Early China: The Shangshu and the Origins of Chinese Political Philosophy

Course topics: Shangshu and the Origins of Chinese Political Philosophy. Readings in the Shangshu and its traditional commentaries, with a review of its history of scholarship from antiquity to the present. Specific issues of discussion include the role of the Shangshu in Warring States and Han political and philosophical discourse, the formation of its different chapters in terms of language and ideology, its relation to bronze inscriptions and the Shijing, its presence in recently excavated manuscripts, and its place in Zhou political and religious ritual.