Early Chinese Poetics in the Horizon of Memory: Theoretical Approaches, Methodologies and Reflections in Cross-Civilisational Comparisons
Memory has become one of the most influential concepts in European humanities and social sciences over the past three decades. It has been widely employed across an expanding range of disciplines and discourses, and interacts with traditional terminology and methodologies within the humanities. With the intensification of intellectual exchanges between overseas Sinology circles and the Chinese academia community in recent years, Western theories of memory have been extensively integrated into the study of classical Chinese texts. As a result, research on early Chinese poetics—exemplified by the Book of Songs (Shijing) —has entered an intensively interdisciplinary field. This article explores the theoretical trajectories, methodological orientations, and developmental trends that have shaped the study of "memory" within early Chinese poetics. By tracing the intellectual genealogies and academic contexts of both Chinese and Western traditions, it delineates the multiple dimensions and overall configuration of current memory-based paradigms in the field of early Chinese poetic studies.
Ricoeur, P. (2000). La Mémoire, l'Histoire, l'Oubli, Éditions du Seuil.
Ong, W. J. (2012). Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word, Routledge.
Kristeva, J. (1969). Séméiôtiké: recherches pour une sémanalyse, Edition du Seuil.
Assmann, J. (2011). Cultural Memory and Early Civilization: Writing, Remembrance, and Political Imagination, Cambridge University Press.
Assmann, J. (2006). Religion and Cultural Memory. Tans. Rodney Livingstone, Stanford University Press.
Kern, M. (2003). "Early Chinese Poetics in the Light of Recently Excavated Manuscripts." In Recarving the Dragon: Understanding Chinese Poetics, ed. Olga Lomová, Charles University–The Karolinum Press, pp.27-72.
Kern, M. (2010). "Early Chinese Literature: From the Beginning to the Western Han Dynasty." In The Cambridge History of Chinese Literature, vol 1 To 1375. eds. Kang-i Sun Chang and Stephen Owen. Cambridge University Press, pp.1-115.
Kern, M. (2005). "Zuowei jiyi de shi: Shi ji qi zaoqi quanshi" [作为记忆的诗:«诗»及其早期诠释: Poetry as Memory: The Odes and Their Early Hermeneutics]. Guoxue yanjiu [国学研究: Studies in Sinology], 16, 329-341.
Kern, M. (1997). Die Hymnen der chinesischen Staatsopfer: Literatur und Ritual in der politischen Repräsentation von der Han-Zeit bis zu den Sechs Dynastien, Franz Steiner.
Annotated by Li Shan[李善] et al.. (1987). Liu Chen Zhu Wen Xuan (Juan Yi)[六臣注文选(卷一): The Six Ministers' Annotations on the Selected Works, Vol 1] . Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company.
Jingmen City Museum (1998). Guodian chu mu zhujian[郭店楚墓竹简: The Bamboo Slips from the Guodian Chu Tomb ]. Beijing: Cultural Relics Publishing House,194-195.
Wang, G. (1994). Gu Shi Xin Zheng: Wang Guowei Zui Hou de Jiangyi[古史新证——王国维最后的讲义: A New Proof for the Classic History: Wang Guowei's Last Lectures], Tsinghua University Press.
Annotated by Huang A. (2014). Wang Guowei Shou Ding Guan Tang Ji Lin[王国维手定观堂集林: Wang Guowei's final edition of View Church set forest]. Zhejiang Education Press.
Granet, M. (1982). Fetes et chansons anciennes de la Chine, Éditions Albin Michel.
Wen, Y. (1994)."Ge yu Shi" [歌与诗: Song and Poetry] The Complete Works of Wen Yiduo, Vol. 10, Hubei People's Publishing House.
Aristotle (1984). The Complete Works of Aristotle, eds. Jonathan Barnes, Princeton University Press.
Plato (1997). Plato: Complete Works, eds. John M. Cooper & D. S. Hutchinson, Hackett Publishing Company.
Fang, Y. & Li, B. (2015), trans. and annot. Xunzi[荀子:Xunzi]. Zhonghua Book Company.
Lou, Y., chief author (2018). Xunzi Xinzhu [荀子新注: New Annotations on Xunzi]. Zhonghua Book Company.
Ruan, Y, editor and engraver (2009). Shisanjing Zhushu Maoshi Zheng Yi[ 十 三 经 注 疏 毛 诗 正 义 : Thirteen Classics with Commentaries and Subcommentaries: The Correct Meaning of the Mao Poems]. Zhonghua Book Company.
Hirn, Y. (1900). The Origins of Art: A psychological & Sociological Inquiry. Macmillan and Co.
Havelock, E. (1967). Preface to Plato. The Universal Library.
