Early Medieval China

Wendy Swartz is an associate professor of Chinese literature at Rutgers University. She is the author of Reading Tao Yuanming: Shifting Paradigms of Historical Reception (427-1900) and articles on early medieval Chinese poetry and classical literary thought and criticism. Robert Ford Campany is a professor of Asian studies and religion at Vanderbilt University. He is the author of Making Transcendents: Ascetics and Social Memory in Early Medieval China and three other books and numerous articles on the history of Chinese religions and the comparative study of religion. Yang Lu has taught at Princeton University and the University of Kansas and is a professor of Chinese history at Peking University. He specializes in the history of medieval China and of Buddhism. His publications include works on the cultural and political history of the Tang dynasty, Buddhist scholasticism in China, and Chinese historiography. Jessey J. C. Choo is an assistant professor at Rutgers University and specializes in the cultural history of medieval China. She is currently finishing a book-length study on memory, identity, and the transformation of mortuary and commemorative rituals in medieval China.

A rich and pathbreaking collection of materials that span the humanistic discipliines, this volume includes key texts that should not be omitted in a sourcebook of this kind as well as many that are available for the first time in English. Its thematic organization encourages new ways of thinking about the period that transcend traditional boundaries. The expert translations and extensive critical matter will make this an indispensable resource on early medieval China. -- Pauline Yu, President, American Council of Learned Societies [An] excellent resource... Highly recommended. CHOICE [A] pioneering handbook. Library Journal

• Chronological Contents Acknowledgments A Note on the Translations Abbreviations Introduction Part I. The North and the South by Jessey J. C. Choo 1. Return to the North? The Debate on Moving the Capital Back to Luoyang, by Jessey J. C. Choo 2. The Disputation at Pengcheng: Accounts from the Wei shu and the Song shu, by Albert E. Dien 3. Between Imitation and Mockery: The Southern Treatments of Northern Cultures, by Jessey J. C. Choo 4. Literary Imagination of the North and South, by Ping Wang Part II. Governing Mechanisms and Social Reality by Yang Lu 5. Managing Locality in Early Medieval China: Evidence from Changsha, by Yang Lu 6. Classical Scholarship in the Shu Region: The Case of Qiao Zhou, by J. Michael Farmer 7. Ranking Men and Assessing Talent: Xiahou Xuan's Response to an Inquiry by Sima Yi, by Timothy M. Davis 8. On Land and Wealth: Liu Zishang's "Petition on Closing Off Mountains and Lakes" and Yang Xi's "Discussion on Abolishing Old Regulations Regarding Mountains and Marshes", by Charles Holcombe 9. Crime and Punishment: The Case of Liu Hui in the Wei shu, by Jen-der Lee 10. Marriage and Social Status: Shen Yue's "Impeaching Wang Yuan", by David R. Knechtges 11. Religion and Society on the Silk Road: The Inscriptional Evidence from Turfan, by Huaiyu Chen Part III. Cultural Capital by Wendy Swartz 12. The Art of Discourse: Xi Kang's "Sound Is Without Sadness or Joy", by Robert Ashmore 13. Poetry on the Mysterious: The Writings of Sun Chuo, by Paul W. Kroll 14. The Art of Poetry Writing: Liu Xiaochuo's "Becoming the Number-One Person for the Number-One Position", by Ping Wang 15. Six Poems from a Liang Dynasty Princely Court, by Xiaofei Tian 16. Pei Ziye's "Discourse on Insect Carving", by Jack W. Chen 17. Classifying the Literary Tradition: Zhi Yu's "Discourse on Literary Compositions Divided by Genre", by Wendy Swartz 18. Zhong Rong's Preface to Grades of the Poets, by Stephen Owen 19. Book Collecting and Cataloging in the Age of Manuscript Culture: Xiao Yi's Master of the Golden Tower and Ruan Xiaoxu's Preface to Seven Records, by Xiaofei Tian Part IV. Imaging Self and Other by Wendy Swartz 20. Biographies of Recluses: Huangfu Mi's Accounts of High-Minded Men, by Alan Berkowitz 21. Classifications of People and Conduct: Selections from Liu Shao's Treatise on Personality and Liu Yiqing's Recent Anecdotes from the Talk of the Ages, by Jack W. Chen 22. The Literary Community at the Court of the Liang Crown Prince, by Ping Wang 23. Self-Narration: Tao Yuanming's "Biography of the Master of Five Willows" and Yuan Can's "Biography of the Master of Wonderful Virtue", by Wendy Swartz 24. On Political and Personal Fate: Three Selections from Jiang Yan's Prose and Verse, by Paul W. Kroll 25. The Shadow Image in the Cave: Discourse on Icons, by Eugene Wang Part V. Everyday Life by Jessey J. C. Choo and Albert E. Dien 26. Dietary Habits: Shu Xi's "Rhapsody on Pasta", by David R. Knechtges 27. The Epitaph of a Third-Century Wet Nurse, Xu Yi, by Jen-der Lee 28. Festival and Ritual Calendar: Selections from Record of the Year and Seasons of Jing-Chu, by Ian Chapman 29. Custom and Society: The Family Instructions of Mr. Yan, by Albert E. Dien 30. Adoption and Motherhood: "The Petition Submitted by Lady [nee] Yu", by Jessey J. C. Choo 31. Estate Culture in Early Medieval China: The Case of Shi Chong, by David R. Knechtges Part VI. Relations with the Unseen World by Robert Ford Campany 32. Biographies of Eight Autocremators and Huijiao's "Critical Evaluation", by James A. Benn 33. Divine Instructions for an Official, by Stephen R. Bokenkamp 34. Tales of Strange Events, by Robert Ford Campany 35. Texts for Stabilizing Tombs, by Timothy M. Davis 36. Reciting Scriptures to Move the Spirits, by Clarke Hudson 37. Confucian Views of the Supernatural, by Keith N. Knapp 38. Encounters in Mountains, by Gil Raz List of Contributors Index