Ancient history variant views

Author: (American) Xia Hanyi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-12-01
Features: This selected collection reflects most of the author's achievements and research findings, comprising 29 papers. Among them, 15 primarily discuss oracle bone inscriptions and bronze inscriptions, 13 mainly address traditional classics (with the majority focusing on the Book of Changes and the Records of the Bamboo Books), and one explores archaeological issues. Some papers were written during the author's youth (such as Interpretation of Yu Fang, written in 1981), while others are recently completed (such as The Era of the Wu Mi Ding from the 42nd and 43rd Years). The conclusions often differ from the commonly held views in China (and indeed, also clash with international perspectives). These papers are now compiled and published in China. Organizing such a collection involves at least two preliminary considerations. First, should the order be based on the chronological sequence of publication or on the logical relationship of the content? Sometimes, the time between a paper's publication and its writing spanned a considerable period, making it difficult to reflect the author's academic evolution. Therefore, the organization is based on content, which sometimes leads to uneven emphasis. The second issue is whether to correct errors. Although some passages are clearly incorrect upon review (such as the paper The Decline of the Western Zhou, which states that few bronze artifacts were found in the eastern regions after King Mu of Zhou, or the article A Study of the Dating of the Inscription on This Bronze Tripod assuming Shi Li and Shi Zhu were the same person, etc.), maintaining the original version still holds value. Thus, in addition to correcting a few typos and adding an Afterword (On the Death Year of King Wu—《》), no other changes have been made to this collection.