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Sinology, as far as textual criticism is concerned, is still in its infancy compared with, e. g., New Testament, classical Greek or European medieval studies. Whereas virtually every ancient Greek, old English, or early German text – to name but a few – has been the subject of text critical scrutiny, in many cases even since Renaissance times, the same does not hold true for Chinese works. In the absence of early manuscripts they could themselves base upon, modern editions of classical Chinese texts usually take as their starting point the earliest extant printed versions which quite often date from Song times and are thus separated by many centuries from the no longer available originals. However, quite often testimonies of ancient texts exist as quotations in works that considerably predate the first printed versions of the texts in question. In view of this fact, virtually every classical Chinese text needs to be systematically re-examined and critically edited by taking into account every available explicit as well as implicit quotation. As the received version of the Zhuang zi 莊子 (Master Zhuang), a text whose origins may lie in the third century BCE, ultimately goes back to Guo Xiang’s 郭象 (ob. 312) editorial activities and as Ge Hong 葛洪 (283–343) was an author active at about the same time, there is a chance that a pre-Guo Xiang version may have been available to him. Therefore, as a case study, this paper examines the explicit as well as implicit Zhuang zi quotations to be found within Ge Hong’s works, in order to examine this possibility.

“Buddho-Taoism” is a neologism that appeared in Western academic writings during the late nineteen-forties, was put to various uses without ever being consensually defined, enjoyed a brief vogue around the turn of the twenty-first century, and began to fall from grace in recent years. Not only did this neologism implicitly create new epistemic repertoires derived from the names of two presumably known religions. Increasingly loaded with a heterogeneous subtext pertaining to Western-centred representations of the non-European Other, it has become a highly versatile speech unit. By contextualising the appearance of “Buddho-Taoism” and its attested variants in European-language writings and following their semantic evolution, this essay attempts to shed light on some of the problems raised by its retrospective implementation in contemporary Western discourse on China. It also illustrates the power of seduction of trendy terms that academics tend to overuse without careful consideration for their meaning, thereby adding unnecessary problems to the intrinsic difficulties of their primary materials.

Résumé  Cet article s’emploie à réfuter la thèse à la mode selon laquelle à date ancienne il n’existerait pas d’école confucianiste à proprement parler, d’une part en démontant les arguments des tenants de cette théorie et en second lieu en proposant une nouvelle lecture des documents à notre disposition.

This paper examines the images of trigram Gen in the Yijing , with a focus on images in the Shuogua 說卦 commentary. The Shuogua presents images either found in or to be extrapolated from the base text within a structured and highly interpretive system that forms “image programs” for each of the eight trigrams. I argue the Shuogua ’s image programs have a defined architecture, and its images are not random lists of words collected without an agenda and devoid of relationships and mutual interaction with others. My main thesis is a high percentage of images in the Changes developed through a simple and direct pictographic method, like the one used in a recently discovered Warring States period divination guidebook called Shifa 筮法 ( Method of Milfoil Divination *), that was done by matching the graphic shapes of individual numbers and the overall shapes of numbers in three-line combination to shapes of real objects and logographs. If a diviner could see so many pictographic images in single numbers and sequences of numbers in combination, like what we now see in operation in the Shifa , then we ought to assume that a deeper repository of subjective and innovative images could be observed in number combinations at the multiline, trigram, and hexagram levels. Stated directly, trigram and hexagram diagrams were not pictorially meaningless; numbers produced images, and images produced the words and judgments that form early layers of text. Professional diviners had an expert knowledge of the tradition and Warring States use of the Changes continued to develop and explain image programs for the eight trigrams along these guidelines.

This paper provides an investigation into Jesuits’ use of secular dialectical strategies during the early part of their evangelization mission in China. In order to prove the relevance of rhetoric stratagems – i. e. scientific verification, logic and universalism of norms – in their attack against Buddhism, this article examines a neglected text, Posthumous Disputes ( Bianxue yidu 辯學遺牘). While the Posthumous Disputes (PD) was improperly attributed to Ricci, it is a prime example of Ricci’s accommodation method. Documenting the first real confrontation between a Buddhist and a Christian in China, this text provides an extraordinary window into the first dispute between Europe and China. The secular method of accommodation modelled by Ricci to convert Chinese literati was grounded in the universality of reason that he inherited from Aristotle and Aquinas and the fascination with Western science and techniques. The author uses the universality of reason to both reject Buddhism and Daoism as irrational, unscientific, and non-universal and to present the Christian faith as the most rational doctrine.