Chinese Hermeneutics

Author: Zhou Yukai
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-11-01
Features: Re-examining ancient Chinese traditional scholarship from the perspective of hermeneutics is a fascinating topic. This book attempts to collect and analyze discussions on the understanding and interpretation of speech and texts scattered across various classics, deducing the rich hermeneutic theoretical connotations embedded in Confucianism, Neo-Daoism, Buddhism, Chan Buddhism, Neo-Confucianism, and poetics. Through this, it reveals the internal logic of the development of ancient Chinese hermeneutic theory and its unique value distinct from Western hermeneutics. With Western hermeneutic theory as a reference point and the history of Chinese scholarship as its object, this book systematically analyzes and studies the inherently complete hermeneutic theory of ancient China and the hermeneutic tradition born from Chinese cultural soil, conducting theoretical and summarization. The book argues that "the discussions on the Dao and naming by the pre-Qin philosophers, the reverence for classics and rectification of commentaries by the Han Dynasty Confucians, the exploration of metaphysics and reasoning by the Wei-Jin scholars, the translation and explanation of scriptures by the Tang Dynasty monks, the meditation and poetry discussion by the Song Dynasty literati, the book-critiquing and literary evaluation by the Yuan-Ming scholars, and the exploration of subtleties and hidden meanings by the Qing Dynasty scholars—all each uphold their respective hermeneutic theories or methods, reflecting distinct characteristics of their eras. This uniquely distinctive, self-contained hermeneutic theory born from Chinese cultural soil is comparable to Western hermeneutic theory. The book fully acknowledges the profound historical and cultural differences between Eastern and Western civilizations, striving to construct a theoretical framework for ancient Chinese hermeneutics to achieve systematic cross-cultural dialogue between Eastern and Western cultures."