Numerical lists of foundational knowledge in early Chinese and early Buddhist traditions
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Yegor Grebnev
Abstract
In this paper, I compare the material in the Pāli canon of Theravada Buddhism, a textual tradition famous for the abundance of numerical lists, with certain chapters of the Yi Zhou shu 逸周書 and chapter “Hong fan” 洪範 of the Shang shu 尚書, where numerical lists are equally important. I propose a classification of the insufficiently studied numerical lists in the Yi Zhou shu and point out the divergences in them, suggesting that they were produced by competing communities that developed slightly discordant systems of knowledge. I compare the evolution of complex frameworks of numerical lists in the Buddhist traditions and in early China, arguing that both created comprehensive systems of knowledge-practice out of simpler lists. The peculiar form of numerical lists as vehicles of systematised knowledge-practice attested in both cultures may have originated in hierarchical communities with indisputable knowledge authority. Such communities are known to have existed in early Buddhism, and they have convincing parallels in China’s contemporary political practice, where numerical lists are used to unify the patterns of thinking and behaviour in hierarchical groups.
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I express gratitude to the Society of Fellows in the Liberal Arts at the Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen for supporting this research. Most of it was developed during my study as a DPhil student in Oxford, which was generously supported by the Clarendon Fund and Wolfson College, and specifically during my unforgettable research visit to the Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia at Tokyo University in 2015, which was made possible by Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation. I also thank the organisers and participants of the workshop “Buddhism and Ethnicity in the Period of 16 Kingdoms” held at Peking University in June 2019, where an earlier version of this paper was presented.
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Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Numerical lists of foundational knowledge in early Chinese and early Buddhist traditions
- Marco Polo: From Hangzhou to Quanzhou
- Two keys to Pyongyang’s past and future – moral center and Korean War
- Ice Cream in the Cathedral: The Literary Failures and Social Success of Chinese Robot Poet Xiao Bing
- Le care pour les personnes âgées en contexte « chinois » : une analyse comparative structurelle entre Taiwan et la République Populaire de Chine
- Explicit and hidden zoological categories in early Chinese taxonomies
- The vital centre: understanding the concept of Yao 要 in the Han Feizi 韓非子
- Political Rhetoric in the Hán Fēizǐ 韓非子
- Worth Vs. Power: Han Fei’s “Objection to Positional Power” Revisited
- Stratégie Pour la Corée
- Buchbesprechungen – Comptes Rendus – Book Reviews
- Ho, Ming-sho: Challenging Beijing’s Mandate of Heaven: Taiwan’s Sunflower Movement and Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement
- Müller Shing / Thomas O. Höllmann / Sonja Filip: Early Medieval North China: Archaeological and Textual Evidence
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Numerical lists of foundational knowledge in early Chinese and early Buddhist traditions
- Marco Polo: From Hangzhou to Quanzhou
- Two keys to Pyongyang’s past and future – moral center and Korean War
- Ice Cream in the Cathedral: The Literary Failures and Social Success of Chinese Robot Poet Xiao Bing
- Le care pour les personnes âgées en contexte « chinois » : une analyse comparative structurelle entre Taiwan et la République Populaire de Chine
- Explicit and hidden zoological categories in early Chinese taxonomies
- The vital centre: understanding the concept of Yao 要 in the Han Feizi 韓非子
- Political Rhetoric in the Hán Fēizǐ 韓非子
- Worth Vs. Power: Han Fei’s “Objection to Positional Power” Revisited
- Stratégie Pour la Corée
- Buchbesprechungen – Comptes Rendus – Book Reviews
- Ho, Ming-sho: Challenging Beijing’s Mandate of Heaven: Taiwan’s Sunflower Movement and Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement
- Müller Shing / Thomas O. Höllmann / Sonja Filip: Early Medieval North China: Archaeological and Textual Evidence
