Author:
KOU Lu 寇陸
Defended:
2018
School:
Harvard University
Abstract:
This dissertation explores the power of words to fashion state legitimacy in early medieval China (the 4th–7th centuries CE). Known as the Northern and Southern Dynasties (Nanbeichao 南北朝), this was a period of political division and fragmentation in which several rival states vied for dominance. This dissertation examines the “cultural wars” that were waged among rival court centers and analyzes the writings produced at and for moments of interstate contact—including the exchange of diplomats, gifts, and letters, which formed a highly contentious ground for competing claims of political and cultural supremacy. It discusses how royal power was carefully represented in material and discursive forms to both awe subjects and intimidate enemies in the medieval court culture, and how legitimacy became a problematic concept that was subject to interpretation and contention during this volatile age.
The first chapter focuses on diplomatic visits and court representatives’ verbal banter. It studies both the “discursive battles” between diplomats and the articulation of hospitality and hostility in poetic genres. The second chapter looks at court compositions on foreign gifts and examines the rhetorical devices used to create and domesticate “the foreign” as a way of proclaiming cultural superiority. Epistolary communication is the topic of the third chapter, in which I investigate the “politics of intimacy” in letters sent across dynastic boundaries. In other words, I argue that seemingly “private” letters—for example, those between friends or between a mother and a son—were intended for public consumption and that the individual voices were subject to states’ exploitation for the purpose of political manipulation. The fourth chapter moves to the unified empire of the Sui (581–619) and early Tang (619–907) and continues to examine the negotiation among different cultural groups, this time in the new political context of unification. I use music as a critical lens to demonstrate that, through meticulous debates over what constituted “orthodox,” “decadent,” and “foreign” music for the empire, “sound” became politicized and was used as a tool of mind control and to shape new political identities. Taken together, these chapters discuss the verbal construction and negotiation of essential concepts such as “legitimacy,” “emperorship,” and “cultural orthodoxy” during the early medieval period.
Following previous scholarly attempts to problematize the “constructedness” of the North and South, this dissertation continues to redress the essentialization of the northern and southern cultures as monolithic and static stereotypes and reveal the complexity of cultural exchanges in the context of court culture in early medieval China. Based on detailed textual analysis of a variety of genres, including envoys’ recorded conversations, poems, poetic expositions, letters, and other “non-literary” genres, I show how elites in both the north and the south employed a shared cultural repertoire and discourse to negotiate the state’s claim to universal authority and fashion different cultural identities. I argue that rhetoric—the adroit manipulation of words and signifying practices—played an active role in constructing “legitimacy,” reconfiguring political reality, and envisioning cultural boundaries. It was through the appropriation of rhetoric and its effects that elites were able to define “self” and “others” and anchor themselves within an imagined cultural lineage.
Showing posts with label Letter writing 書信. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Letter writing 書信. Show all posts
Sunday, August 26, 2018
Saturday, February 13, 2016
The Letter to Ren An and Sima Qian's Legacy
Authors and Translators:
Stephen W Durrant; Wai-yee Li; Michael Nylan; Hans van Ess
Publication Month:
2016 April
Publisher:
University Of Washington Press
Abstract:
Sima Qian (first century BCE), the author of Record of the Historian (Shiji 史記), is China's earliest and best-known historian, and his "Letter to Ren An" is the most famous letter in Chinese history. In the letter, Sima Qian explains his decision to finish his life's work, the first comprehensive history of China, instead of honorably committing suicide following his castration for "deceiving the emperor." In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, some scholars have queried the authenticity of the letter. Is it a genuine piece of writing by Sima Qian or an early work of literary impersonation? The Letter to Ren An and Sima Qian's Legacy provides a full translation of the letter and uses different methods to explore issues in textual history. It also shows how ideas about friendship, loyalty, factionalism, and authorship encoded in the letter have far-reaching implications for the study of China.
Table of Contents:
Han dynasty emperors
The letter to Ren An: English translation
Seeking answers, finding more questions / Stephen Durrant
Dissent against Emperor Wu of the Han / Hans van Ess
Friendship and other tropes in The letter to Ren An / Michael Nylan
The letter to Ren An and authorship in the Chinese tradition / Wai-yee Li
Appendix: The letter to Ren An: Chinese text
Glossary of Chinese characters
Stephen W Durrant; Wai-yee Li; Michael Nylan; Hans van Ess
Publication Month:
2016 April
Publisher:
University Of Washington Press
Abstract:
Sima Qian (first century BCE), the author of Record of the Historian (Shiji 史記), is China's earliest and best-known historian, and his "Letter to Ren An" is the most famous letter in Chinese history. In the letter, Sima Qian explains his decision to finish his life's work, the first comprehensive history of China, instead of honorably committing suicide following his castration for "deceiving the emperor." In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, some scholars have queried the authenticity of the letter. Is it a genuine piece of writing by Sima Qian or an early work of literary impersonation? The Letter to Ren An and Sima Qian's Legacy provides a full translation of the letter and uses different methods to explore issues in textual history. It also shows how ideas about friendship, loyalty, factionalism, and authorship encoded in the letter have far-reaching implications for the study of China.
Table of Contents:
Han dynasty emperors
The letter to Ren An: English translation
Seeking answers, finding more questions / Stephen Durrant
Dissent against Emperor Wu of the Han / Hans van Ess
Friendship and other tropes in The letter to Ren An / Michael Nylan
The letter to Ren An and authorship in the Chinese tradition / Wai-yee Li
Appendix: The letter to Ren An: Chinese text
Glossary of Chinese characters
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
秦漢簡牘史料研究
Author:
高村武幸
Publisher:
汲古書屋
Publication Year:
2015
Table of Contents:
序 章
本 編
第一章 漢代文書行政における書信の位置付け
第二章 前漢後半期の書信簡牘の分類と検討―書信簡牘試論―
第三章 後漢代の公文書と書信
第四章 中国古代文書行政における書信利用の濫觴
第五章 秦・漢時代地方行政における意思決定過程
付 編
第一章 簡牘の再利用―居延漢簡を中心に―
第二章 秦・漢時代の牘について
第三章 中国古代簡牘の分類について
結 語
参考文献リスト／後記／英文要旨／出土史料索引／文献史料索引／語句索引
高村武幸
Publisher:
汲古書屋
Publication Year:
2015
Table of Contents:
序 章
本 編
第一章 漢代文書行政における書信の位置付け
第二章 前漢後半期の書信簡牘の分類と検討―書信簡牘試論―
第三章 後漢代の公文書と書信
第四章 中国古代文書行政における書信利用の濫觴
第五章 秦・漢時代地方行政における意思決定過程
付 編
第一章 簡牘の再利用―居延漢簡を中心に―
第二章 秦・漢時代の牘について
第三章 中国古代簡牘の分類について
結 語
参考文献リスト／後記／英文要旨／出土史料索引／文献史料索引／語句索引
Wednesday, June 3, 2015
A History of Chinese Letters and Epistolary Culture
Editor:
Antje Richter
Publisher:
Brill
Publication Year:
2015
Abstract:
A History of Chinese Letters and Epistolary Culture is the first publication, in any language, that is dedicated to the study of Chinese epistolary literature and culture in its entirety, from the early empire to the twentieth century. The volume includes twenty-five essays dedicated to a broad spectrum of topics from postal transmission to letter calligraphy, epistolary networks to genre questions. It introduces dozens of letters, often the first translations into English, and thus makes epistolary history palpable in all its vitality and diversity: letters written by men and women from all walks of life to friends and lovers, princes and kings, scholars and monks, seniors and juniors, family members and neighbors, potential patrons, newspaper editors, and many more.
Table of Contents:
Preliminary Material
Introduction: The Study of Chinese Letters and Epistolary Culture
Source: pp 1 –14
1 Reconstructing the Postal Relay System of the Han Period
Source: pp 15 –52
2 Letters as Calligraphy Exemplars: The Long and Eventful Life of Yan Zhenqing’s (709–785) Imperial Commissioner Liu Letter
Source: pp 53 –96
3 Chinese Decorated Letter Papers
Source: pp 97 –134
4 Material and Symbolic Economies: Letters and Gifts in Early Medieval China
Source: pp 135 –186
5 Letters in the Wen xuan
Source: pp 187 –238
6 Between Letter and Testament: Letters of Familial Admonition in Han and Six Dynasties China
Source: pp 239 –275
7 The Space of Separation: The Early Medieval Tradition of Four-Syllable “Presentation and Response” Poetry
Source: pp 276 –306
8 Letters and Memorials in the Early Third Century: The Case of Cao Zhi
Source: pp 307 –330
9 Liu Xie’s Institutional Mind: Letters, Administrative Documents, and Political Imagination in Fifth- and Sixth-Century China
Source: pp 331 –362
10 Bureaucratic Influences on Letters in Middle Period China: Observations from Manuscript Letters and Literati Discourse
Source: pp 363 –397
11 Private Letter Manuscripts from Early Imperial China
Source: pp 399 –474
12 Su Shi’s Informal Letters in Literature and Life
Source: pp 475 –507
13 The Letter as Artifact of Sentiment and Legal Evidence
Source: pp 508 –545
14 Infinite Variations of Writing and Desire: Love Letters in China and Europe
Source: pp 546 –581
15 Writing from Revolution’s Debris: Shen Congwen’s Family Letters in the Mao Era
Source: pp 582 –617
16 Captured in Words: Functions and Limits of Autobiographical Expression in Early Chinese Epistolary Literature
Source: pp 619 –642
17 Civil Examinations and Cover Letters in the Mid-Tang: Dugu Yu’s (776–815) “Letter Submitted to Attendant Gentleman Quan of the Ministry of Rites”
Source: pp 643 –674
18 The Inscription of Emotion in Mid-Tang Collegial Letters
Source: pp 675 –720
19 Halves and Holes: Collections, Networks, and Epistolary Practices of Chan Monks
Source: pp 721 –743
20 Letters as Windows on Ming-Qing Women’s Literary Culture
Source: pp 744 –774
21 Epistolary Networks and Practice in the Early Qing: The Letters Written to Yan Guangmin
Source: pp 775 –826
22 Aid and Comfort: Lu Zhaolin’s Letters
Source: pp 827 –852
23 She Association Circulars from Dunhuang
Source: pp 853 –877
24 Between Writing and Publishing Letters: Publishing a Letter about Book Proprietorship
Source: pp 878 –899
25 Opinions Going Public: Letters to the Editors in China’s Earliest Modern Newspapers
Source: pp 900 –931
Scholarship on Chinese Epistolary Literature and Culture: A Select Bibliography
Source: pp 933 –941
Index
Antje Richter
Publisher:
Brill
Publication Year:
2015
Abstract:
A History of Chinese Letters and Epistolary Culture is the first publication, in any language, that is dedicated to the study of Chinese epistolary literature and culture in its entirety, from the early empire to the twentieth century. The volume includes twenty-five essays dedicated to a broad spectrum of topics from postal transmission to letter calligraphy, epistolary networks to genre questions. It introduces dozens of letters, often the first translations into English, and thus makes epistolary history palpable in all its vitality and diversity: letters written by men and women from all walks of life to friends and lovers, princes and kings, scholars and monks, seniors and juniors, family members and neighbors, potential patrons, newspaper editors, and many more.
Table of Contents:
Preliminary Material
Introduction: The Study of Chinese Letters and Epistolary Culture
Source: pp 1 –14
1 Reconstructing the Postal Relay System of the Han Period
Source: pp 15 –52
2 Letters as Calligraphy Exemplars: The Long and Eventful Life of Yan Zhenqing’s (709–785) Imperial Commissioner Liu Letter
Source: pp 53 –96
3 Chinese Decorated Letter Papers
Source: pp 97 –134
4 Material and Symbolic Economies: Letters and Gifts in Early Medieval China
Source: pp 135 –186
5 Letters in the Wen xuan
Source: pp 187 –238
6 Between Letter and Testament: Letters of Familial Admonition in Han and Six Dynasties China
Source: pp 239 –275
7 The Space of Separation: The Early Medieval Tradition of Four-Syllable “Presentation and Response” Poetry
Source: pp 276 –306
8 Letters and Memorials in the Early Third Century: The Case of Cao Zhi
Source: pp 307 –330
9 Liu Xie’s Institutional Mind: Letters, Administrative Documents, and Political Imagination in Fifth- and Sixth-Century China
Source: pp 331 –362
10 Bureaucratic Influences on Letters in Middle Period China: Observations from Manuscript Letters and Literati Discourse
Source: pp 363 –397
11 Private Letter Manuscripts from Early Imperial China
Source: pp 399 –474
12 Su Shi’s Informal Letters in Literature and Life
Source: pp 475 –507
13 The Letter as Artifact of Sentiment and Legal Evidence
Source: pp 508 –545
14 Infinite Variations of Writing and Desire: Love Letters in China and Europe
Source: pp 546 –581
15 Writing from Revolution’s Debris: Shen Congwen’s Family Letters in the Mao Era
Source: pp 582 –617
16 Captured in Words: Functions and Limits of Autobiographical Expression in Early Chinese Epistolary Literature
Source: pp 619 –642
17 Civil Examinations and Cover Letters in the Mid-Tang: Dugu Yu’s (776–815) “Letter Submitted to Attendant Gentleman Quan of the Ministry of Rites”
Source: pp 643 –674
18 The Inscription of Emotion in Mid-Tang Collegial Letters
Source: pp 675 –720
19 Halves and Holes: Collections, Networks, and Epistolary Practices of Chan Monks
Source: pp 721 –743
20 Letters as Windows on Ming-Qing Women’s Literary Culture
Source: pp 744 –774
21 Epistolary Networks and Practice in the Early Qing: The Letters Written to Yan Guangmin
Source: pp 775 –826
22 Aid and Comfort: Lu Zhaolin’s Letters
Source: pp 827 –852
23 She Association Circulars from Dunhuang
Source: pp 853 –877
24 Between Writing and Publishing Letters: Publishing a Letter about Book Proprietorship
Source: pp 878 –899
25 Opinions Going Public: Letters to the Editors in China’s Earliest Modern Newspapers
Source: pp 900 –931
Scholarship on Chinese Epistolary Literature and Culture: A Select Bibliography
Source: pp 933 –941
Index
Monday, March 24, 2014
東アジアの資料学と情報伝達
Editor:
藤田勝久（FUJITA Katsuhisa）
Publication Year:
2013
Publisher:
汲古書院
Table of Contents:
はしがき
第一部 東アジアの資料学研究
* 中国簡牘の文書・記録と情報伝達…………… 藤田勝久
* 秦簡牘研究の新段階 ………………………… 陳 偉（廣瀬薫雄訳）
* 楚簡・秦簡研究と日中共同研究――コメントに代えて―― ……… 工藤元男
* 韓国の木簡研究の現況――東アジア資料学の可能性―― ……… 金 慶 浩（河英美訳）
* 破莂・別莂考――長沙呉簡を例として――…… 關尾史郎
* 奄美諸島史料と文書の集合態・複合態……………… 石上英一
第二部 出土資料と情報伝達、地域社会
* 張家山漢簡『二年律令』の出土位置と編連―書写過程の復元を兼ねて―― ……………金 秉 駿（小宮秀陵訳）
* 漢代郵駅システムにおける駅の接待方式 ―懸泉漢簡の二つの残冊書を中心とする考察―― ………… 張 俊 民（廣瀬薫雄訳）
* 後漢『乙瑛碑』における卒史の増置に見える政務処理について
――「請」・「須報」・「可許」・「書到言」を中心に―― ……………… 侯 旭 東（佐々木正治訳）
* 漢晉時代の倉廩図にみえる糧倉と簡牘 …………… 馬 怡（佐々木正治訳）
* 漢代北方の地域社会と交通――城郭と墓葬から――………… 上野祥史
* 漢代における鉄製農具の生産と流通――
広漢太守沈子琚緜竹江堰碑から見る治水システムをもとに――
……… 佐々木正治
あとがき／執筆者一覧
藤田勝久（FUJITA Katsuhisa）
Publication Year:
2013
Publisher:
汲古書院
Table of Contents:
はしがき
第一部 東アジアの資料学研究
* 中国簡牘の文書・記録と情報伝達…………… 藤田勝久
* 秦簡牘研究の新段階 ………………………… 陳 偉（廣瀬薫雄訳）
* 楚簡・秦簡研究と日中共同研究――コメントに代えて―― ……… 工藤元男
* 韓国の木簡研究の現況――東アジア資料学の可能性―― ……… 金 慶 浩（河英美訳）
* 破莂・別莂考――長沙呉簡を例として――…… 關尾史郎
* 奄美諸島史料と文書の集合態・複合態……………… 石上英一
第二部 出土資料と情報伝達、地域社会
* 張家山漢簡『二年律令』の出土位置と編連―書写過程の復元を兼ねて―― ……………金 秉 駿（小宮秀陵訳）
* 漢代郵駅システムにおける駅の接待方式 ―懸泉漢簡の二つの残冊書を中心とする考察―― ………… 張 俊 民（廣瀬薫雄訳）
* 後漢『乙瑛碑』における卒史の増置に見える政務処理について
――「請」・「須報」・「可許」・「書到言」を中心に―― ……………… 侯 旭 東（佐々木正治訳）
* 漢晉時代の倉廩図にみえる糧倉と簡牘 …………… 馬 怡（佐々木正治訳）
* 漢代北方の地域社会と交通――城郭と墓葬から――………… 上野祥史
* 漢代における鉄製農具の生産と流通――
広漢太守沈子琚緜竹江堰碑から見る治水システムをもとに――
……… 佐々木正治
あとがき／執筆者一覧
Monday, December 30, 2013
中国新出資料学の展開―第四回日中学者中国古代史論壇論文集
Editor:
渡邉義浩
Publisher:
汲古書院
Publication Year:
2013
Table of Contents:
主旨 第四回日中学者中国古代史論壇の開催にあたって（池田知久） 致辞（卜憲群）
全体会
主題報告
一 日本の中國簡帛研究の課題と展望――中國思想史研究を中心にして―― …………… 池田知久
二 新世紀以来中国簡帛研究的基本状況（二〇〇〇～二〇一二年）………卜憲群
基調報告
一 新時代の疑古と釈古 ……………………………… 谷中信一
二 関于秦文書制度的幾個問題 ………………… 陳 偉
分科会Ⅰ（先秦）
一 中国出土資料と宗教研究――禹の治水神話を題材に―― …………… 池澤 優
二 先秦兵学の展開――『銀雀山漢墓竹簡［貮］』を手がかりとして――... 湯浅邦弘
三 「日書」の史料的性格について――質日・視日との関連を中心として―― …… 工藤元男
四 地域・文化概念としての楚の成立――清華簡を手掛かりとして―... 小寺 敦
五 上博楚簡『李頌』の文献的性格（要旨）…………………竹田健二
六 江陵岳山秦牘《日書》研究 ……………………… 劉國勝
七 平壌楽浪地区出土の『論語』竹簡（要旨）…………………… 李成市
討論：司会 近藤浩之 卜憲群 コメント：宇野茂彦
分科会Ⅱ（秦漢）
一 秦の文字統一について ……………………… 大西克也
二 里耶秦簡と出土資料学 ………………………… 藤田勝久
三 出土秦漢戸籍簡的類別及登記内容的演変 ………………… 王彦輝
四 漢簡『蒼頡篇』研究――分章形態を中心として―― ………… 福田哲之
五 天長紀荘漢墓木牘《榬遂致謝孟書》的復原与研究 ……… 鄔文玲
六 馬王堆漢墓帛書《隂陽五行》乙篇の構造と思想 …………… 名和敏光
七 従道徳正義到政治正義――従張家山漢簡《蓋盧》看先秦時代兵家思想的一個側面―― 王啓発
討論：司会 藤田勝久 陳 偉 コメント：佐藤 進
分科会Ⅲ（魏晉南北朝～宋明）
一 従麻風病的伝播蠡測印度仏医対漢唐時期中医的影響（要旨） …… 高 凱
――以簡帛《五十二病方》、《悪病大風方》与孫思邈《千金方》為例――
二 河西出土魏晋・五胡十六国時代漢語文献の基礎的整理 ………町田隆吉
三 徳蔵吐魯番双語文書残片Ch/So10334(TI α)v 的道教内容考釈…… 劉 屹
四 従王光、叱羅招男夫婦墓誌論西魏北周史二題（要旨）………… 葉 煒
五 柳開事迹与宋初士林的豪横之気………………… 陳 峰
六 対《論語》“今之学者為人”的詮釈与宋代儒学的内傾……… 肖永明
七 公私“文書”与明代民事訴訟書証探析――以徽州訴訟文書為中心――…… 阿風
討論：司会 氣賀澤保規 陳 峰 コメント：池田 温
総合討論：司会 渡邉義浩 王啓発 氣賀澤保規 李炳青
Developments in the Study of Newly Unearthed Chinese Documents Watanabe Yoshihiro
渡邉義浩
Publisher:
汲古書院
Publication Year:
2013
Table of Contents:
主旨 第四回日中学者中国古代史論壇の開催にあたって（池田知久） 致辞（卜憲群）
全体会
主題報告
一 日本の中國簡帛研究の課題と展望――中國思想史研究を中心にして―― …………… 池田知久
二 新世紀以来中国簡帛研究的基本状況（二〇〇〇～二〇一二年）………卜憲群
基調報告
一 新時代の疑古と釈古 ……………………………… 谷中信一
二 関于秦文書制度的幾個問題 ………………… 陳 偉
分科会Ⅰ（先秦）
一 中国出土資料と宗教研究――禹の治水神話を題材に―― …………… 池澤 優
二 先秦兵学の展開――『銀雀山漢墓竹簡［貮］』を手がかりとして――... 湯浅邦弘
三 「日書」の史料的性格について――質日・視日との関連を中心として―― …… 工藤元男
四 地域・文化概念としての楚の成立――清華簡を手掛かりとして―... 小寺 敦
五 上博楚簡『李頌』の文献的性格（要旨）…………………竹田健二
六 江陵岳山秦牘《日書》研究 ……………………… 劉國勝
七 平壌楽浪地区出土の『論語』竹簡（要旨）…………………… 李成市
討論：司会 近藤浩之 卜憲群 コメント：宇野茂彦
分科会Ⅱ（秦漢）
一 秦の文字統一について ……………………… 大西克也
二 里耶秦簡と出土資料学 ………………………… 藤田勝久
三 出土秦漢戸籍簡的類別及登記内容的演変 ………………… 王彦輝
四 漢簡『蒼頡篇』研究――分章形態を中心として―― ………… 福田哲之
五 天長紀荘漢墓木牘《榬遂致謝孟書》的復原与研究 ……… 鄔文玲
六 馬王堆漢墓帛書《隂陽五行》乙篇の構造と思想 …………… 名和敏光
七 従道徳正義到政治正義――従張家山漢簡《蓋盧》看先秦時代兵家思想的一個側面―― 王啓発
討論：司会 藤田勝久 陳 偉 コメント：佐藤 進
分科会Ⅲ（魏晉南北朝～宋明）
一 従麻風病的伝播蠡測印度仏医対漢唐時期中医的影響（要旨） …… 高 凱
――以簡帛《五十二病方》、《悪病大風方》与孫思邈《千金方》為例――
二 河西出土魏晋・五胡十六国時代漢語文献の基礎的整理 ………町田隆吉
三 徳蔵吐魯番双語文書残片Ch/So10334(TI α)v 的道教内容考釈…… 劉 屹
四 従王光、叱羅招男夫婦墓誌論西魏北周史二題（要旨）………… 葉 煒
五 柳開事迹与宋初士林的豪横之気………………… 陳 峰
六 対《論語》“今之学者為人”的詮釈与宋代儒学的内傾……… 肖永明
七 公私“文書”与明代民事訴訟書証探析――以徽州訴訟文書為中心――…… 阿風
討論：司会 氣賀澤保規 陳 峰 コメント：池田 温
総合討論：司会 渡邉義浩 王啓発 氣賀澤保規 李炳青
Developments in the Study of Newly Unearthed Chinese Documents Watanabe Yoshihiro
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Letters and Epistolary Culture in Early Medieval China 早期中古中國的書信與書信文化
Author:
Antje Richter
Publisher:
University of Washington Press
Publication Year:
2013
Abstract:
This first book-length study in Chinese or any Western language of personal letters and letter-writing in premodern China focuses on the earliest period (ca. 3rd-6th cent. CE) with a sizeable body of surviving correspondence. Along with the translation and analysis of many representative letters, Antje Richter explores the material culture of letter writing (writing supports and utensils, envelopes and seals, the transportation of finished letters) and letter-writing conventions (vocabulary, textual patterns, topicality, creativity). She considers the status of letters as a literary genre, ideal qualities of letters, and guides to letter-writing, providing a wealth of examples to illustrate each component of the standard personal letter. References to letter-writing in other cultures enliven the narrative throughout.
Letters and Epistolary Culture in Early Medieval China makes the social practice and the existing textual specimens of personal Chinese letter-writing fully visible for the first time, both for the various branches of Chinese studies and for epistolary research in other ancient and modern cultures, and encourages a more confident and consistent use of letters as historical and literary sources.
Table of Contents:
Materiality and terminology --
Letters and literary thought --
Structures and phrases --
Topoi --
Normativity and authenticity
Antje Richter
Publisher:
University of Washington Press
Publication Year:
2013
Abstract:
This first book-length study in Chinese or any Western language of personal letters and letter-writing in premodern China focuses on the earliest period (ca. 3rd-6th cent. CE) with a sizeable body of surviving correspondence. Along with the translation and analysis of many representative letters, Antje Richter explores the material culture of letter writing (writing supports and utensils, envelopes and seals, the transportation of finished letters) and letter-writing conventions (vocabulary, textual patterns, topicality, creativity). She considers the status of letters as a literary genre, ideal qualities of letters, and guides to letter-writing, providing a wealth of examples to illustrate each component of the standard personal letter. References to letter-writing in other cultures enliven the narrative throughout.
Letters and Epistolary Culture in Early Medieval China makes the social practice and the existing textual specimens of personal Chinese letter-writing fully visible for the first time, both for the various branches of Chinese studies and for epistolary research in other ancient and modern cultures, and encourages a more confident and consistent use of letters as historical and literary sources.
Table of Contents:
Materiality and terminology --
Letters and literary thought --
Structures and phrases --
Topoi --
Normativity and authenticity
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