Paul R. Goldin
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780691200798
- eISBN:
- 9780691200811
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691200798.003.0010
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
This chapter examines Han Feizi. This text was named after Han Fei, a prolific philosopher who was executed on trumped-up charges in 233 BC. Although Han Fei is probably responsible for the lion's ...
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This chapter examines Han Feizi. This text was named after Han Fei, a prolific philosopher who was executed on trumped-up charges in 233 BC. Although Han Fei is probably responsible for the lion's share of the extant Han Feizi, this does not permit readers to identify the philosophy of Han Fei himself with the philosophy (or philosophies) advanced in the Han Feizi, as though these were necessarily the same thing. The case of Han Fei and the Han Feizi is more complex because Han Fei was slippery. What Han Fei said varied with his expected audience, a point that scholarship has not always accounted for. Most of his chapters are addressed to kings; at least one, “The Difficulties of Persuasion” (“Shuinan”), is addressed to ministers; and for many chapters one can only guess at the intended audience.Less
This chapter examines Han Feizi. This text was named after Han Fei, a prolific philosopher who was executed on trumped-up charges in 233 BC. Although Han Fei is probably responsible for the lion's share of the extant Han Feizi, this does not permit readers to identify the philosophy of Han Fei himself with the philosophy (or philosophies) advanced in the Han Feizi, as though these were necessarily the same thing. The case of Han Fei and the Han Feizi is more complex because Han Fei was slippery. What Han Fei said varied with his expected audience, a point that scholarship has not always accounted for. Most of his chapters are addressed to kings; at least one, “The Difficulties of Persuasion” (“Shuinan”), is addressed to ministers; and for many chapters one can only guess at the intended audience.
Eileen J. Cheng
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824835958
- eISBN:
- 9780824870867
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824835958.003.0007
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Asian Studies
This chapter demonstrates how Lu Xun's rewrites of historical tales and biographies expose both the arbitrary nature of literary canonization and the constructed nature of narrative. His mocking of ...
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This chapter demonstrates how Lu Xun's rewrites of historical tales and biographies expose both the arbitrary nature of literary canonization and the constructed nature of narrative. His mocking of the sages, in tune with the spirit of the classic Zhuangzi, is an indictment of a cultural and literary apparatus that continues to nurture elite privilege. The chapter particularly looks at “Gathering Vetch,” a rewriting of the Bo Yi chapter from Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian; as well as “Curbing the Flood,” an adaptation of the legend of Yu from the “Annals” section of the Records. Rewriting old tales seems to have given Lu Xun a refuge from his polemical writings to tap into his creative energies and connect to his deep-seated yet ambivalent relationship to the past.Less
This chapter demonstrates how Lu Xun's rewrites of historical tales and biographies expose both the arbitrary nature of literary canonization and the constructed nature of narrative. His mocking of the sages, in tune with the spirit of the classic Zhuangzi, is an indictment of a cultural and literary apparatus that continues to nurture elite privilege. The chapter particularly looks at “Gathering Vetch,” a rewriting of the Bo Yi chapter from Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian; as well as “Curbing the Flood,” an adaptation of the legend of Yu from the “Annals” section of the Records. Rewriting old tales seems to have given Lu Xun a refuge from his polemical writings to tap into his creative energies and connect to his deep-seated yet ambivalent relationship to the past.
