Poetry and Thought in Early China

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Poetry and Thought in Early China

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Title: Poetry and Thought in Early China

1
Poetry and Thought in Early China

Ca 1000 600 BC

2
A Chapter Overview

Chinese civilization first developed in the
Yellow River basin.
The Classic of Poetry, also called The Book of
Songs, is a lyric poetry collection that stands
at the beginning of the Chinese literary
tradition.
Greatly valued by Confucius who supposedly edited
the first copy from an earlier work. Doubtful
but he certainly valued The Book of Songs and
refers to them often in his own writing.

The fusion of ethical thought and idealized Chou
traditions associated with Confucius were
recorded in The Analects by Confucius's disciples
following his death.
The Chuang Tzu offers philosophical meditations
in a multitude of forms, ranging from jokes and
parables to intricate philosophical arguments.
During the period of the Warring States, Ssu-ma
Ch'ien produced the popular Historical Records
chronicling the lives of ruling families and
dynasties in a comprehensive history of China up
to the time of Emperor Wu's reign.
The end of ancient China is often linked with
the rise of the draconian ruler
Ch'in Shih-huang. (first
emperor of China)

4
Pangu
The Mythic Beginning
??

The first living being and the creator of all in
Chinese mythology.
In the beginning there was nothing in the
universe except a formless chaos. However this
chaos coalesced into a cosmic egg for about
18,000 years. Within it, the perfectly opposed
principles of Yin and Yang became balanced and
Pangu emerged (or woke up) from the egg.

This myth is featured in the film liked to in
Moodle Ancient China
5

Pangu set about the task of creating the world
he separated Yin from Yang with a swing of his
giant axe, creating the Earth (murky Yin) and the
Sky (clear Yang).
To keep them separated, Pangu stood between them
and pushed up the Sky. This task took 18,000
years with each day the sky grew ten feet (3
meters) higher, the Earth ten feet wider, and
Pangu ten feet taller.
In some versions of the story, Pangu is aided in
this task by the four most prominent beasts,
namely the Turtle, the Qilin, the Phoenix,
and the Dragon.

The Ying Yan idea is spoken about by Huston Smith
in the Moodle linked film Confucianism
6

After the 18,000 years, Pangu dies.
His breath became the wind his voice the
thunder left eye the sun and right eye the moon
His body became the mountains and extremes of the
world his blood formed rivers his muscles the
fertile lands his facial hair the stars and
milky way his fur the bushes and forests his
bones the valuable minerals his bone marrows
sacred diamonds

His sweat fell as rain and the fleas on his fur
carried by the wind became the fish and animals
throughout the land.
Nüwa the Goddess then used the mud of the water
bed to form the shape of humans.

8
Chines History Begins at The Yellow River, or
Huanghe
Timeline Chinese http//www-chaos.umd.edu/history
/time_line.html
9
The Layout of History
Note The "Common Era" (CE/BCE) notation has been
adopted by numerous authors and publishers
wishing to be "neutral" or "sensitive to
non-Christians
Image Drawn from the Web Site http//myweb.uiowa.
edu/cfillebr/prereading.html
10
Xia Dynasty . Before1600 BC ?

Almost mythicalthe great flood was supposed to
have occurred then, and brought under control by
Yu the Great.
Early Chinese history is a tale told and retold
for generations, during which new elements were
added to the front end ("Rethinking Erlitou
legend, history and Chinese archaeology")

The implied dualism between the Shang and Xia
which is brought up later, is that while the
Shang represent fire or the sun, birds and the
east, the Xia represent the west and water.
The development of this mythical Xia, Allan
argues, is a necessary act on the part of the
Zhou Dynasty, who justify their conquest of the
Shang by noting that the Shang had supplanted the
Xia. (The Shape of the Turtle Myth, Art and
Cosmos in Early China)

Shang Dynasty (1600 BC)

http//www.uic.edu/educ/bctpi/whittier/curriculum/
china/
13
Chinese Civilization First Developed in the
Yellow River Basin

The first dynasty, the Shang, was a loose
confederation of city-states ruled by princes
with a common ancestry.
Chinese writing based on characters developed
during the Shang era.

http//www.artsmia.org/art-of-asia/history/dynasty
-shang.cfm
14
Shang Writing

Other than bronze making, the most significant
achievement of the Shang period was the extensive
practice of writing.
From the Oracle Bones, people had the chance to
study and determine the earliest and most
complete evidence of writing in China.

lthttp//www.library.utoronto.ca/east/students02/ho
i_wan_lai/writing.htmgt
15

From the unearthed evidence, 150,000 inscriptions
have been discovered 5,000 ancient Chinese
characters were found and published
and 3,000 of those ancient words were
successfully translated into modern Chinese
characters.
Actually, writing was not only found on Oracle
Bones but on some other materials as well,
including wood, bamboo, and silk.
However, all of these materials were perishable.

The writings found on the Shang Oracles was
highly developed and sophisticated in form.
Scholars found that the inscriptions on the
Oracle Bones contained many pictographs
(characters created based on real objects),
proving that the Chinese writing structure and
technique had been well developed before the
Shang period.
Scholars realized that the stage of writing in
Shang had been stylized and that the characters
were geometric lines and shapes.

The characters were written from top to bottom,
and from left to right.
Therefore, as the form of writing was
sophisticated, the creation of words must have
occurred at least a few hundred years before
Shang and may even have been created during the
Hsia Dynasty.
Certainly, our modern Chinese language developed
from ancient language. We can see that some of
the ancient characters are still in use today,
just slightly different in shape.

18
The Chau (Zhao) Dynasty
http//www.artsmia.org/art-of-asia/history/dynasty
-chou.cfm
19
A Change the Chou (Zhou)

By the end of the second millennium B.C., the
Chou (Zhou) people migrated from the west and
conquered the Shang.
Tracing their origins from Hou-Chi (Lord Millet),
the Chou put forth the argument that the last
rulers of the Shang had been guilty of misrule
and had caused hardship to the people, which led
Heaven to transfer power to the Chou.
Over the centuries, the idea of heaven changed
sometimes it was an anthropomorphic deity, a
natural and moral force, or a collection of
ancestral spirits.

Because those in power were expected to rule
virtuously, rulers typically adhered to the
statutes and models put in place by former kings.
These ideas were recorded in three important
texts The Book of Documents, a collection of
statements and proclamations from the early Chou
period the Classic of Poetry and the Book of
Changes.

21
The Spring and Autumn Period (Chinese ????
pinyin Chunqiu Shídài)

This was a period in Chinese history, which
roughly corresponds to the first half of the
Eastern Zhou dynasty (from the second half of the
8th century BC to the first half of the 5th
century BC).
Its name comes from the Spring and Autumn Annals,
a chronicle of the state of Lu between 722 BC and
481 BC, which tradition associates with Confucius.

During this time, China was ruled by a feudal
system.
The Zhou dynasty kings held nominal power, but
only directly ruled over a small Royal Domain,
centered around their capital (modern-day
Luoyang).
They granted fiefdoms over the rest of China to
several hundreds of hereditary nobles (Zhuhou
??).
As the era unfolded, larger more powerful states
annexed or claimed suzerainty over smaller ones.
By the 6th century BC, most small states had
disappeared

23
Warring States Period

This covers the period from some time in the 5th
century BCE to the unification of China by the
Qin Dynasty in 221 BCE.
It is nominally considered to be the second part
of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, following the Spring
and Autumn Period, although the Zhou dynasty
itself ended in 256 BCE, 35 years earlier than
the end of the Warring States period.

As with the Spring and Autumn Period, the king of
Zhou acted merely as a figurehead.
The name Warring States Period was derived from
the Record of the Warring States, a work
historically compiled early in the Han Dynasty.
The date for the beginning of the Warring States
Period is somewhat in dispute. While it is
frequently cited as 475 BCE (following the Spring
and Autumn Period), 403 BCE the date of the
tripartition of the Jin is also sometimes
considered as the beginning of the period.

Tripartition A division by threes, or into
three parts the taking of a third part of any
number or quantity
25

The Warring States Period, in contrast to the
Spring and Autumn Period, was a period when
regional warlords annexed smaller states around
them and consolidated their rule.
The process began in the Spring and Autumn
Period, and by the 3rd century BC, seven major
states had risen to prominence.

26
The Classic of Poetry is a lyric poetry
collection that stands at the beginning of the
Chinese literary tradition.

Although it circulated among the Chou (Zhow)
aristocracy, it is a heterogeneous text that
includes many types of songs, ranging from hymns,
temple songs, and hunting songs to love and
marriage songs.
Serving as a the basic educational text of upper
class Chou, it eventually became part of the
canon of Confucian classics, along with the Book
of Changes and the Book of Documents.

27
By the Poems you can stir people and you can
observe things through them you can express your
resentment in them and you can show sociable
feelings. Clot to home you can use them to serve
your father, and on a large scale you can use
them to serve your ruler. Moreover, you can
learn to recognize many names of birds, beasts,
plants, and trees.Confucius speaking about
Classics of Poetry
28
Aspects of the Classics of Poetry

In poetry people within the early Chinese could
say things which were forbidden in other parts of
their structured culture.
Often were used as a means of diplomacy.
The Feng ("wind" but also "mores," "folkways,"
or "customs" ) often involves the communication
across lines of authority.

Usually, the Chinese poem is fairly simple on the
surface.
Western culture, which was influenced by
Shakespeare, Milton, and the Romantic poets, had
a pronounced tendency to think of poems as
ornate, elaborate creations made by a few men of
genius.
Chinese culture, influenced by the anonymity of
the Shih Ching, had a tendency to think of poems
as something written by common humanity for the
eyes of other humans. .

Usually the poem deals with either agrarian
imagery, courtship and marriage, or dynastic
concerns.
The Zhou (or Chou) dynasty was agrarian in its
roots, and for its people, "their sense of beauty
and order is closely related to the cycles and
abundance of the agricultural year," as Stephen
Owen suggests (xx).
Likewise, the poems often revolve around the
sorrows and joys of romance, or dealt with the
heroic and legendary exploits of rulers and
kings.
Other poems, which probably originated in
folk-songs, deal with the everyday trials and
tribulations of love, life, and the family

Each poem is usually composed of lines of four
syllables,
Usually they will with rhymed endings in the
original Chinese.
Often these four syllables appear as four
pictograms.
The normal form of the courtship and marriage
songs is three verses of four lines each.
Only a single non-fragmentary poem consists of a
single quatrain, the form that later became
popular in modern Chinese poetry.

The poetic principle organizing the poem is often
one of contrast
Often Chinese poetry will juxtapose a natural
scene with a social or personal situation. The
reader of the poem sees the similarity in the
natural description and the human condition, and
comes to a new awareness of each by this
contrast.
In Chinese, this idea is embodied in the terms
fu, bi, and xing (pronounced "shing"). Fu refers
to a straightforward narrative with a beginning,
middle, and conclusion, that stands by itself.
Bi, literally "against," implies a comparison or
contrast, placing two things side by side.

When one takes two different fu, and places them
together, the two create a bi.
This results in xing, a mental stimulation or
"lightning" that pervades the mind of the reader,
bringing new insight or awareness into the nature
of the individual fu that compose the poem.
Confucius stated that this xing is the purpose of
poetry, that the point of a poem was to make the
mind contemplate its subject deeply.

34
II. YA

The second section of the Book of Songs, known as
the ya or "Courtly Songs,"
It consists of 105 poems. Ya translates as
"elegant" or "refined," the word here seeming to
indicate that most of the songs are by courtiers
or members of the aristocracy, not the common
folk.
The ya are further subdivided into seventy-four
hsiao ya ("Lesser Courtly Songs") and thirty-one
ta ya ("Greater Courtly Songs"), probably
distinguished on the basis of differing musical
accompaniments, now lost.

The Lesser Courtly Songs
concern the aristocratic life centering around
the Chou court.
Even these latter poems, while seeming to focus
on romantic love, have traditionally been viewed
as allegories--political satires disguised as
folksongs.
And, indeed, there are many bitter reflections on
war, as well as outright complaints about
misgovernment, lying officials, administrators
living luxuriously, and other political scams.
The poems in this section also contain many
references to specific historical persons and
events--are topical, in other words a few,
likewise, include some kind of identification of
the poet in the last line, especially the
political complaints.

The Greater Courtly Songs
They manifest, however, a difference in tone and
superior literary artistry.
More reverent, ornate, and formal, a number of
these poems celebrate the myths and legends of
the Chou dynasty.
Many poems exhibit considerable length, yet are
marked by more variety and consistency in their
rhyme schemes, tighter transitions between
stanzas, and sustained thematic development. The
most common themes are good wishes,
congratulations, eulogies, offerings to gods and
ancestors, and dining and drinking.
But there are also poems of "change"--sharp,
passionate outcries against rulers whose indecent
behavior brings grief to their subjects and
threatens their kingdoms with ruin.

37
III. SUNG

The sung section can also be read as "Hymns."
These forty sacrficial and temple songs are
subdivided into three parts on the basis of
geographical origin--thirty-one attributed to the
Chou court, four to the court of the Duchy of Lu,
and five hymns attributed to the Shang dynasty,
which preceded Chou.
These songs seem to have been sung to the
accompaniment of music and group dancing when the
King or lord worshipped his ancestors and
commemorated their heroic deeds.

The poems in this section are hymns of praise,
ritual pieces describing sacrifices, feasts,
musical performances, or celebrations of the
dynasty's glory and its military victories.
The mood of the poems is celebratory
throughout--no complaints about misrule,
disorder, or personal hardships. As a result,
most critics regard these poems as Chou
propaganda pieces. The poems in this section are
believed to be the earliest in the Book of Songs,
some composed as early as 1700 B. C. (Shang
dynasty) and many by no later than 700 B. C.
This antiquity accounts for the stylistic
awkwardness displayed in a number of the songs.
Of the poems in our text, number 157 provides an
example of the sung.

39
Qin Dynasty
40

By 770 B.C., the Chou dynasty (the Zhou) had lost
much of its power, and the bordering new
kingdomsthe Ch'u, Wu and Yehgrew stronger.
Culturally, they absorbed many of the Chou ways.
The Lu province also saw itself as the preserver
of Chou traditions. (It was also the home of
Confucius.)
There is a fusion of ethical thought and
idealized Chou traditions associated with
Confucius were recorded in the Analects by
Confucius's disciples following his death.
Many of the philosophers that followed Confucius
were influential, but Confucianism's emphasis on
the connection between idealized history and
social history proved to be stronger.

With new technological advances, the nature of
warfare changed, resulting in increasingly
destructive wars between domains. In the period
known as the Spring and Autumn Annals, regions
were ruled by aristocratic families with
officials chosen from lesser clans.
Because the domains were gradually evolving into
centralized states during a period of upheaval,
this era is known as the Warring States.
In addition to the massive political upheaval,
there was also significant intellectual upheaval.
Schools of thought concerned with the individual
rather than the polity began to emerge.
Independent thinkers such as Chuang Chou without
patronage or school were also important.

42
Chinese Philosophy

Philosophy has had a tremendous effect on Chinese
civilization, and East Asia as a whole.
Many of the great philosophical schools were
formulated during the Spring and Autumn Period
and Warring States Period, and came to be known
as the Hundred Schools of Thought.
The four most influential of these were
Confucianism,
Taoism,
Mohism, and
Legalism.
Later on, during the Tang Dynasty, Buddhism from
India also became a prominent philosophical and
religious discipline.

Eastern thought, unlike Western philosophy, did
not express a clear distinction between
philosophy and religion.
Like Western philosophy, Chinese philosophy
covers a broad and complex range of thought,
possessing a multitude of schools that address
every branch and subject area of philosophy.
In China, the Tao Te Ching (Dào dé jing, in
pinyin romanisation) of Lao Tzu (Lao zi) 10 and
the Analects of Confucius (Kong fu zi sometimes
called Master Kong) both appeared around 600 BC,
about the time that the Greek pre-Socratics were
writing.

44
Confucius
A man who only learns the truth at the last
moment of his life has not wasted his
opportunities.
551 479 BC

???, transliterated Kong Fuzi or K'ung-fu-tzu,
lit. "Master Kong," but most frequently referred
to simply as Kongzi ??,
The most famous thinker and social philosopher of
China, whose teachings have deeply influenced
East Asia for centuries.
Living in China between 722 BC and 481 (a time
when feudal states fought against each other), he
was convinced of his ability to restore the
world's order, but in the end failed.

After much traveling around China to promote his
ideas among rulers, he eventually became involved
in teaching disciples.
His philosophy emphasized personal and
governmental morality, correctness of social
relationships, and justice and sincerity.
These values gained prominence in China after
being chosen among other doctrines such as
Legalism or Taoism during the Han dynasty.
Used since then as the imperial orthodoxy,
Confucius' thoughts have been developed into a
vast and complete philosophical system known in
the west as Confucianism.
They were introduced to Europe by the Jesuit
Matteo Ricci, the first to Latinise the name as
"Confucius".

Of all the Chinese philosophies it is quite safe
to say Confucianism has had the greatest impact
throughout East Asia.
His philosophy focused in the fields of ethics
and politics, emphasizing personal and
governmental morality, correctness of social
relationships, justice, traditionalism, and
sincerity.
Confucianism, along with Legalism, is responsible
for creating the worlds first meritocracy, which
holds that one's status should be determined by
ability instead of ancestry, wealth, or
friendships. It is arguable that Confucianism is
most responsible for shaping the Chinese culture
and state of China.

???
47
Legalism

In Chinese history, Legalism (Chinese ??
Pinyin Fajia Wade-Giles Fa-chia literally
"School of law") was one of the four main
philosophic schools in the Spring and Autumn
Period and the Warring States Period (Near the
end of the Zhou dynasty from about the sixth
century B.C. to about the third century B.C.).
It is actually rather a pragmatic political
philosophy, with maxims like "when the epoch
changed, legalism is the act of following all
laws ," and its essential principle is one of
jurisprudence.
"Legalism" here can bear the meaning of
"political philosophy that upholds the rule of
law", and is thus distinguished from the word's
Western sense.

48
Mohism

In China, a contemporary of Confucius, Mozi,
"Master Mo", is credited with founding the Mohist
school, whose canons dealt with issues relating
to valid inference and the conditions of correct
conclusions.
The Mohist school of Chinese philosophy contained
an approach to logic and argumentation that
stresses analogical reasoning over deductive
reasoning, and is based on the three fa, or
methods of drawing distinctions between kinds of
things.
One of the schools that grew out of Mohism, the
Logicians, are credited by some scholars for
their early investigation of formal logic.
It disappeared during the Qin dynasty. Mozi's
philosophy was described in the book Mozi,
compiled by his students from lecture notes.

In Mohism, morality is defined not by tradition,
but rather by a constant moral guide that
parallels utilitarianism.
Tradition is inconsistent, and human beings need
an extra-traditional guide to identify which
traditions are acceptable.

Mo Tzu (Master Mo), Latinized as Micius), 470
BCEc.391 BCE

The moral guide must then promote and encourage
social behaviors that maximize general utility.
He also believed in the 2nd law and was in
conflict with the ancients.

Mohism promotes a philosophy of universal love,
i.e. an equal affection for all individuals.
This universal love is what makes man good. This
advocacy of universal love was a target of attack
by other schools, most notably the Confucians who
believed, for example, that children should hold
a greater love for their parents than for random
strangers. He also had much conflicts with
Confucian ideas.

51
Lao Tzu Father of Taoism

Although ascetics and hermits such as Shen Tao
(who advocated that one 'abandon knowledge and
discard self') first wrote of the 'Tao' it is
with the sixth century B.C. philosopher Lao Tzu
(or 'Old Sage' -- born Li Erh) that the
philosophy of Taoism really began.
Some scholars believe he was a slightly older
contemporary of Confucius.
Other scholars feel that the Tao Te Ching, is
really a compilation of paradoxical poems written
by several Taoists using the pen-name, Lao Tzu.
There is also a close association between Lao Tzu
and the legendary Yellow Emperor, Huang-ti.

The five colours blind the eye.The five
tones deafen the ear.The five flavours dull the
taste.Racing and hunting madden the
mind.Precious things lead one astray.Therefore
the sage is guided by what he feels and not by
what he sees.He lets go of that and chooses
this.
In Lao Tzu's view things were said to create
"unnatural" action (wei) by shaping desires (yu).

The process of learning the names (ming) used in
the doctrines helped one to make distinctions
between good and evil, beautiful and ugly, high
and low, and "being" (yu) and "non- being" (wu),
thereby shaping desires. To abandon knowledge was
to abandon names, distinctions, tastes and
desires. Thus spontaneous behavior (wu-wei)
resulted.
Lao-tzu is venerated as a philosopher by
Confucianists and as a saint or god by some of
the common people and was worshiped as an
imperial ancestor during the T'ang dynasty
(618907).

54
Taoism (also called of Daoism)

Taoism is an indigenous religio-philosophical
tradition that has shaped Chinese life for more
than 2,000 years.
In the broadest sense, a Taoist attitude toward
life can be seen in the accepting and yielding,
the joyful and carefree sides of the Chinese
character, an attitude that offsets and
complements the moral and duty-conscious, austere
and purposeful character ascribed to
Confucianism.

Taoism is also characterized by a positive,
active attitude toward the occult and the
metaphysical (theories on the nature of reality),
whereas the agnostic, pragmatic Confucian
tradition considers these issues of only marginal
importance, although the reality of such issues
is, by most Confucians, not denied.
More strictly defined, Taoism includes the ideas
and attitudes peculiar to the Lao-tzu (or Tao-te
Ching Classic of the Way of Power), the
Chuang-tzu, the Lieh-tzu, and related writings
the Taoist religion, which is concerned with the
ritual worship of the Tao and those who identify
themselves as Taoists.

The Taoist philosophy can perhaps best be summed
up in a quote from Chuang Tzu
"To regard the fundamental as the essence, to
regard things as coarse, to regard accumulation
as deficiency, and to dwell quietly alone with
the spiritual and the intelligent -- herein lie
the techniques of Tao of the ancients."

Whatever the truth, Taoism and Confucianism have
to be seen side-by-side as two distinct responses
to the social, political and philosophical
conditions of life two and a half millennia ago
in China. Whereas Confucianism is greatly
concerned with social relations, conduct and
human society, Taoism has a much more
individualistic and mystical character, greatly
influenced by nature.
Contemplating the remarkable natural world Lao
Tzu felt that it was man and his activities which
constituted a blight on the otherwise perfect
order of things. Thus he counseled people to turn
away from the folly of human pursuits and to
return to one's natural wellspring.

58
The Chuang Tzu (Chung Chou) offers philosophical
meditations in a multitude of forms, ranging from
jokes and parables to intricate philosophical
arguments.

Along with the Lao Tzu, it is considered one of
the foundational texts of philosophical Taoism
and explores how Tao (way) represents the natural
course of things.
Confucians define it in a moral sense as it
operates within society in the Chuang Tzu, the
way is often immoral.

Pseudo-historical knowledge of the sage
Chuang-tzu (Zhuangzi) is even less well defined
than that of Lao-tzu.
Most of Ssu-ma Ch'ien's brief portrait of the
man is transparently drawn from anecdotes in the
Chuang-tzu (Chung Chou) itself and as such has no
necessary basis in fact.
The Chuang-tzu, (Zhuangzi) however, is valuable
as a monument of Chinese literature and because
it contains considerable documentary material,
describing numerous speculative trends and
spiritual practices of the Warring States period
(475221 BC).

Whereas the Tao-te Ching is addressed to the
sage-king, the Chuang-tzu is the earliest
surviving Chinese text to present a philosophy
for private life, a wisdom for the individual.
Chuang-tzu is said to have preferred the doctrine
of Lao-tzu over all others many of his writings
strike the reader as metaphorical illustrations
of the terse sayings of the Old Master.
Whereas Lao-tzu in his book as well as in his
life (in legend) was concerned with Taoist rule,
Chuang-tzu, some generations later, rejected all
participation in society.
He compared the servant of state to the well-fed
decorated ox being led to sacrifice in the temple
and himself to the untended piglet blissfully
frolicking in the mire.

61
Ssu-ma Ch'ien145 BC-185 BC
Also spelled Sima Qian

Astronomer,
Calendar expert,
The first great Chinese historian,
Noted for his authorship of the Shih-chi
(Historical Records) also spelled Shiji.
Considered to be the most important history of
China down to the end of the 2nd century.

Sima Qian was born and grew up in Longmen, near
present-day Hancheng, Shaanxi. He was raised in a
family of historiographers. His father, Sima Tan
(???), served as the Prefect of the Grand Scribes
of Emperor Wu of Han (Emperor "Han Wudi"). His
main responsibilities were managing the imperial
library and calendar. Under the influence of his
father, at the age of ten, Sima Qian was already
well versed in old writings. He was the student
of the famous Confucians Kong Anguo (???) and
Dong Zhongshu (???).
At the age of twenty, with the support of his
father, Sima Qian started a journey throughout
the country, collecting useful first-hand
historical records for his main work, Shiji. The
purpose of his journey was to verify the ancient
rumors and legends and to visit ancient
monuments, including the renowned graves of the
ancient sage kings Yu and Shun. Places he had
visited include Shandong, Yunnan, Hebei,
Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Jiangxi and Hunan.

After his travels, he was chosen to be the Palace
Attendant in the government whose duties were to
inspect different parts of the country with
Emperor Han Wudi. In 110 BC, at the age of
thirty-five, Sima Qian was sent westward on a
military expedition against some "barbarian"
tribes. That year, his father fell ill and could
not attend the Imperial Feng Sacrifice.
Suspecting his time was running out, he summoned
his son back to complete the historical work he
had begun.
Sima Tan wanted to follow the Annals of Spring
and Autumn (?????) - the first chronicle in the
history of Chinese literature. Fuelled by his
father's inspiration, Sima Qian started to
compile Shiji in 109 BC. In 105 BC, Sima was
among the scholars chosen to reform the calendar.
As a senior imperial official, Sima was also in
the position to offer counsel to the emperor on
general affairs of state.

In 99 BC, Sima Qian got involved in the Li Ling
Affair Li Ling (??) and Li Guangli (???), two
military officers who lead a campaign against the
Xiongnu (??) in the north, were defeated and
taken captive. Emperor Han Wudi attributed the
defeat to Li Ling, and all the officials in the
government condemned Li Ling for the defeat. Sima
was the only person to defend Li Ling, who had
never been his friend but who he respected.

Emperor Han Wudi interpreted Simas defence of Li
Ling as an attack on his brother-in-law, who had
also fought against the Xiongnu without much
success, and sentenced Sima to death. At that
time, execution could be commuted either by money
or castration.
65

Since Sima did not have enough money to atone his
"crime", he chose the latter and was then thrown
into prison, where he endured three years. He
described his pain thus "When you see the jailer
you abjectly touch the ground with your forehead.
At the mere sight of his underlings you are
seized with terror... Such ignominy can never be
wiped away."
In 96 BC, on his release from prison, Sima chose
to live on as a palace eunuch so to complete his
histories, rather than commit suicide as was
expected of a gentleman-scholar. As Sima Qian's
words explained
The losses he Li Ling had formerly inflicted
on the enemy were such that his renown filled the
Empire! After his disgrace, I was ordered to give
my opinion. I extolled his merits, hoping the
Emperor would take a wider view, but ...in the
end it was decided I was guilty of trying to
mislead the Emperor...I had not the funds to pay
a fine in lieu of my punishment, and my
colleagues and associates spoke not a word in my
behalf.

Had I chosen suicide, no one would have credited
me with dying for a principle. Rather, they would
have thought the severity of my offense allowed
no other way out. It was my obligation to my
father to finish his historical work which made
me submit to the knife...If I had done otherwise
, how could I have ever had the face to visit the
graves of my parents?
...There is no defilement so great as castration.
One who has undergone this punishment is nowhere
counted as a man. This is not just a modern
attitude it has always been so. Even an ordinary
fellow is offended when he has to do business
with a eunuch -- how much more so, then, a
gentleman! Would it not be an insult to the court
and my former colleagues if now I, a menial who
sweeps floors, a mutilated wretch, should raise
my head and stretch my eyebrows to argue right
and wrong?
I am fit now for only guarding the palace
women's apartments. I can hope for justification
only after my death, when my histories become
known to the world."1

67
As an Historian

Although the style and form of Chinese historical
writings varied through the ages, Shiji has
defined the quality and style from then onwards.
Before Sima, histories were written as dynastic
history his idea of a general history affected
later historiographers like Zhengqiao (??) in
writing Tongshi (??) and Sima Guang (???) in
writing Zizhi Tongjian (????).
The Chinese historical form was codified in the
second dynastic history by Ban Gus (??) History
of Han (?), but historians regard Simas work as
their model, which stands as the "official
format" of the history of China.

In writing Shiji, Sima initiated a new writing
style by presenting history in a series of
biographies. His work extends over 130 chapters
not in historical sequence, but was divided into
particular subjects, including annals,
chronicles, treatises on music, ceremonies,
calendars, religion, economics, and extended
biographies. Sima's influence on the writing
style of histories in other places is also
evident in, for example The History of Korea

69
As a Literary Figure

Sima's Shiji is respected as a model of
biographical literature with high literary value,
and still stands as a "textbook" for the study of
classical Chinese worldwide.
Simas writings were influential to Chinese
writing, and become a role model for various
types of prose within the neo-classical
("renaissance" ??) movement of the Tang-Song (??)
period. The great use of characterization and
plotting also influenced fictional writing,
including the classical short stories of the
middle and late medieval period (Tang-Ming), as
well as the vernacular novel of the late imperial
period.
The influence is derived from the following key
elements of his writing

Skillful depiction Sima portrayed many
distinguished subjects based on true historical
information. He would illustrated the response of
the subject by placing him in a sharp contrast or
juxtaposition, and then letting his words and
deeds speak for him. The use of conversations in
his writing also makes the descriptions more
vibrant and realistic.
Innovative approach Sima's new approach in
writing involved using language which was
informal, humorous and full of variations. This
was an innovative way of writing at that time and
thus it has always been esteemed as the highest
achievement of classical Chinese writing even Lu
Xun (??) regarded Shiji as "the first and last
great work by historians, poems of Qu Yuan
without rhyme." (?????,?????) in his Hanwenxueshi
Gangyao (??????).
Concise language The style was simple, concise,
fluent, and easy-to-read. Sima made his own
comments while recounting the historical events.
In writing the biographies in Shiji, he avoided
making general descriptions, and instead tried to
catch the essence of the events. He would portray
the subjects concretely, giving the readers vivid
images with strong artistic appeal.

71
Conclusion

Throughout history, Chinese philosophy has been
molded to fit the prevailing school of thought in
China. The Chinese schools of philosophy, except
during the Qin Dynasty, have been relatively
tolerant of one another.
Instead of competing, they generally have
cooperated and shared ideas, which they would
usually incorporate with their own. For example,
Neo-Confucianism was a revived version of old
Confucian principles that appeared around the
Song Dynasty, with Buddhist, Taoist, and Legalist
features.
philosophy has spread around the world in forms
such as the so-called New Confucianism and New
Age ideas such as Chinese traditional medicine.
Many in the academic community of the West,
however, remain skeptical, and only a few
assimilate Chinese philosophy into their own
research, whether scientific or philosophical.

72
Matteo Ricci a footnote

Born in 1552 in Macerata, then part of the Papal
States, Ricci started learning theology and law
in a Roman Jesuits' school. In 1577,
He filed an application to be a member of a
Missionary to India, and his journey began in
March 1578 from Lisbon, Portugal, arrived in Goa,
a Portuguese Colony, in September 1578, and four
years later hwas dispatched to China.
In 1582, he started learning the Chinese language
and customs in Macao, a Portuguese trading post
in Southern China, and became a rarely seen
Western scholar who mastered Chinese classical
script. He moved to Beijing in 1601, where he
presented himself at the Imperial court of Wanli.
Not only could he write in ancient Chinese, he
was also renowned for his great understanding of
Chinese culture.
He later discovered that Confucian thought was
dominant in the Ming dynasty in China. Ricci
became the first to translate the Confucian
classics into a western language, Latin in fact
"Confucius" was Ricci's own Latinisation.

Matteo Ricci (left) and Xu Guangqi(???) (right)
in the Chinese edition of Euclid's Elements
(????).
73
Sites Cited

Norton Anthology Resource http//www.wwnorton.com/
nawol/s3_overview.htm
Clothing of China http//www.library.utoronto.ca/e
ast/students03/tai_amy/ancient.htm
The Art of China http//www.artsmia.org/art-of-asi
a/history/dynasty-chou.cfm
Chinas Ancient Dynasties and Geography
http//www.uic.edu/educ/bctpi/whittier/curriculum/
china/
About the Yellow River http//www.cis.umassd.edu/
gleung/geofo/geogren.html

74
Sites Consulted

Confucius K'ung-fu-tzu or Kongfuzi
http//www.friesian.com/confuci.htm
Multi-Lingual Web Site of Confusions Publishing
http//www.confucius.org/maine.htm
Quotations by Author Confusions
http//www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Confucius/
Taoism Information Page http//www.clas.ufl.edu/us
ers/gthursby/taoism/cz-text2.htm
Lao Tzu Father of Taoism http//www.chebucto.ns.c
a/Philosophy/Taichi/lao.html

"Taoism The interpretation of Chuang-tzu
Encyclopædia Britannica. 2005. Encyclopædia
Britannica Online. 1 Nov. 2005 lthttp//search.eb.c
om/eb/article-59714gt.
Wheeler, L.Kip, Chinese Poetry Dr. Wheelers
Home Page. http//web.cn.edu/kwheeler/chinese_poet
ry.html 27 Oct. 2005.
"Taoism." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2005.
Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 1 Nov. 2005 lthttp
//search.eb.com/eb/article-9105866gt.
"Lao-tzu." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2005.
Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 1 Nov. 2005 lthttp
//search.eb.com/eb/article-9047153gt
Music used in opening slides found at
http//logic.csc.cuhk.edu.hk/b402755/gallery.html