A Re-study of Kang Youwei and

His Attitudes Towards Evolutionism

Examination and Selection of the Secretary of

the Grand Council in the Qing Dynasty

The Taotai’s Tael: A Preliminary Discussion of

the Ningshaotai Taotai’s Incomes and Expenses

The Dual Contradiction in

the Inner World of Liu Xihong

A Preliminary Approach to Travel Records around

the East Asian and Questions about Theirs Inaccuracies

The Generation and Early

Dissemination of Yan Yu’s Poetics

A Critical Investigation of Du Fu’s Posthumous

Bestowment of “Wen Zhen” in Yuan Dynasty

An Examination of Version Systems of Zhou Mi’s

Song Lyrics Collection and Plenty of Text Difference

A Textual Research on Sūtras Transmitted

by Xianjue Imperial Preceptor

A Study on the Inheritance and Innovation

of Chinese Phonology in Xixia

On the Middle Iranian Incantation of ’fryn (’frywn)

Phonetically Transcribed in Chinese Characters

Found in the Xiapu Manuscripts

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A Re-study of Kang Youwei and

His Attitudes Towards Evolutionism

Maohaijian (p.1)

This article clearly examines the relationship between Kang Youwei’s thoughts, especially the “Three Ages of Great Harmony”, and the evolutionism. It analyzes Kang’s attitudes towards evolutionism during different periods and considers to what extent Kang understood and accepted the evolutionist theory. Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao originally disagreed with the theory on “Evolution and Ethics” translated by Yan Fu. In his important works of the “Three Ages of Great Harmony”, such as the “Annotations on The Conveyance of Rites” (Liyun zhu), Kang used the term “jinhua” (evolution) many times, but the usages were very mechanic. Even though the theory of “Three Ages of Great Harmony” accords a progressive view, the theory was not from the evolutionism. In the Book of Great Harmony (datong shu), Kang even treated jinhuan and tianyan (both mean evolution) as two different terms. This article thus argues that Kang did not really understand evolutionism and in his minds, the evolutionist theory was not systematic.

Examination and Selection of the Secretary of

the Grand Council in the Qing Dynasty

Li Wenjie (p.71)

The Secretary of the Grand Council, lower than the Grand Councillor, was the official in charge of drafting imperial edicts, assisting in handling memorials and editing important archives. There was a strict procedure for their selection. First, candidates who were willing to get this post should be selected by the Grand Secretariat or Six Ministries in which their original post was. And then they would be tested by the Grand Council in the form of writing a short paper with a title of Confucianism. They would be ranked according to the calligraphy and quality of their paper. At last, the qualified ones would be introduced to the emperor and registered with his agreement. This examination system lasted over a century from 1805 to 1907. As the Secretary would be awarded by the Grand Council every three years for their work, they could be promoted more easily than other intermediate officials. However, due to the contents of their work and the emphasis of the calligraphy in the examination, the secretary was in short of comprehensive vision and professional training, and they raised few reform proposals and governance initiatives even they could be promoted to the Grand Councillors. The shortcomings of the examination and selection of the Grand Council Secretary is a microcosm for the official selection system of Qing officials.

The Taotai’s Tael: A Preliminary Discussion of

the Ningshaotai Taotai’s Incomes and Expenses

Xu Yang (p.101 )

In early 1906, some businessmen of Ningbo accused GaoYing, the Ningshaotai Taotai, of peculating public taxes to Zhang Zengyang who was the governor of Zhejiang province. Finally GaoYing pleaded illness as his reason for resignation. According to the incomes and expenses, the local officials were possessed of huge amounts of informal fiscal revenue to manage the increasingly public affairs in the late Qing Dynasty. This event revealed that Taotai’s executive functions were numerous and jumbled, which was not in line with modern bureaucracy. From the late Qing Dynasty, as Taotai was at the “middle” of local administrative levels and had the obligation to governing officials more than governing common people, it was abolished and reestablished alternately, which revealed the dilemma the central government faced with.

The Dual Contradiction in

the Inner World of Liu Xihong

Liu Dali( p.121)

The paper holds that there is a phenomenon of labeling in researches on Liu Xihong. Researchers firstly regard him as a man of conservative party, and then observe everything related to him from the perspective of conservatism, resulting in the coverage of the true psychology of Liu Xihong. The author sorts out the historical material and it can be found that his whole life was trapped in the dual contradiction: the first is the structural contradiction between reformation and conservation in the concept of politics, and the second is the contradiction between rational cognition and catering to those in power. With the change of the situation conditions, different aspects of contradictions dominated his behaviors changeably, which made “reformation” and “conservation” intertwine in his behaviors complicatedly. Only if we catch the dual contradiction, can his inter world and life be explained. The paper analyzes his contradiction between reformation and conservation through his discussion on “Coast Defense Discussion” (海防籌議) he participated in before he served as an envoy abroad and his examination of Chinese and Western civilization in the process of serving as an envoy abroad, and the paper focuses on the aspect that he was inclined to foreign affairs. Besides, the paper analyzes his contraction between rational cognition and catering to those in power through his personal characteristics and the official stakes.

A Preliminary Approach to Travel Records around

the East Asian and Questions about Theirs Inaccuracies

Zhang Bowei (p.147)

In term of its value as historical documents, “Travel Records around the East Asian” (the common name is “Yan Xing Lu” or “ Yeon Heng Rok” ) are a huge and precious database for East Asian studies. From the beginning of the 21stcentury, the editing and research of “Travel Records around the East Asian” more and more become a scholarly hotspot in East Asian community. Although scholars pay much attention to its important historical values, they seem to have not grasped the characteristics of such kind of records correctly, so are lack of vigilance on the “authenticity” of these data, which leads to some errors. This paper argues that the “inaccuracies” of “Travel Records around the East Asian” were caused by plagiarism of later envoys to former records, observer’s attitude, and the context of “l(fā)iterary contest” between Korean envoys and Japanese literati. Contemporary scholars should be aware of the characteristics fully, so as to grasp the meanings of the data correctly.

The Generation and Early

Dissemination of Yan Yu’s Poetics

Chen Guanghong (p.185)

Base on the study by Zhang Jian thatCanglangPoetryTalks(《滄浪詩話》) was actually not compiled by Yan Yu, this essay continues to investigate the origin of the texts, so as to reconstruct the history of the creation and early dissemination of Yan Yu’s poetics. Through the specific analysis of its heterogeneous text structure and the commercial production with classification ofTheJadeofthePoet(《詩人玉屑》) edited by Wei Qingzhi, we can arrive at the conclusion that the compilation form of Yan’s works—apology for poetry, style of poetry, rules for poetry, poetry criticism, textual research on poetry — may spring fromTheJadeofthePoet. Furthermore, the bookshop editor and publisher as communication medium, and the vast of readers from the middle and lower levels constituted a huge poetry consumer market which formed the literary ecological environment in the period of Song and Yuan. In such context Yan’s poetics was spread in the main feature of Rules for Poetry.

A Critical Investigation of Du Fu’s Posthumous

Bestowment of “Wen Zhen” in Yuan Dynasty

Zhai Mo (p.223)

TheOfficialHistoryofYuan(《元史》) notes that in the third year of the Zhiyuan reign of Emperor Shun of Yuan, the Tang Dynasty poet Du Fu was posthumously bestowed the title of Wenzhen (文貞) in recognition of his literary prestige. This thesis means to investigate this bestowment through the study of the major sources of Yuan history, including Yuan gazetteers. Firstly, it investigates the nominator Yesüder, an ethnic Mongol with a political career spanning three reigns, who once served as the grand Secretariat Director (秘書大監(jiān)) and finally lived a reclusive life in Guoshan of Sichuan. Besides, it looks at his activities as a cultural minister and an establisher of academies, his travels to the Southeast to collect books, his smelting of ritual vessels, and other achievements, thereby illustrating the cultural significance and background of the posthumous bestowment. Furthermore，by examining the background of Du Fu’s posthumous recognition, this essay also shows the connection between the posthumous honoring and Emperor Shun’s rejection of the policies of Bayan (伯顔) and the historical ramifications after the event. Finally, through an examination of the activities of the specific Yuan literati, such as Yu Ji and Gong Shitai during Yesüder’s nomination and his educational undertakings, it emphasizes the significance of the nomination and posthumous bestowment in the literary history of Yuan Dynasty.

An Examination of Version Systems of Zhou Mi’s

Song Lyrics Collection and Plenty of Text Difference

Zhaohuijun (p.261)

ZhouMi’s song lyrics collection can be divided into two systems which are Pinzhouyudipu and Caochuangci. Caochuangci aslo can be divided into two systems by Bao Tingbo’s inscription, before which most of the version mainly was handwritten copy, while all the versions followed BaoTingbo’s work after its appearance. Besides, there is another handwritten copy called Bianyanglaorenci differing from both sides which is very special. After the collation of all the existing versions of ZhouMi’s song lyrics collection, it can be found that Pinzhouyudipu was compiled by ZhouMi himself in the ending of South Song Dynasty, while Caochuangci was modified based on Pinzhouyudipu. The handwritten copy system is closer to the original due to BaoTingbo’s edition exsit many changes. BaoTingbo’s modification was one of the activities of West Zhejiang School of Ci Poetry, who were used to using these ways to release classical poets in their eyes, and the changed text incarnated strongly the West Zhejiang School of Ci Poetry’s aesthetic taste and pursuit of Ci.

A Textual Research on Sūtras Transmitted

by Xianjue Imperial Preceptor

Nie Hongyin (p.293)

Xianjue Imperial Preceptor Boluo Xiansheng in the middle 12thcentury was a Blama who first bore the title “Imperial Preceptor” in Chinese history. Nowadays there survived four Tantric texts transmitted by him, which reflects that he took an interest more in practice than in speculative thinking, for he merely briefly introduced the regulations of Tantric chanting and tribute process but did not say even a single word on Buddhist theory. Available materials show that Xianjue Imperial Preceptor, being nominally the highest officer of Buddhist affairs and monks, existed only as a symbol of Tangut Royal Tantrism without providing any substantial help for the government or Buddhism there. In this point of view, “Imperial Preceptor” in the early stage of Xixia was entirely different in nature from that in Yuan political institution, and Xianjue’s status in cultural history was not as important as previously expected.

A Study on the Inheritance and Innovation

of Chinese Phonology in Xixia

Sun Bojun (p.313)

Based on the compilation format of rhyming dictionaries and other Tangut dictionaries, as well as the translation and utilization of Chinese phonological terms, this paper investigates its inheritance and innovation from Chinese phonology. It points out that some “errors” of the translated phonological terms and compilation format, are actually a kind of innovation based on the characteristics of Tangut language, and the reflection of the phonetic characteristics of Hexi dialect of 12thcentury.

On the Middle IranianIncantationof’fryn(’frywn)

Phonetically Transcribed in Chinese Characters

Found in the Xiapu Manuscripts

Lin Wushu (p.339)

Nearly a thousand words phonetically transcribed in Chinese characters are involved in the manuscripts recently-found in Xiapu, which can be traced back to the Middle Persian and Parthian Manichaean hymns. Among them, two incantations titled asFuliare copied in three different versions. The present author, after making collation and textual research on them, identifies the incantations as verbal works by Manichaean priests in China. Being passed from mouth to mouth for generations, the verbal works were employed as incantations by the followers of Mingjiao ignorant of Middle Persian or Parthian. And then, the incantations were transcribed in Chinese Characters and collected into the rite manuscripts by the masters of Lingyuan jiao.