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SUNY series in Chinese Philosophy and Culture
Strange Writing: Anomaly Accounts in Early Medieval China
This is the first comprehensive, Western-language study of the important Chinese genre of writing known as "accounts of the anomalies" (zhiguai) in its formative period. The book sets forth a new view of the nature and origins of the genre.
Between the Han dynasty, founded in 206 B.C.E., and the Sui, which ended in 618 C.E., Chinese authors wrote many thousands of short textual items, each of which narrated or described some phenomenon deemed "strange."Most items told of encounters between humans and various denizens of the spirit-world, or of the miraculous feats of masters of esoteric arts; some described the wonders of exotic lands, or transmitted fragments of ancient mythology. This genre of writing came to be known as zhiguai ("accounts of anomalies").
Who were the authors of these books, and why did they write of these "strange" matters? Why was such writing seen as a compelling thing to do? In this book, the first comprehensive study in a Western language of the zhiguai genre in its formative period, Campany sets forth a new view of the nature of the genre and the reasons for its emergence. He shows that contemporaries portrayed it as an extension of old royal and imperial traditions in which strange reports from the periphery were collected in the capital as a way of ordering the world. He illuminates how authors writing from most of the religious and cultural perspectives of the times--including Daoists, Buddhists, Confucians, and others--used the genre differently for their own persuasive purposes, in the process fundamentally altering the old traditions of anomaly-collecting. Analyzing the "accounts of anomalies" both in the context of Chinese religious and cultural history and as examples of a cross-culturally attested type of discourse, Campany combines in-depth Sinological research with broad-ranging comparative thinking in his approach to these puzzling, rich texts
"This is a thorough, highly readable, and interesting description of zhiguai texts. It is a first-rate book, insightful and well-written--a book that is a pleasure to read straight through and to consult for specific points of information and interpretation in the future." -- John S. Major, author of Heaven and Earth in Early Han Thought
"This is a brilliantly strange work. I say 'strange' in that it is a splendidly unconventional and provocative work that is not about just this or that. The book has, in fact, the potential for moving some of the current stolid theoretical discourse concerning Chinese studies and the history of religions in new and creative directions." --Girardot, Lehigh University
Between the Han dynasty, founded in 206 B.C.E., and the Sui, which ended in 618 C.E., Chinese authors wrote many thousands of short textual items, each of which narrated or described some phenomenon deemed "strange."Most items told of encounters between humans and various denizens of the spirit-world, or of the miraculous feats of masters of esoteric arts; some described the wonders of exotic lands, or transmitted fragments of ancient mythology. This genre of writing came to be known as zhiguai ("accounts of anomalies").
Who were the authors of these books, and why did they write of these "strange" matters? Why was such writing seen as a compelling thing to do? In this book, the first comprehensive study in a Western language of the zhiguai genre in its formative period, Campany sets forth a new view of the nature of the genre and the reasons for its emergence. He shows that contemporaries portrayed it as an extension of old royal and imperial traditions in which strange reports from the periphery were collected in the capital as a way of ordering the world. He illuminates how authors writing from most of the religious and cultural perspectives of the times--including Daoists, Buddhists, Confucians, and others--used the genre differently for their own persuasive purposes, in the process fundamentally altering the old traditions of anomaly-collecting. Analyzing the "accounts of anomalies" both in the context of Chinese religious and cultural history and as examples of a cross-culturally attested type of discourse, Campany combines in-depth Sinological research with broad-ranging comparative thinking in his approach to these puzzling, rich texts
"This is a thorough, highly readable, and interesting description of zhiguai texts. It is a first-rate book, insightful and well-written--a book that is a pleasure to read straight through and to consult for specific points of information and interpretation in the future." -- John S. Major, author of Heaven and Earth in Early Han Thought
"This is a brilliantly strange work. I say 'strange' in that it is a splendidly unconventional and provocative work that is not about just this or that. The book has, in fact, the potential for moving some of the current stolid theoretical discourse concerning Chinese studies and the history of religions in new and creative directions." --Girardot, Lehigh University
524 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1995
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 21, 2014
I picked up Robert Ford Campany's book Strange Writing: Anomaly Accounts in Early Medieval China at Powell's back in August. And it's taken me this long to get around to reading it. But in a way I'm really glad I did wait as the knowledge I picked up about Chinese religion and history in the past 4 months really made a big difference. Campany works at the university of Indiana as a professor of religion and East Asian studies. I read his bio at the university and he seems to be interested in exactly the same things about Chinese religion that I am. I wish I could go study with him. I just can't see Bill and I living in Indiana! Maybe he'll get transfered to somewhere civilized. But I loved this book.
He looked at the tradition of writings about the strange and unnatural. Events such as stories of strange lands, creatures, encounters with ghosts and gods. But rather than simply look at them from a folkloric point of view, or as the beginnings of fiction. He did a in depth analysis of these writings from their historical context. What the authors were trying to say in their writings. Where these writing traditions came from, how they justified themselves compared to other writings, such as the traditional histories.
The book starts with a look at writings about the other. How when there is a centralized power then what happens on the periphery becomes considered to be strange and exotic. Early writers of these accounts were these types of writing. Writing about the out most edges of the world for the benefit of the Emperor. He has a huge list of these texts, describing the origins of each, which survied, which didn't and which are likely to have been written later. Very much an interesting and important reference tool. Though at this point I think the Classic of Mountains and Seas is the only one translated into English.
He did a very good and detailed analysis of the formulas and patterns of these anomaly accounts. It would almost be a guide of how to write your own early medieval Chinese anomaly account. Including which phrases signify the change of which events. He gave a very detailed outline in several points of the main parts of the stories, actually I should also call them accounts as it was clear they were not intended to be fiction. There was an intriguing part where he looked at someone else's (I'm sorry I forget who) analysis of stories of the strange that had this great continuum of stories that seemed to have fantastical events but turned out to be logical explanations, stories where the events seemed logical but turned out to be fantastic, stories where the reader decided whether the events were fantastic or not, and those where they clearly were.
He looked at the different types of anomalies locations, degrees (such as very large creatures), boundary crossing beings, interbreeding, transformation, marvelous effects, etc.
The perspective of the different authors was also important there were the Fangshi writers, Buddhist and Daoist ideas that were being put forth in the accounts, often trying to further a particular belief, or challenge an existing view of the world. But the most interesting view was the "heaven and humanity" which is a phrase i hadn't come across before. But I definitely need to do more research on. They looked at the boundary between heaven and people. It was no longer just the adepts or immortals that were having meetings with divine of supernatural beings, rather it was something that was available to everyone. Humanity was connected to all species in the heavens and in the earth, seen and unseen, and that these connections affected the whole of humanity and not just the ruler.
The last chapter was all about crossing boundaries, the dead, ghosts, acting very much like people, spiritual beings and stories about animals. All wonderful and fascinating. I loved this book so much, so well documented, such great in-depth analysis. His second book is a translation and analysis of an older Daoist text which I think I will have to get. It was originally 90 dollars, but is on the publishers website for 30 which seems very reasonable, at least for a good scholarly text.
He looked at the tradition of writings about the strange and unnatural. Events such as stories of strange lands, creatures, encounters with ghosts and gods. But rather than simply look at them from a folkloric point of view, or as the beginnings of fiction. He did a in depth analysis of these writings from their historical context. What the authors were trying to say in their writings. Where these writing traditions came from, how they justified themselves compared to other writings, such as the traditional histories.
The book starts with a look at writings about the other. How when there is a centralized power then what happens on the periphery becomes considered to be strange and exotic. Early writers of these accounts were these types of writing. Writing about the out most edges of the world for the benefit of the Emperor. He has a huge list of these texts, describing the origins of each, which survied, which didn't and which are likely to have been written later. Very much an interesting and important reference tool. Though at this point I think the Classic of Mountains and Seas is the only one translated into English.
He did a very good and detailed analysis of the formulas and patterns of these anomaly accounts. It would almost be a guide of how to write your own early medieval Chinese anomaly account. Including which phrases signify the change of which events. He gave a very detailed outline in several points of the main parts of the stories, actually I should also call them accounts as it was clear they were not intended to be fiction. There was an intriguing part where he looked at someone else's (I'm sorry I forget who) analysis of stories of the strange that had this great continuum of stories that seemed to have fantastical events but turned out to be logical explanations, stories where the events seemed logical but turned out to be fantastic, stories where the reader decided whether the events were fantastic or not, and those where they clearly were.
He looked at the different types of anomalies locations, degrees (such as very large creatures), boundary crossing beings, interbreeding, transformation, marvelous effects, etc.
The perspective of the different authors was also important there were the Fangshi writers, Buddhist and Daoist ideas that were being put forth in the accounts, often trying to further a particular belief, or challenge an existing view of the world. But the most interesting view was the "heaven and humanity" which is a phrase i hadn't come across before. But I definitely need to do more research on. They looked at the boundary between heaven and people. It was no longer just the adepts or immortals that were having meetings with divine of supernatural beings, rather it was something that was available to everyone. Humanity was connected to all species in the heavens and in the earth, seen and unseen, and that these connections affected the whole of humanity and not just the ruler.
The last chapter was all about crossing boundaries, the dead, ghosts, acting very much like people, spiritual beings and stories about animals. All wonderful and fascinating. I loved this book so much, so well documented, such great in-depth analysis. His second book is a translation and analysis of an older Daoist text which I think I will have to get. It was originally 90 dollars, but is on the publishers website for 30 which seems very reasonable, at least for a good scholarly text.
December 12, 2013
Incredible book on early medieval (3rd-6th cent CE) Chinese "stories of the strange." Clearly inspired by Todorv's The Fantastic, it is full of insights, both theoretical and historical - both a taxonomy and a well-argued history with implications for religious and literary studies. All of this in actually readable prose. I'm sure I'll find something to criticize about it after I've pondered on it longer, but for now, I can only find one word to describe it: fantastic.
December 28, 2020
What a momentous book on Chinese culture and literature. This is a VERY geeky book, but if you're into mythology and how different cosmological models permeate all of Chinese culture, this is a fantastic book to start with.
I won't lie, at some points, it was a little bit tedious, but mostly because of the sheer amount of information Campany cramps into it. However, his insights and the way he connects and digs deeper into the usefulness of such anomaly texts are invaluable.
Definitely, a must-read for people in classic Chinese translation or interested in medieval China and beyond.
I won't lie, at some points, it was a little bit tedious, but mostly because of the sheer amount of information Campany cramps into it. However, his insights and the way he connects and digs deeper into the usefulness of such anomaly texts are invaluable.
Definitely, a must-read for people in classic Chinese translation or interested in medieval China and beyond.
January 17, 2008
Amazing Scholarly treatment of a Chinese genre which is more or less an ancestor of Forteana, thoug perhaps a little more broad, but venning some overlap for sure!
June 2, 2011
Excellent synopsis, strong readings, rich bibliography.
April 20, 2016
reading efficiently because this book is on reserve!
such a wonderful read. I'd love more books about medieval China written in this style!
such a wonderful read. I'd love more books about medieval China written in this style!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews