SOAS Research Online

Abstract

This thesis is an attempt to bring together three main themes: 1. The authorship of the YWz. 2. The renaissance of philosophical activity in Wei-Jin China. And 3. Problems related to the Chinese view of "naming" and the relation of words to things. The first part deals exclusively with the dating of the YWz and reaches the conclusion that the beginning of the third century A.D. is the most likely date; Seen against the philosophical background of the period the importance of the YWz is made clear, and the book id shown to be the work of an original and independent philosopher.A comparison is drawn with other books of the time, mainly Wang Bi's LWL, and its theory of "names and shapes" is discussed". This is shown to be a major step in the elucidation of the Confucian dictum on the "correct use of names" and the articulation of the pre-Han "names and actualities" problem.Together with the distinction between names and referers serves to clarify the question of "words and meanings" which leads to an interpretation of Wang Bi's LWL. The third and fourth chapters are translations of the YWz and the LWL respectively.