Fragments Speak: Reexamining the Rejected Pre-Du Yu Commentaries on the Zuozhuan

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Pauli Tashima, Director of Chinese and Asian Studies, Assistant Professor of Chinese and Asian Studies (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/

Abstract: As this paper shows, though considered largely philological or lexical in nature,early medieval (1st–7th c. CE) commentaries on the Zuozhuan ?? (ca. 4th c. BCE), anearly Chinese historical narrative, not only bring to the fore ambiguities in the text itself, but also generate divergent literary scenarios and character judgments under-examined by modern Zuozhuan scholars. Commissioned by Tang Taizong’s ??? court (626–649 CE), the imperial compilers of the Zuozhuan zhengyi ???? (Corrected meaning of the Zuozhuan) adopted Du Yu’s ?? (222–284) commentary on the Zuozhuan and implicitly rejected Eastern Han (25–220 CE) commentaries. This article considers marginalized commentaries written before Du Yu’s time as particularly valuable because such earlier competing interpretations could destabilize—in our latter day perspective—the readings “fixed” by the early Tang authorization of Du Yu’s commentary.

Additional Information

Publication
Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews 38 (December 2016): 1–39.
Language: English
Date: 2016
Keywords
Zuozhuan, commentaries

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