Gongsun Long's "Analysis of Form and Name"

Author: Tan Jifu
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-03-01
Features: This book centers on the works of Gongsun Long from the Warring States period, while also collecting and compiling related doctrines and writings from the same school, cross-referencing them to reveal the development of the Xingming school and its debates with the views of the Mingjia school. Drawing on years of research on Mohism and the Mingjia school, the author argues the differences between "ming-shi" (name-reality) and "xing-ming" (form-name), providing a valuable reference for the study of ancient Chinese philosophy. The zi books are an important part of China's ancient classics. The earliest zi books emerged during the Hundred Schools Contention in the late Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period, many of which are precious crystallizations of ancient Chinese intellectual and cultural heritage. Throughout the feudal society after the Qin and Han dynasties, numerous thinkers and scholars wrote similar works, including many outstanding ones. In the 1950s, Zhonghua Book Company revised and reprinted the Collection of Zi Books published by the original World Book Company before the founding of the People's Republic of China. This series compiled the results of Qing Dynasty scholars' collation and annotations of zi books, making it relatively suitable for academic research needs. However, it did not include the new achievements of scholars in the past few decades, especially after the founding of the People's Republic, nor did it cover a wide variety of zi books. There were also many errors in punctuation and typesetting, leading to the decision to create a new Collection of Zi Books. The new Collection of Zi Books includes zi books from the pre-Qin to the Tang and Five Dynasties periods, with a focus on those closely related to the study of philosophy and intellectual history. Some books that do not belong to the zi category, such as Ban Gu's White Tiger Commentaries, are also included due to their close relevance to philosophy and intellectual history (using the collation and annotations by Chen Li from the Qing Dynasty). The entire collection will be published in two volumes.
Volume 1 includes zi books similar to those in the old Collection of Zi Books, which are frequently read or consulted by general researchers. Each book selects the best available annotated edition to date. For a very few that still lack annotations, new annotations will be provided. Some books include multiple annotated editions, each with its own strengths. To maintain consistency in style, annotations are generally limited to those written in classical Chinese or colloquial classical Chinese, except for a few exceptions. The main text and annotations of each book are uniformly punctuated with modern punctuation marks, and errors in printing or typesetting are corrected.
Volume 2 collects zi books outside the scope of Volume 1. Most of these lack existing annotated editions, and those that require annotations will be annotated. The rest will be selected from better versions for collation and annotation. Many of these books in this volume are incomplete or lost, and their collation will vary depending on the situation. Some will use existing collated editions, while others will require supplementary or re-collation. Some zi books are forgeries or suspected forgeries. Those with earlier origins that had a certain historical impact and still hold some reference value for the study of certain issues will be included with discretion.
Both Volumes 1 and 2 will first be published in paperback, with each book priced individually and released. After all volumes are completed, a hardcover combined edition will be published. Each paperback book will include a tentative list of books for the respective volume, providing readers with an overview of the entire series.