Hereditary and Abdicating: Legends of Dynasty Succession in Ancient China

Author: Elan
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-07-01
Features: Professor Elan is a unique and unconventional scholar. In her early years, she was deeply influenced by the Dialectical School of Ancient History and was passionate about the theories and methods of structuralism. This book is a revised version of her doctoral dissertation, which she wrote while studying for her Ph.D. under the renowned Chinese-American scholar Professor Chen Shixiang at the Department of East Asian Languages at the University of California, Berkeley, in the 1970s. In this work, although she, like the scholars of the Dialectical School, adopted a bold skeptical attitude to re-examine the pre-Qin period and ancient historical legends of China, she did not stop at simple verification or refutation. Instead, she skillfully drew on the structuralist theories and methods of Lévi-Strauss, treating the historical legends in classical Chinese texts about Yao, Shun, Yu, and Qi, as well as the establishment of the Shang and Zhou dynasties, as a historical outcome of a conceptual movement. This allowed her to reveal the underlying deep structures hidden in the legends and to uncover the true nature of history. Professor Elan of Darmouth University is a long-time friend of mine. In Western sinology, she has gained widespread fame. A few years ago, her book The Mystery of the Turtle was introduced to China by Dr. Wang Tao and subsequently published in China as well. Chinese academia has become increasingly familiar with her, but remains relatively unfamiliar with her highly acclaimed works on historical legends. Grateful for her kindness, I invited Ms. Sun Xinfei, a colleague, and Dr. Zhou Yan, a disciple, to collaborate on translating her revised book Hereditary Rule and Abdication: Theories of Dynasty Succession in Ancient China, which is now complete and ready for publication. She asked me to write a few words for the preface, and I am truly delighted to do so.