
Dialogues in the Dark
Interpreting "Heavenly Questions" across Two Millennia
Nicholas Morrow Williams(Author)
Harvard University Press
Published on 26. August 2025
Book
Hardback
400 pages
978-0-674-29999-3 (ISBN)
Description
Dialogues in the Dark traces how Chinese readers and scholars since the Han dynasty have variously interpreted the ancient poem "Heavenly Questions" (Tianwen), an enigmatic work attributed to Qu Yuan (fl. ca. 300 BCE). The poem, composed entirely in the form of questions, is an extended inquiry into early Chinese cosmology and history. Over centuries, readers of the poem came to radically different understandings, each providing a unique perspective on its meaning. The poem's reception history comprises three main stages: first, the commentary compiled by Han scholar Wang Yi (ca. 89-ca. 158); second, the response by Tang poet Liu Zongyuan (773-819); and third, the interpretations developed subsequently by late imperial and modern scholars. Nicholas Morrow Williams analyzes how the poem's meaning evolved in different time periods and provides three new translations of "Heavenly Questions" to represent the three stages, respectively. The ultimate thesis of this study, inspired by the hermeneutics of Hans-Georg Gadamer, is that this poem is best understood in light of the different interpretations supplied by readers over time in lively dialogues that continue even now.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge, Mass
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Illustrations
3 illus., 1 color illus, 3 tables
Dimensions
Height: 162 mm
Width: 237 mm
Thickness: 30 mm
Weight
650 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-674-29999-3 (9780674299993)
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
Nicholas Morrow Williams is Professor of Chinese at Arizona State University.