Writing and Authority in Early China

Mark Edward Lewis is University Lecturer in Chinese Studies at the University of Cambridge. He is the author of Sanctioned Violence in Early China, also published by SUNY Press.

• Acknowledgments INTRODUCTION Powers of WritingWriting and the Formation of the Chinese Empire 1. WRITING THE STATE The Archaic BackgroundLaws and RegistersReports, Tallies, and SealsWriting and the KingThe Offices of ZhouConclusion 2. WRITING THE MASTERS Scholarly TextsScholarly Traditions and the StateSocial and Economic Bases of the TraditionsThe Master as ModelConclusion 3. WRITING THE PAST The Past in SpeechesThe Past in Political PhilosophyThe Past in CosmogonyThe Past in ChronicleConclusion 4. WRITING THE SELF Composing the OdesSpeaking through the OdesThe Odes as Proof and SanctionAnthology and AuthorshipConclusion 5. THE POLITICAL HISTORY OF WRITING The Mythology of Fu XiThe Mythology of the Duke of ZhouThe Mythology of ConfuciusConclusion 6. THE NATURAL PHILOSOPHY OF WRITING Between Divination and PhilosophyThe Natural Philosophy of SignsImages and WritingNumbers and WritingConclusion 7. THE ENCYCLOPEDIC EPOCH Totality and TruthCanon and CommentaryState-Sponsored CompendiaSima Qian and Universal HistorySima Xiangru and Universal PoetryThe Liu Family and the Universal LibraryConclusion 8. THE EMPIRE OF WRITING Establishment of the CanonTriumph of the CanonConclusion Conclusion Notes Works Cited Index

"This book is a masterful study of the ideology and uses of writing in early China. The scholarship is impeccable—indeed, stunning—the interpretation of an array of difficult texts is brilliant, and the conclusions are of central importance to all subsequent studies of this period. This book, in my opinion, is the single most valuable study in the field of early China scholarship since Angus Graham's Disputers of the Tao. It is certain to be read, cited, and disputed for many decades." — Stephen W. Durrant, author of the The Cloudy Mirror"Writing and Authority in Early China is a comprehensive presentation about the structure of society and authority in pre-imperial and early imperial China from a very important and heretofore unexplored perspective. I would not be surprised to see this book rise to a level of lasting importance that few modern works of scholarship, even good ones, can hope for." — William G. Boltz, University of Washington