Scott Cook
Grinnell College
Historical Continuity and Change in Lüshi Chunqiu
Panel: Converging Toward Empire
AAS Convention, New York City, 27 March 2003

Abstract

The LSCQ defined its unified and comprehensive vision for the rulership of the new empire not so much by adoption and exclusion of preferred views as through the resolution of conflicts and the merging of contradictory positions. As an example, this paper will consider how LSCQ deals with the notions of historical continuity and change in the "Cha jin" chapter (LSCQ 15H) from the Lan ("Survey") section of the work. It will show how the author of this chapter, by redefining a key notion borrowed from Xun Zi, ingeniously reconciles two diametrically opposed philosophies of historical change. It will examine this reconciliation against the backdrop of similar strategies found elsewhere in LSCC, and in light of its overall objectives.

 

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28 July 2002 / Contact The Project / Conferences Page