The Corrected Interpretations of the Five Classics (Wujing zhengyi) and the Tang Legacy of Obscure Learning (Xuanxue).

The Corrected Interpretations of the Five Classics (Wujing zhengyi) is a surprisingly neglected source for the study of medieval Chinese intellectual history. Often considered more of a political performance than an intellectual one, the series has been charged with heterogeneity in its attempt to p...

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Published in:T'oung Pao Vol. 105; no. 1/2; pp. 76 - 128
Main Author: Bender, Lucas Rambo
Format: Article
Published: Brill Academic Publishers 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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        atl: The Corrected Interpretations of the Five Classics (Wujing zhengyi) and the Tang Legacy of Obscure Learning (Xuanxue).
      aug:
        au: Bender, Lucas Rambo
        affil: Yale University
      su:
        Wu jing
        Tang dynasty, China, 618-907
        Learning
        Intellectuals
        Literary interpretation
        Chinese history, 221 B.C.-960 A.D.
        Intellectual life
        China
      sug:
        subj:
          China
          Wu jing
          Tang dynasty, China, 618-907
          Learning
          Intellectuals
          Literary interpretation
          Chinese history, 221 B.C.-960 A.D.
          Intellectual life
      keyword:
        Classicism
        epistemology
        medieval
        Wujing zhengyi
      ab:
        The Corrected Interpretations of the Five Classics (Wujing zhengyi) is a surprisingly neglected source for the study of medieval Chinese intellectual history. Often considered more of a political performance than an intellectual one, the series has been charged with heterogeneity in its attempt to put an end to the intellectual disputes of the period of division and to craft an orthodoxy for the nascent Tang dynasty. This paper will show, however, that the Zhengyi subcommentaries do articulate a coherent intellectual position with regard to a set of crucial questions about the cosmos, the ancient sages, and the culture that they inaugurated. Repurposing xuanxue arguments about the inherent obscurity of the dao and the cosmos, the Zhengyi argues that most of us cannot understand the source of normative values, and that therefore our only recourse is to limit our intellectual presumptions and follow the models provided by the ancient Sage Kings.
        Résumé: Les Interprétations corrigées des cinq Classiques (Wujing zhengyi) ont, de façon surprenante, été assez négligées par l'histoire intellectuelle de la Chine médiévale. Elles sont souvent considérées comme un exercice politique plutôt qu'intellectuel ; leur ambition de mettre fin aux disputes de la période de division et de construire une orthodoxie pour la dynastie Tang naissante a débouché sur un résultat largement jugé comme hétérogène. Cet article montre au contraire que les sous-commentaires du Zhengyi articulent une position intellectuelle cohérente au regard d'un ensemble de questions essentielles concernant le cosmos, les anciens sages et la culture qu'ils ont créée. En recyclant des arguments venus du xuanxue qui affirmaient l'obscurité inhérente du dao et du cosmos, le Zhengyi avance que la plupart d'entre nous sont incapables de percevoir la source des valeurs normatives et que notre seul recours est de limiter nos présomptions à suivre les modèles offerts par les anciens sages et rois.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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