part in government, or how far his duty lay in refraining from initia-

4 introduction
or it might lead to a ban laid on certain texts that were deemed to be 
a threat to dynastic power. How effective such a measure was is open 
to question.
Other differences of view concerned the purpose of the religious 
cults of the emperor and the rituals whereby these were conducted. 
Hopes for a continued existence beyond the grave inspired a variety of 
ways of searching for immortality, expressed both in literature and art. 
The occurrence of rare and perhaps disastrous events of nature stimu-
lated a variety of explanations, some with implications for the survival 
of the dynasty. At a personal level, the stresses, trials and uncertainties 
of life had long produced ways of searching for wisdom or knowledge 
from occult sources with a trust in specialists who understood the 
means of procuring such a consolation in times of distress.
At a broader level, there were men of learning who explained the 
processes of change as seen in the heavens, on earth and in the lives 
of mankind as stages in a major, universal cycle of being. Differing 
concepts and forms of such a cycle were applied variously to account 
for visible phenomena, the destiny of human beings or perhaps the 
ordering of daily life. Specialists who saw themselves as masters of 
astronomy produced different ways of registering the passage of time, 
in calendars that required official approval and adoption.
Attention to these problems varied throughout Qin and Han times. 
Ideas were presented, accepted or dropped; faith in the teachings of 
one master or another grew and lapsed; promotion of a project or plan 
might bring with it unpopularity or even a danger of death. Overall, a 
sense of hierarchy seems to have imposed itself on the ways in which 
thinkers framed their conclusions, rulers conducted their government 
or individuals ordered their family relationships. 
Accompanying the marked institutional, social and economic 
changes witnessed over four hundred years there ran major changes 
in religious and intellectual movements, whose extent may not always 
have been recognised by historians, particularly those who have 
emphasised a continuity in China’s traditions. But the differences that 
arose between Qin, Western Han and Eastern Han times were of a 
radical nature, such that leading figures of Western Han Might well 
have been astonished or even shocked, had an occult source shown 
them a preview of later times. We may reflect or speculate on the 
astonishment with which Li Si 
李斯 (executed 207 BCE), Shusun Tong 
叔孫通 ( fl. 200 BCE) or Lu Jia (ca. 228–ca. 140 BCE) would have 
viewed the institutions and practices of Chengdi’s reign (33–7 BCE). 

 introduction 
5
Liu Xiang 
劉向 (79–8 BCE) or Liu Xin 劉歆 (46 BCE–23 CE) might 
well have been puzzled by the teachings of the Buddha, and distrusted 
their implications. The desecration of an emperor’s tomb would have 
been profoundly shocking;
5
and they might well have deplored the 
call of at least one writer for a return to the disciplines and severities 
of Qin.
6
In all this we are drawn to the part played by Dong Zhongshu in 
intellectual choice and the practical decisions of the second century 
BCE. Despite the problems that are involved and which will be dis-
cussed below, a number of scholars who write about Dong Zhong-
shu have been ready to cite various chapters of the Chunqiu fanlu 
春秋繁露 as deriving from his hand, or to show him to have been 
a leader of a Confucian mode of thought (see the Appendix below). 
Many of the secondary writings that are now considered here bring 
out what may be termed a traditional view of Dong Zhongshu as one 
of the prime leaders of Confucianism. Possibly those of Anne Cheng, 
Wallacker, Bujard, Arbuckle, and Queen are among the most valuable, 
being written critically on the basis of research, rather than as general 
opinions.
In these circumstances it is clearly necessary to place Dong Zhong-
shu and his reputation within the context of the historical and intellec-
tual development of Han times, for which a brief summary is offered 
in Chapter One below. Subsequent chapters consider the circum-
stances of his life, the position that he took in public affairs and the 
views of his achievements that were taken from Han to Qing times. An 
account of his writings other than the Chunqiu fanlu is followed by a 
discussion of the subjects treated and ideas voiced therein. Four sub-
sequent chapters which are concerned with the Chunqiu fanlu address 
the problems of its textual transmission and authenticity, the contents 
expressed in the book, its ideas and the problems that they raised.
From the appendix which follows it may be seen that, with some 
notable exceptions, a number of Western and some Chinese writers 
have been ready to accept a description of Dong Zhongshu as ‘Confu-
cian’ together with the assumption that a system or mode of thought 
that is called ‘Confucianism’ was recognised in Western Han times. 
5
The tomb of Shundi was desecrated three months after his death in 144 CE; HHS 
6, p. 276.
6
For Cui Shi 
崔寔, see Balazs, Chinese Civilization and Bureaucracy (1964), 
pp. 205–13.

6 introduction
The chapters which follow question how far such assertions can be 
validated.
Where it is appropriate detailed evidence has been relegated to the 
appendices of some of the chapters. Readers who wish for a summary 
of the arguments may prefer to proceed directly to the conclusions 
that are set out in Chapter Nine.

tải về 2.61 Mb.

Chia sẻ với bạn bè của bạn: