Title: Writing and authority in early China
First published: 1999
Description: This book traces the evolving uses of writing to command assent and obedience in early China, an evolution that culminated in the establishment of a textual canon as the foundation of imperial authority. Its central theme is the emergence of this body of writings as the textual double of the state, and of the text-based sage as the double of the ruler.

The book examines the full range of writings employed in early China, such as divinatory records, written communications with ancestors, government documents, the collective writings of philosophical and textual traditions, speeches attributed to historical figures, chronicles, verse anthologies, commentaries, and encyclopedic compendia.

Lewis shows how these writings served to administer populations, control officials, form new social groups, invent new models of authority, and create an artificial language whose master generated power and whose graphs became potent objects.
Subjects: Chinese literature, History and criticism, Political aspects, Political aspects of Chinese literature, Theory, Philosophy, chinese, Chinese literature, history and criticism, Littérature chinoise, Histoire et critique, Théorie, Aspect politique, LITERARY CRITICISM, Asian, General
Time periods: To 221 B.C.
LC classification: PL2280 .L48 1999