Chiba Chikuo Collected Essays on Bamboo Slips Research (Series of World Sinology)

Author:〔Japan〕Ichikawa Tomohisa
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-02-01
Features: For the study of the history of Chinese thought, newly unearthed materials such as bamboo and silk slips hold decisive significance. The traditional method of relying solely on transmitted literature for research can no longer be expected to yield progress. Although this is a fact, foresight does not mean that traditional literature and its study are meaningless or unnecessary. The significance and necessity of traditional literature and its study have merely been subject to certain restrictions. Therefore, the author believes that to promote research progress, effectively combining newly unearthed materials with transmitted literature is the most important task today. This work, on one hand, involves correctly positioning the significance of newly unearthed materials within traditional literature and the history of Chinese thought constructed from it. On the other hand, it calls for a comprehensive reflection on the study of traditional literature and the history of Chinese thought constructed from it, based on the new stance and perspectives derived from newly unearthed materials. Ultimately, the goal is to dialectically unify these two seemingly contradictory aspects to promote deeper research, which is the most important work today. In any case, newly unearthed materials such as bamboo and silk slips are undoubtedly extremely important resources that provide new perspectives and insights for the study of the history of Chinese thought. Given the astonishing quantity and highly significant content of newly unearthed materials, an attitude of indifference or dismissal toward them can no longer lead to further research progress.