Divination, Mythology and Monarchy in Han China

ISBN-13: 9780521454667 / Angielski / Twarda / 1994 / 376 str.

Michael Loewe

Opis

The four centuries of the Han dynasties from 206 BC to AD 220 witnessed major developments in the ideas of sovereignty. Michael Loewe traces these changes along with some of their religious aspects, including the techniques used by emperors and others to forecast the future or to divine the present. Both mythology and the tradition of learning affected the growth of the imperial ideal that, despite its failings, was of major importance both for the Han and China's subsequent dynasties.

Recenzje

"Anyone who prefers faddish jargon to lucid exposition is advised to look elsewhere." Journal of Interdisciplinary History

Spis treści

List of figures; Preface; Acknowledgements; List of abbreviations; Introduction: the history of the early empires; 1. Man and beast: the hybrid in early Chinese art and literature; 2. Water, earth and fire: the symbols of the Han dynasty; 3. The Han view of comets; 4. The authority of the emperors of Ch'in and Han; 5. The term K'an-yü and the choice of the moment; 6. Imperial sovereignty: Tung Chung-shu's contribution and his predecessors; 7. The cult of the dragon and the invocation for rain; 8. Divination by shells, bones and stalks during the Han period; 9. The oracles of the clouds and the winds; 10. The Almanacs (Jih-shu) from Shui-hu-ti: a preliminary survey; 11. The Chüeh-ti games: a re-enactment of the battle between Ch'ih-yu and Hsüan-yüan?; 12. The failure of the Confucian ethic in Later Han times; 13. The imperial tombs of the Former Han dynasty and their shrines; List of Han emperors; Glossary; Bibliography; Index.