The art of narrative and the rhetoric of persuasion in the “*Jīn Téng” (Metal Bound Casket) from the Tsinghua collection of manuscripts
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Dirk Meyer
Abstract
This article reconstructs the rhetoric of persuasion in the “Zhōu Wǔwáng yǒu jí” 周武王有疾 (King Wǔ of Zhōu suffered from illness), a text written on fourteen bamboo slips that is part of the Tsinghua collection of manuscripts and presumably dates to the Warring States period (ca. 481–222 BC). The “Zhōu Wǔwáng yǒu jí” has well-known transmitted counterparts in the Shàngshū and the Shǐjì, but in comparison with these texts, it largely omits explicit comment on the role of the Duke of Zhōu 周公 after the death of King Wǔ 武王. By taking this difference seriously and analysing the art of narrative in the text, this article reconstructs the social use of the text in the politico-philosophical discourse of the Warring States period. By drawing on theoretical work by Mieke Bal and Jan Assmann on narratology and memory production, this structural analysis of the “Zhōu Wǔwáng yǒu jí” further enables new insights into the circulation of knowledge, as well as into the production and circulation of texts at the time.
©2014 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Munich/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Introduction
- Aufsätze – Articles – Articles
- A sidelong glance
- On comparative approaches to rhetoric in ancient China
- The art of narrative and the rhetoric of persuasion in the “*Jīn Téng” (Metal Bound Casket) from the Tsinghua collection of manuscripts
- A weapon in the battle of definitions: a special rhetorical strategy in Hánfēizǐ
- Rhetoric as the Art of Listening: Concepts of Persuasion in the First Eleven Chapters of the Guiguzi
- Handling a double-edged sword: Controlling rhetoric in early China
- Rhetorical functions of quotations in late pre-imperial and early imperial memorials on questions of civilian-military leadership
- The Yang Mo 楊墨 dualism and the rhetorical construction of heterodoxy
- The sage as teacher and source of knowledge: editorial strategies and formulaic utterances in Confucius dialogues
- On the antique rhetoric of friendship
- Rezensionen – Comptes rendus – Reviews
- Rezensionen – Comptes rendus – Reviews
- Rezensionen – Comptes rendus – Reviews
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Introduction
- Aufsätze – Articles – Articles
- A sidelong glance
- On comparative approaches to rhetoric in ancient China
- The art of narrative and the rhetoric of persuasion in the “*Jīn Téng” (Metal Bound Casket) from the Tsinghua collection of manuscripts
- A weapon in the battle of definitions: a special rhetorical strategy in Hánfēizǐ
- Rhetoric as the Art of Listening: Concepts of Persuasion in the First Eleven Chapters of the Guiguzi
- Handling a double-edged sword: Controlling rhetoric in early China
- Rhetorical functions of quotations in late pre-imperial and early imperial memorials on questions of civilian-military leadership
- The Yang Mo 楊墨 dualism and the rhetorical construction of heterodoxy
- The sage as teacher and source of knowledge: editorial strategies and formulaic utterances in Confucius dialogues
- On the antique rhetoric of friendship
- Rezensionen – Comptes rendus – Reviews
- Rezensionen – Comptes rendus – Reviews
- Rezensionen – Comptes rendus – Reviews
