SOAS Research Online

Abstract

This dissertation deals with Shijing citations in early Chinese texts, such as Zuozhuan, Mengzi, Xunzi, Liji, Lushi chunqiu, Huainanzi, and Hanshi waizhuan. The Shijing citations are important materials which can bridge the gap between the end of the Chunqiu period (770-447 B.C.) to the early Han dynasty (206 B.C.- 220 A.D.). The first chapter includes introductory remarks which contain a brief description of the development of Shijing scholarship and the process of interpretation from the origin of the Shijing poems to the establishment of its classical status. It also introduces the three basic functions of quotation by Stefan Morawski: authority, erudition, and ornament. His theory is applied throughout this dissertation to analysing the citations from the point of "maintenance of cultural continuity." The second chapter concerns three example lines from the Shijing which are frequently cited. I analyse the meaning of the lines and their potential for change of meaning when placed in contexts different from the original poem. Because the Shijing had been sanctified by the Confucian tradition, the lines of the Shijing poems had the authority of that tradition. However in the citations, they borrowed their meaning from the context. Thus, each example of citation had the function of maintaining a sense of tradition, but the same lines generated different meanings according to context, the intent of the citer, and the change of meaning of the words over time. The third chapter is a brief conclusion concerning the function of the Shijing citations.