The Ancestors' Instructions Must Not Change: Political Discourse and Practice in the Song Period

by 邓小南, Xiaonan Deng, Kek Koon Wee (Translator )

This book offers an account of the development and transformations of the discourse of ancestors’ instructions in the Song period. It explains how rulers selected words and deeds of ancestors in tandem with changes in current affairs, and how they gave them different meanings to create not only an image of the ancestors that were suitable for emulation but also a talisman to safeguard their administration. Using abundant resources, exercising an economy of words and academic rigor, the author digs deep to tease apart the complex and versatile relationship between the meaning and the truth of the Song discourse on ancestors’ instructions.

Genres: History

688 pages, ebook

Published August 30, 2021

Reviews

[Qiujiangyiye · Rating 5 out of 5]

北宋政治史经典之作。

[XXX · Rating 3 out of 5]

冲着副标题来的，阅读体验充满了困惑。。。作者自己也一再强调“祖宗之法”始终是一个“言人人殊”的概念，内涵模糊，外延广泛，具体到不同的群体、不同的个体，又往往对其有独特的理解。于是，全书以一个模糊的动态的概念为切入口，去观察动态的政治发展演变，而落实到具体的某个事件中，祖宗之法又往往只是用来增加合法性的筹码，并不是推动事件发展的根本动力。由一个模糊的“祖宗之法”入手，最后往往以一个无涉矛盾核心的“祖宗之法”收束，阅读过程中始终对作者处理观察角度及论述的方式充满困惑。