{"title":"Introduction and Background to The Oxford Handbook on Early China","authors":"E. Childs-Johnson","doi":"10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199328369.013.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199328369.013.1","url":null,"abstract":"The volume, The Oxford Handbook on Early China, offers a rich assembly of pioneering research on pre-imperial China. The study is a coordinated, multidisciplinary approach focused on the period before the establishment of imperial rule, encompassing the whole span of time from the Neolithic through Eastern Zhou eras, ca. 5000–250 bce. Our approach is multidisciplinary in encompassing fields ranging from archaeology, anthropology, art history, architecture, metallurgy, literature, religion, paleography, cosmology, prehistory, to history. This interdisciplinary perspective of 33 authors profoundly enhances our understanding of early China and its cultural achievements in multiple directions.","PeriodicalId":395464,"journal":{"name":"The Oxford Handbook of Early China","volume":"31 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127320251","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Mozi","authors":"Vincent Leung","doi":"10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199328369.013.33","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199328369.013.33","url":null,"abstract":"This chapter introduces the basic philosophical tenets of the Mozi. It is a vast collection of texts attributed to the eponymous figure, who probably lived in the late fifth century bce, and his followers in the next few centuries. This chapter is divided into three sections. The first discusses the biographical details of this shadowy figure Mozi, the problematic textual history of this tome, and the historical significance of this tradition of ethical and political thought that bears his name. The second section focuses on the method of the philosophy of the Mozi, with a special focus on its reliance on etiological rhetoric. The third and last section discusses the core teachings of the Mozi, including the idea of Heaven’s will; the efficacy of meritocracy; the virtue of impartiality; the necessity of moderate expenditure; the veritable existence of ghosts and spirits; and its impassioned arguments against warfare, fatalism, and what Mozi and his followers understood to be the teaching of the Confucians popular in their own time.","PeriodicalId":395464,"journal":{"name":"The Oxford Handbook of Early China","volume":"32 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115395643","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Historical Background during the Springs and Autumns Period","authors":"Y. Pines","doi":"10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199328369.013.23","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199328369.013.23","url":null,"abstract":"This chapter explores the political and social order of the aristocratic Springs and Autumns period. It analyzes the formation of the multistate system in the wake of the weakening of the Zhou dynasty, this system’s functioning, and the eventual collapse of the attempts to ensure viable multistate order. The chapter shows that aggravating political fragmentation notwithstanding, the aristocratic elites throughout the Zhou realm maintained considerable cultural unity. Even the elites of alien political entities, such as Wu and Yue, became increasingly absorbed into the broad framework of the Zhou culture, contributing therewith to the expansion of the Zhou realm and the softening of Sino-alien dichotomy. The second part of the chapter focuses on domestic life of the component polities of the Zhou world. Particular attention is given to the power of hereditary aristocrats (specifically, the ministerial lineages) and to political activism of the lower stratum of “capital-dwellers,” who emerged as major beneficiaries of the ongoing struggles between the rulers and their chief ministers.","PeriodicalId":395464,"journal":{"name":"The Oxford Handbook of Early China","volume":"8 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123489039","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}