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After Confucius is a collection of eight studies of Chinese philosophy from the time of Confucius to the formation of the empire in the second and third centuries B.C.E. As detailed in a masterful introduction, each essay serves as a concrete example of "thick description"-an approach invented by philosopher Gilbert Ryle-which aims to reveal the logic that informs an observable exchange among members of a community or society. To grasp the significance of such exchanges, it is necessary to investigate the networks of meaning on which they rely. Paul R. Goldin argues that the character of ancient Chinese philosophy can be appreciated only if we recognize the cultural codes underlying the circulation of ideas in that world. Thick description is the best preliminary method to determine how Chinese thinkers conceived of their own enterprise.Who were the ancient Chinese philosophers? What was their intended audience? What were they arguing about? How did they respond to earlier thinkers, and to each other? Why did those in power wish to hear from them, and what did they claim to offer in return for patronage? Goldin addresses these questions as he looks at several topics, including rhetorical conventions of Chinese philosophical literature; the value of recently excavated manuscripts for the interpretation of the more familiar, received literature; and the duty of translators to convey the world of concerns of the original texts. Each of the cases investigated in this wide-ranging volume exemplifies the central conviction behind Goldin's plea for thick description: We do not do justice to classical Chinese philosophy unless we engage squarely the complex and ancient culture that engendered it.An electronic version of this book is freely available thanks to the support of libraries working with Knowledge Unlatched, a collaborative initiative designed to make high-quality books open access for the public good. The open-access version of this book is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which means that the work may be freely downloaded and shared for non-commercial purposes, provided credit is given to the author. Derivative works and commercial uses require permission from the publisher.

Philosophy, Chinese --- S12/0222 --- China: Philosophy and Classics--Chinese philosophy: Ancient --- Philosophy --- Confucius --- Han dynasty --- Li Si --- Xun Kuang --- Zuo zhuan

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Han Dynasty (China). --- Qin Dynasty (China). --- Sima, Qian, --- Shi ji (Sima, Qian). --- To 220. --- China --- China --- China --- China. --- History --- History --- History

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Han Dynasty (China). --- Oudheid. --- Qin Dynasty (China). --- Geschichte Anfänge-110 v. Chr. --- To 220. --- China --- China --- China --- China --- China --- China. --- China. --- History --- History --- History --- Historia --- Historia

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"Heaven is Empty offers a new comparative perspective on the role of the sacred in the formation of China's early empires (221 BCE-9 CE) and shows how the unification of the Central States was possible without a unitary and universalistic conception of religion. The monotheism of the ancient Mediterranean, in which the cult of the divinized ruler was crucial for the legitimization of Rome's authority across geographical and social boundaries and the emperor embodied both the timelessness of social hierarchies and the universality of Rome's rule, is often used as an analytical template for studying other ancient empires. Filippo Marsili challenges such approaches in his examination of the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han (141-87 BCE). Wu purposely drew from regional traditions and tried to gain the support of local communities through his patronage of local cults; he was interested in rituals that envisioned the monarch as a military leader who directly controlled the land and its resources, as a means for legitimizing radical administrative and economic centralization. In reconstructing this imperial model, Marsili reinterprets fragmentary official accounts in light of material evidence and non-canonical and recently excavated texts. In bringing to life the courts, battlefields, markets, shrines, and pleasure quarters of early imperial China, Heaven is Empty provides a postmodern and postcolonial re-assessment of religion before the arrival of Buddhism and challenges the application of Greco-Roman and Abrahamic notions of 'divinity,' 'myth,' and 'ritual' to the analysis of pre-Christian and non-Western realities."--

Han Dynasty (China). --- Kings and rulers --- Religion --- Religion. --- Rituel --- Religious aspects. --- Histoire --- Religion --- Han Wudi, --- Han Wudi, --- 202 B.C.-220 A.D. --- China --- China --- China --- China --- China. --- History --- Kings and rulers --- Religious aspects. --- Religion. --- Religious life and customs.

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Historiography --- Sima, Qian, --- Ban, Gu, --- China --- History --- S04/0500 --- China: History--Ancient (Pre-Han and Han, incl. Sima Qian) --- 班固, --- Ssu-ma, Chʻien, --- Historiography. --- Historiography - China --- Sima, Qian, - ca. 145-ca. 86 B.C. - Shi ji --- Ban, Gu, - 32-92. - Han shu --- China - Historiography --- China - History - Han dynasty, 202 B.C.-220 A.D.