Naslov
Elements of the syncretist tradition in the Chunqiu Fanlu's chapters on the theory of rulership

Autori
Buljan, Ivana

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Ocjenski radovi, diplomski rad, diplomski

Fakultet
Faculty of Arts and Philosophy i Filozofski fakultet

Mjesto
Ghent, Zagreb

Datum
22.07

Godina
2013

Stranica
320

Mentor
Heirmann Ann ; Rošker ; Jana ; Dessein, Bart ; Čakardić, Ankica

Ključne riječi
Chunqiu fanlu, rulership, syncretic chapters

Sažetak
My research, entitled „The Luxuriant Dew of the Spring and Autumn Annals: Syncretic elements on the art of rulership“, concerns the text Chunqiu fanlu (henceforth: CQFL) which is a compendium of Chinese philosophy and statecraft, traditionally ascribed to a pivotal Confucian scholar from the Former Han dynasty (206 BCE – 9 CE), Dong Zhongshu (c. 179 to 104 BCE.). The Chinese tradition attributes him a tremendous role in establishing Confucianism as the state ideology during the reign of emperor Wu (140 – 134 BCE) and in bringing the new Confucian system to its fullest development. The CQFL had a great impact on generations of scholars in traditional China. Its vision of sovereignty and the relationship between humans and Heaven was highly relevant to the development of the ethico-political discourse of Chinese Confucianism. The text itself has been commented upon in China throughout history, as the most authoritative text of Chinese Confucianism from Han time onward. Despite of its importance, the CQFL has not received proper non-Chinese scholarly attention. It has not been fully translated into any Western language and it is one of the rare major Chinese classical texts which still lacks a full Japanese translation. Part of the reason for this lies in the complexity of the text connected with some doubts about its authenticity and textual integrity. Recent scholarship has shown that several chapters of the CQFL address the problem of statecraft in a highly syncretic manner, blending ideas from different sources. The linguistic features and the intellectual questions they elucidate make them different from other materials found in the Chuniqiu fanlu. Following and expanding the research conducted by the above mentioned scholars this research is focused on this literary unit (ch.18-23) of the text. The purpose of the research was twofold: firstly, to place this literary unit in its proper historical context and secondly, to analyze the political theory presented and advanced by these essays. As these chapters address the problem of statecraft in a highly syncretic manner, the research is concerned with the questions how and to what degree their author(s) had took elements from different sources in order to recompose into a new vision of rulership and statecraft. The analysis of these chapters will be preceded by their annotated translation. As to methodology of the research, a philological and hermeneutical approach is applied. Firstly, through a comparison of the received text with other editions and manuscripts an attempt is made to find out what might be the original version of the chapters. Secondly, the doctrinal content of these chapters is scrutinized in relation to other Han and pre-Han texts in order to reconstruct their main political concepts in terms of their historical origin and evolution. It is to be hoped that the research will contribute to our knowledge of Confucian statecraft in several ways. As it is focused on a particularly neglected portion of a disregarded and misunderstood text, it will shed light on the editing process of this text and its historical context. Secondly, it could show what the impact was of ideas of non- Confucian origin on Chinese Confucianism and on the development of Chinese political thought in general. More specifically it demonstrates how originally non-Confucian ideas have transformed the subsequent development of Chinese Confucianism. The vocabulary presented in the syncretic CQLF chapters and in the text as a whole are the concepts that structured Chinese political thought, ancient and as well as modern. Therefore, the outcome of the research can be relevant for an adequate understanding and appreciation of the contemporary Chinese government and administration. The theories and vocabulary presented in the statecraft chapters of the CQFL are not only important to scholars and students of Chinese culture, but are also relevant for a general academic public in humanities and social sciences. And last but not least, the political theories grounded in ancient Chinese thought can be very new and fresh from a western point of view and can contribute in current debates on the art of rulership and administration.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Filozofija, Filologija

POVEZANOST RADA