The Yijing and Chinese Politics: Classical Commentary and Literati Activism in the Northern Song Period, 960-1127This book is the first comprehensive study of Yijing (Book of Changes) commentary during the Northern Song period, showing how it reflects a coming to terms with major political and social changes. Seen as a transitional period in China s history, the Northern Song (960 1127) is often described as the midpoint in the Tang-Song transition or as the beginning of Song-Ming Neo-Confucianism. Challenging this traditional view, Tze-ki Hon demonstrates the complexity of the Northern Song by breaking it into three periods characterized by, alternately, the reestablishment of civil governance, large-scale reforms, and a descent into factional rivalry. To illustrate the distinct characteristics of these three periods, Hon compares commentaries by Hu Yuan, Zhang Zai, and Cheng Yi with five other Yijing commentaries, highlighting the broad parameters, as well as the specific content, of an extremely important world of discourse the debate on literati activism. These differing views on the literati s role in civil governance prove how lively, diverse, and intense Northern Song intellectual life was, while also reminding us how important it is to understand the history of the period on its own terms. |
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Beijing Beisong bureaucratic factionalism Chen Cheng Yi China Chinese Ching chubanshe civil bureaucrats civil governance civil service examinations Classic of Changes commentators Confucian coruling Daoxue daxue discussion early Northern Song educated elite essays Fan Zhongyan Feng Dao Five Dynasties Guan Heaven and Earth Hengqu yishuo hexagram hidden dragon Hu Yuan Hu's juan Kong Yingda learning line statement meaning mid-Northern Song military Ming moral cultivation moral metaphysics Northern Song Yijing officials one's Ouyang Xiu political Qian reform sage scholars Shao Yong Siku quanshu Sima Guang sixty-four hexagrams SKQS social Song government Song shi Su Shi subcommentary SYXA Tang translation trigram Tuan statement University Press Wang Anshi Wang Anshi's Wang Bi Wang Bi's Weiji Wilhelm/Baynes Xici statement Xugua yanjiu Yi's Yichuan yizhuan Yijing commentaries yin lines yixue Yuan's Zai's Zhang Zai ji Zhonghua shuju Zhou Zhouyi kouyi Zhouyi zhengyi Zhouyi zhu Zhu Xi