Language, Ontology, and Political Philosophy in China

Rudolf G. Wagner is Professor of Chinese Studies at the University of Heidelberg. He is the author of several books, including The Craft of a Chinese Commentator: Wang Bi on the Laozi, also published by SUNY Press.

• Preface Introduction 1. Discerning the That-by-Which: The Language of the Laozi and the Lunyu A Plea for a History of UnderstandingThe Consensus: The Ineffability of the Sage’s ThinkingThe Radical PositionDeveloping Reading StrategiesThe Discussion about Language and the Thinking of the Sage in WeiThe Structural Contradiction of the Confucius Texts: Talking about That-Which-Is-DarkThe Logical Deduction of the Unnameability of That-by-Which the Ten Thousand Kinds of Entities AreThe Deduction of the Possibility of Limited but Sufficiently Grounded Propositions about That-by- Which the Ten Thousand Kinds of Entities AreTraces of the That-by-Which Found by the Confucius Texts within the Structures of Discernible Entities: Antinomy and NegationGrasping Aspects of the That-by-WhichAn Explanation of the Images [Xiang of the Zhouyi] 2. Wang Bi’s Ontology The Framework of AnalysisWang Bi’s Inquiry into the That-by-WhichWang Bi’s ApproachThe Binary Structural Organization of EntitiesThe Order of the Ten Thousand Kinds of EntitiesThe One and the ManyThe DaoThe Dark 3. Wang Bi’s Political Philosophy The Actual and Perpetual Crisis of Human SocietyThe Causes of the CrisisOperating the Return: The SageSagely Politics as Public PerformanceWang Bi’s Philosophy: An Ideology? Notes Bibliography Index

"Wagner … has significantly raised the level of discussion about Wang Bi's philosophy." — Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies"…this is a valuable volume, which advances considerably our understanding of an important aspect of Chinese religious history. It should be read and critiqued by all interested scholars." — Journal of Asian Studies"This book is truly important—Wang Bi is the most significant Chinese philosopher of his era." — James Miller, coeditor of Daoism and Ecology