Chinese Character Manipulation in Literature and Divination

The Zichu by Zhou Lianggong (1612-1672)
Erscheinungsjahr 2020
ISBN: 978-90-04-42236-0
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, Band 3, 356 Seiten, Format (B × H): 155 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 671 g

Reihe: Prognostication in History

In Chinese Character Manipulation in Literature and Divination, Anne Schmiedl analyses the little-studied method of Chinese character manipulation as found in imperial sources. Focusing on one of the most famous and important works on this subject, the Zichu by Zhou Lianggong (1612–1672), Schmiedl traces and discusses the historical development and linguistic properties of this method. This book represents the first thorough study of the Zichu and the reader is invited to explore how, on the one hand, the educated elite leveraged character manipulation as a literary play form. On the other hand, as detailed exhaustively by Schmiedl, practitioners of divination also used and altered the visual, phonetic, and semantic structure of Chinese characters to gain insights into events and objects in the material world.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Schmiedl, Anne Kathrin

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literaturgeschichte und Literaturkritik
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literaturen sonstiger Sprachräume Ost- & Südostasiatische Literatur
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Asiatische Geschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface

Acknowledgements

Prologue: Script and Divination Intertwined

1 The Manipulation of Chinese Characters Cezi

1 An Introduction to Cezi Vis-à-vis Divination and the Chinese Writing System

2 A Chronological Overview of Historical Influences on Cezi

3 A History of the Study of Cezi

4 The Zichu by Zhou Lianggong

2 Surrounding and Extending the Zichu: The Paratexts

1 Meaningful Designations: Linguistic Theory in the Paratexts

2 A Scholar’s Leisure Time Activity: Divination in the Paratexts

3 Visualising Character Theory

4 Comprehending Characters by Observing the World

5 Exhausting and Embracing the “Hidden” and the “Humorous”

6 Divining with Characters on the Grounds of Encrypted Words

7 Instructions on How to Use the Zichu

3 Different Approaches to Cezi: The Six Chapters of the Zichu

1 Thought Based on Writing: Script-Understanding as Apparent in the Zichu

2 Meaningful Correlations: Divination and Fate in the Zichu

3 Hidden Messages and Prophetic Songs and Poems

4 Temporal, Individual, and Morphological Coincidences

5 Heterogeneous Examples of Character Manipulation

6 Prophetic Dreams and Misinterpretations of Characters

7 Witty Banter and Orthography Riddles

8 Etymological Character Explanations

Epilogue: Character Manipulation, Then and Now

Bibliography

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Anne Schmiedl, Ph.D., is a Research Fellow at the Institute for Chinese Studies at the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg. Her work and publications focus on Chinese script, religion, and philosophy.