The Intercultural Weaving of Historical Texts
Chinese and European Stories about Emperor Ku and His Concubines
Published on 26. May 2016
Book
Hardback
378 pages
978-90-04-31615-7 (ISBN)
Description
The European view on history was shaken to its foundations when missionaries in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries discovered that Chinese history was older than European and Biblical history. With an analysis of the Chinese, Manchu and European sources on ancient Chinese history, this essay proposes an early case of "intercultural historiography," in which historical texts of different cultures are interwoven.
It focusses on the ways Chinese and European authors interpreted stories about marvellous births by the concubines of Emperor Ku. These stories have been the object of a wide variety of interpretations in Chinese texts, each of them representing a different historical genre. They are excellent case-studies to illustrate how the Chinese hermeneutic strategies shaped the diversity of interpretations given by Europeans.
It focusses on the ways Chinese and European authors interpreted stories about marvellous births by the concubines of Emperor Ku. These stories have been the object of a wide variety of interpretations in Chinese texts, each of them representing a different historical genre. They are excellent case-studies to illustrate how the Chinese hermeneutic strategies shaped the diversity of interpretations given by Europeans.
Reviews / Votes
"a sinological tour de force" (...) Standaert's book on the intercultural "weaving of historical texts," East-West, is an example of scholarship at its best. He has again offered a contribution to the fields of classical sinology and sino-missionary studies that shall remain a necessary voice in the scholarly discourse on how China and the West have encountered and changed oneanother in ways that have transformed the fabric of history."Anthony E. Clark, Whitworth University, Spokane, WA, Journal of Jesuit Studies 4 (2017)
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Leiden
Netherlands
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 241 mm
Width: 159 mm
Thickness: 27 mm
Weight
663 gr
ISBN-13
978-90-04-31615-7 (9789004316157)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Nicolas Standaert (Ph.D. Leiden University, 1984) is Professor of Sinology at the University of Leuven (Belgium). He has published widely on Sino-European cultural contacts in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
Content
Acknowledgments vii
List of Tables and Figures viii
Introduction 1
Part 1: Between Chinese and European Sources: Europeans Writing
Chinese History in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries
1 Comprehensive Histories in Late Ming and Early Qing and the Genealogy of the Gangjian ?? Texts 15
2 Jesuit Accounts of Chinese History and Chronology and Their Chinese Sources 94
Part 2: Between Text and Commentaries: Europeans Reading Chinese History in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries
3 Chinese Interpretations of Marvellous Births 169
4 Jesuit Interpretations of Marvellous Births 226
Conclusion 303
Postface 315
Bibliography 322
Index 354
List of Tables and Figures viii
Introduction 1
Part 1: Between Chinese and European Sources: Europeans Writing
Chinese History in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries
1 Comprehensive Histories in Late Ming and Early Qing and the Genealogy of the Gangjian ?? Texts 15
2 Jesuit Accounts of Chinese History and Chronology and Their Chinese Sources 94
Part 2: Between Text and Commentaries: Europeans Reading Chinese History in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries
3 Chinese Interpretations of Marvellous Births 169
4 Jesuit Interpretations of Marvellous Births 226
Conclusion 303
Postface 315
Bibliography 322
Index 354