Early China Resources

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The Confucian Creation of Heaven: Philosophy and the Defense of Ritual Mastery, Digital version
(SUNY Press, 1990) Eno, Robert
This is a digital version of the 1990 book, The Confucian Creation of Heaven, published by SUNY Press, incorporating pinyin transcription for Chinese, rather than the original Wade-Giles. The book examines the way core early Confucian (or "Ruist") texts treat the concept of Tian (Heaven), in order to elucidate the social and philosophical orientation of the early Confucian community. The central theme of the book is that the coherence of early Confucianism emerges only when doctrine is viewed as a function of the unique ritual practices of the early Confucian community.
From Teachers to Texts: Confucian Collaborationism and Qin Encyclopaedism
(1997) Eno, Robert
This working paper outlines a revisionist portrait of the role of Confucians duing the Qin and very early Han Dynasties. Its principal thesis is that Confucianism was patronized by the Qin court, rather than persecuted, resulting in the compilation of a number a canonical anothologies traditionally viewed as pre-Qin works. The destruction of the Qin palace archives during the civil war transition to the Han, along with anti-Confucian policies at the court of the initial Han emperors, accounts for the loss of many "classical era" texts that is usually attributed to Qin tyranny.
Glossed Texts For the Study of Shang Dynasty Oracle Bone Inscriptions
(2007) Eno, Robert
Shang Dynasty oracle inscriptions are the earliest voices we hear from China, dating from about 1250 BCE until the dynasty's end two centuries later. They speak to questions of religious thought and practice, social and political structures, and historical change. This primer can help students begin to learn how to read these texts.
Zigong and the Identity of the Yan and Meng Schools
(2007-04) Eno, Robert
This 2007 working paper (with material added in 2023) explores the role of the Confucian disciple Zigong in early texts and the historical profile of Zigong derived from them. Although not the most prominent of Confucius's disciples, the paper notes Zigong's pervasive textual presence, the unusual role he plays in some texts, and his unique political and cultural profile in considering how the historical Zigong may have become a pivotal figure in the emergence of competing lineages of early Confucian thought. The analysis relies upon core texts, such as the Lunyu and Zuozhuan, as well as some excavated Warring States texts first transcribed and published in the 21st century.
4.6 Yin-Yang Five-Forces Theory During the Han
(2010) Eno, Robert
The interplay between the naturalistic concepts of Yin-Yang and Five Forces theories are described, and illustrated with the "First Month of Spring" chapter from the Lüshi chunqiu.
2.3 Technological Change in Warring States China
(2010) Eno, Robert
A descriptive survey of agriculture, metallurgy, and water conservation practices in early China.
1.1 General Introduction
(2010) Eno, Robert
General Introduction to "A Course in Early Chinese History," conveying basic information helpful in understanding readings in all four parts of the course text.
4.2 The Laws of Qin
(2010) Eno, Robert
An overview of Qin legal thinking as reflected in archaeologically recovered codes of the period, excavated from the Shuihudi site in 1975. Guided by the annotations of Chinese scholars and a technical translation by A.F.P. Hulsewé, a topical selection of passages is provided. These bring into question the standard portrait of Qin legal thought and practice as absolutist and totalitarian.
3.1 The Discovery of the Shang Dynasty
(2010) Eno, Robert
An account of the events leading to the discovery of the archaeological remains of the Shang Dynasty capital at the turn of the 20th century, followed by a translation of the Shiji (ch.3) account of the history of the Shang royal House.
3.7 Neolithic China: Before the Shang Dynasty
(2010) Eno, Robert
An account of our knowledge of prehistoric China. This brief survey covers the Neolithic cultures of Peiligang, Yangshao, Longshan, and Liangzhu, leading to the riddle of the historicity and nature of the Xia Dynasty. The theories of Sarah Allan and David Nivison are discussed in order to focus the question, and a translation of the Shiji (ch. 2) account of the House of Xia is included.
4.1 The Qin Dynasty
(2010) Eno, Robert
A survey of the Qin Dynasty, from the eve of its unification of China through its rapid fall after the death of the First Emperor. The focus of the chapter is the extensive nature of the "Qin Revolution," the radical reforms that redrew the political and social map of China in ways that endured for two millennia. This analysis is interspersed with short translated and summarized narratives from the Shiji, focusing on the First Emperor, his prime minister, Li Si, and others who played key roles.
Wenyanwen Primer: Index
(2010) Eno, Robert
This two-volume primer in Literary Chinese (also called "Classical Chinese" and wenyanwen) was prepared for use at the college and graduate school level. Knowledge of Mandarin Chinese is helpful, but all vocabulary is glossed, and students without Mandarin should be able to use this primer as well. This primer is intended to provide open-access online teaching materials, to be freely used or modified by individuals or by teachers employing them in a not-for-profit context.
Part II: Warring States China
(2010) Eno, Robert
Contents of Part II of "A Course in Early Chinese History."
Part I: Spring & Autumn China
(2010) Eno, Robert
Contents of Part I of "A Course in Early Chinese History."
2.8 Naturalist Schools of Thought in the Late Classical Period
(2010) Eno, Robert
An overview of early Naturalism, focusing on Yin-Yang thought and other naturalistic systems, explored through the Shiji biography of Zou Yan and the Lüshi chunqiu.
3.6 Shang Religion
(2010) Eno, Robert
An overview of ancestral and non-ancestral deities encountered in the Shang oracle texts, illustrated by translated individual divinations. The nature of scholarly debate on proper understanding of religious divinations is illustrated through an analysis of differing interpretations of the term di, signifying the apex of the Shang pantheon.
1.9 Confucius and the Origins of Confucianism
(2010) Eno, Robert
A biographical account of Confucius and survey of the main intellectual themes of Confucianism, incorporating passages from the Analects.
4.12 Sima Qian and Our View of Early China
(2010) Eno, Robert
The narrative portion of this course on early China closes with an examination of the man most responsible for shaping our understanding of that long era: the Han historian Sima Qian. The greater part of the chapter consists of a translation of Sima Qian's famous "Letter to Ren An," preserved in the Hanshu, which explains his goals as an historian.
1.2 Han Qi Visits the State of Zheng
(2010) Eno, Robert
Introduces Spring and Autumn elite society in China through an analysis of a single short narrative found in the Classical era history, Zuozhuan. As with subsequent readings, interpretive material is introduced both as direct comment on the text and through sidebars dealing with specific topics.
4.11 The Spring and Autumn Annals
(2010) Eno, Robert
An introduction to the Spring and Autumn Annals, one of the "Five Classics" of Confucianism. The origin of the text is outlined, along with various traditional strategies for drawing from it hidden meaning that is actually generated by the strategy, rather than by the text itself. The "New Text" interpretive approach of Dong Zhongzhu is described and illustrated by selected passages, accompanied by "New Text" Gongyang commentarial tradition of the late Han.

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