Authorship and Text-making in Early China,

Author

Zhang; Hanmo

Year

2018

Publisher

De Gruyter

Language

English

Pages

Link

Last Update

27-Mar-2026

Keywords

Language & Literature

Description

This work addresses the development of four models of authorship in relation to the formation of early Chinese texts to facilitate the understanding of the nature of this textual corpus.¹

Unlike the familiar Greek example of Herodotus, early Chinese texts as manifested in newly excavated writings on wood and bamboo strips do not typically contain clear indications of authorship.² Currently available information demonstrates that explicit identification of the author in the text was not a matter of concern in early China: there was no explicit Herodotean “seal” of authorship heading texts, nor was there typically any traditional attribution. Only during...