, a wide range of cultural, theoretical and historical aspects are considered. The book reveals a new image of the period, thereby undermining the absolute authority and putative objectivity of common historical sources and interpretations. It shows that this was a period rich with political, economic, cultural and theoretical achievements that would prove decisive for the future development of Chinese culture and society.

Table of Contents:

List of Figures

Acknowledgements

Introduction   Jana S. Rošker

Theoretical Shifts in Language, Epistemology and Logic

Chapter One
The Theoretical Shift in the Wei Jin Period and the Birth of the Structural
Semantic (名理)   Jana S. Rošker

Chapter Two
Distribution of Personal Pronouns in Chinese Translations of Buddhist
Scriptures  Mateja Petrovčič

Chapter Three
A Turning Point in the Development of Mathematics   Ma Li

Art and Material Culture

Chapter Four
New Insight on Émigré Tombs of the Eastern Jin in Jiankang    Annette Kieser

Chapter Five
A Reinterpretation of the Lotus in the Han Wei Jin Tombs    Nataša Vampelj Suhadolnik

Chapter Six
A Question of Gestures: Reflections on the Earliest Buddha Images in China      Nicoletta Celli

Literature

Chapter Seven
Court Poetry and Daoist Revelations in the Late Six Dynasties       Zornica Kirkova     

Chapter Eight
The Xiaolin 笑林 as a Paiyou Xiaoshuo: The Origins and the Changing
of Meaning of the Term Paiyou     Giulia Baccini

Chapter Nine
On Thematic Variety of the Liu Chao (III-VI CC. A.D.) Lyric Poetry        Marina Kravtsova

Chapter Ten
The Aesthetics of Parallelism in Chinese Poetry: The Case of Xie Lingyun
Charles Kwong

Politics, Human Relations and Values

Chapter Eleven
The Noble Eclecticism: Example of Tao Yuanming's Xing Ying Shen        Helena Motoh 

Chapter Twelve

Sincere Treatment or Severing Friendship? The Chinese Original
Value in Ji Kang’s Letter to Shan Tao           Wang Yi, Fu Xiaowei

Chapter Thirteen

From Wang Jian to Shen Yue: Literature and “Moral Qualification”
in the Political Culture of 5th and 6th Century Southern China      Pablo Ariel Blitstein

Chapter Fourteen

Drunk, and Drug Addicted Wei Jin Literati in Modern Chinese
Literature: Li Tuozhi’s “Feigned Madness”, Lu Xun, And the
Traditional Spirit of the Intellectual Furioso        Victor Vuilleumier