Dialogues in the Dark: Interpreting “Heavenly Questions” across Two Millennia (Harvard-Yenching Institute Monograph Series) - Hardcover

Williams, Nicholas Morrow

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 067429999X ISBN 13: 9780674299993

Verlag: Harvard University Press, 2025

Inhaltsangabe

Dialogues in the Dark traces how Chinese readers and scholars since the Han dynasty have variously interpreted the ancient poem “Heavenly Questions” (Tianwen), an enigmatic work attributed to Qu Yuan (fl. ca. 300 BCE). The poem, composed entirely in the form of questions, is an extended inquiry into early Chinese cosmology and history. Over centuries, readers of the poem came to radically different understandings, each providing a unique perspective on its meaning. The poem’s reception history comprises three main stages: first, the commentary compiled by Han scholar Wang Yi (ca. 89–ca. 158); second, the response by Tang poet Liu Zongyuan (773–819); and third, the interpretations developed subsequently by late imperial and modern scholars. Nicholas Morrow Williams analyzes how the poem’s meaning evolved in different time periods and provides three new translations of “Heavenly Questions” to represent the three stages, respectively. The ultimate thesis of this study, inspired by the hermeneutics of Hans-Georg Gadamer, is that this poem is best understood in light of the different interpretations supplied by readers over time in lively dialogues that continue even now.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Nicholas Morrow Williams is Professor of Chinese at Arizona State University.

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Harvard University Press
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2025
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 067429999X
• ISBN 13: 9780674299993
• Einband: Tapa dura
• Anzahl der Seiten: 400
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Lens by Lynah; www.amazon.com; ; 38 Avenue John F. Kennedy; Luxembourg; L-1855; Luxemburg