Ideology of Power and Power of Ideology in Early China

Ideology of Power and Power of Ideology in Early China explores ancient Chinese political thought during the centuries surrounding the formation of the empire in 221 BCE. The individual chapters examine the ideology and practices of legitimation, views of rulership, conceptualizations of ruler-minister relations, economic thought, and the bureaucratic administration of commoners.
The contributors analyze the formation of power relations from various angles, ranging from artistic expression to religious ideas, political rhetoric, and administrative action. They demonstrate the interrelatedness of historiography and political ideology and show how the same text served both to strengthen the ruler’s authority and moderate his excesses. Together, the chapters highlight the immense complexity of ancient Chinese political thought, and the deep tensions running within it.
Contributors include Scott Cook, Joachim Gentz, Paul R. Goldin, Romain Graziani, Martin Kern, Liu Zehua, Luo Xinhui, Yuri Pines, Roel Sterckx, and Charles Sanft.

Yuri Pines, Ph.D. (1998), is Professor of Chinese Studies, Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His publications include The Everlasting Empire: Traditional Chinese Political Culture and Its Enduring Legacy (Princeton 2012) and Envisioning Eternal Empire: Chinese Political Thought of the Warring States Era (Hawaii 2009).

Paul R. Goldin, Ph.D. (1996), Professor of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Pennsylvania. His publications include Rituals of the Way: The Philosophy of Xunzi (Open Court, 1999), The Culture of Sex in Ancient China (Hawaii, 2002), After Confucius: Studies in Early Chinese Philosophy (Hawaii, 2005), and Confucianism (Routledge and California, 2011).

Martin Kern, Ph.D. (1996) is Professor of East Asian Studies at Princeton University. His publications include The Stele Inscriptions of Ch’in Shih-huang: Text and Ritual in Early Chinese Imperial Representation (American Oriental Society 2000) and Text and Ritual in Early China (ed., Washington 2005).