Documentation and argument in early China : the Shàngshū 尚書 (venerated documents) and the Shū traditions This study uncovers the traditions behind the formative Classic Shàngshū (Venerated Documents). It is the first to establish these traditions Shū (Documents) as a historically evolving practice of thought production. By focusing on the literary form of the argument it interprets the Shū as fluid text material that embodies the ever changing cultural capital of projected conceptual communities. By showing how these communities actualised the Shū according to their changing visions of history and evolving group interests the study establishes that by the Warring States period (ca. 453 221 BC) the Shū had become a literary genre employed by diverse groups to legitimize their own arguments. Through forms of textual performance the Shū gave even peripheral communities the means to participate in political discourse by conferring their ideas with ancient authority. Analysing this dynamic environment of socio political and philosophical change this study speaks to the Early China field as well as to those interested in meaning production and foundational text formation more widely Frontmatter Acknowledgements Contents Introduction 1 Shū traditions and philosophical discourse 2 Archiving cultural capital 3 The materiality of meaning networks 4 Moulds of discourse 5 Shū traditions in narrative 6 Shū genre in manuscript cultures 7 Conclusion: the Shū and political argument in early China Bibliorgraph Index