On December 21-22 2024, UIC organized an international symposium “In Search of the Early Chinese Empires: the Dynamics between Excavated Manuscripts and Transmitted Texts” jointly with the University of Notre Dame. The event featured contributions by scholars from top domestic and international universities and institutions. The symposium, co-organized by UIC, the University of Notre Dame, and Hong Kong Baptist University and hosted by the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of UIC, was convened by President Chen Zhi of UIC and coordinated by Dr. Chen Jianing of the CCGC Programme and Dr. Cai Liang of the Notre Dame.

Group Photo

As a prelude to the symposium, the scholars first gathered in Hong Kong for a dinner reception hosted by the University of Notre Dame on the evening of the 19th, and visited the Jao Tsung-I Academy of Sinology at Hong Kong Baptist University the next morning. The scholars then arrived in Zhuhai and attended a dinner reception hosted by Professor Tze-ki Hon, Dean of FHSS, who thanked the scholars for coming. President Chen Zhi delivered a speech at the banquet, expressing his warm welcome to the scholars, and hoping that through this conference, academic ties among universities could be strengthened and cooperation and academic development promoted.

Conference Scene

Professor Paul R. Goldin from the University of Pennsylvania then delivered the keynote speech entitled “The Geography of the Rise of Qin.” Professor Goldin argued that Qin's administration during the Warring States period was not unique in terms of its administrative structure, as other states had also implemented similar reforms. Therefore, Qin's success required considering other unique factors, including geography. One of Qin's geographical advantages was its separation from the states of the Central Plain, which allowed it to avoid fighting on its own territory. Professor Goldin illustrated this with maps marking the locations of battles during the Warring States period. Another advantage was the conquest of Sichuan, a strategically important and easily defensible region.

Professor Paul R. Goldin

Professor Hou Xudong from Tsinghua University gave the first talk on the morning of December 21, entitled “The Way of Communication between Prime Minister and Subordinate Officials in the Prime Minister's Office of the Western Han Dynasty as seen in Han jiu yi 汉旧仪”. The presentation covered the textual history of Han jiu yi, the records related to the organization of the Chancellor’s Office, personnel activities, the relationship between the Prime Minister and subordinate officials, and the etiquette norms. Through examples of rulers and subordinate officials addressing each other as jun 君 and chen 臣 in unearthed bamboo slips, the talk explored the so-called “dual ruler-minister relationship” between the Prime Minister and subordinate officials. The presentation prompted reflection on the limitations of the disenchanted and rationalized views on bureaucratic systems accepted in the 20th century.

Professor Hou Xudong

Dr. Li Jingrong of Hunan University gave a presentation entitled “Administrative and Criminal Legal Responsibility of Officials in Qin and Han Dynasties”. It analyzed the types and characteristics of crimes by Qin and Han officials. It described the administrative responsibilities and characteristics of Qin and Han officials based on excavated manuscripts, including the allocation of responsibilities and the methods and distribution of punishment.

Dr. Li Jingrong

Dr. Chun Fung Tong of the University of Hong Kong gave a presentation entitled “The Qin’s War against the Six States and the Tokenization of its Knighthood”. The study introduced the twenty-rank system of nobility in the Qin Dynasty, as well as Qin's territorial expansion during the Warring States period and related policies such as obtaining nobility through grain contribution and exemption from punishment. It emphasized that long-term warfare increased opportunities for the acquisition of ranks of nobility, forcing the government to control the number of high-ranking nobles, which led to the “tokenization” of nobility, which expressed itself in the commensurate trading of noble ranks. Dr. Tang discussed the regulations and changes in trading and analyzed the drawbacks of this policy based on excavated manuscript evidence.

Dr. Chun Fung Tong

Dr. Cai Liang of the University of Notre Dame gave a presentation entitled “Absence of Talion and Tort Law in Early Imperial China (221 BCE-9 CE): How Body Politic Canceled Corrective Justice”. The paper pointed out that the law of retaliation (“eye for an eye”) occupied an important position in Babylonian law, biblical law, and early Roman law, while the Qin-Han legal system basically did not have it in its criminal regulations and practice. Victims in Qin-Han law could not receive monetary compensation; perpetrators paid fines to the government or were punished with hard labor service for the government. This can be explained from the perspective of the relationship between individuals and the state stipulated by the body politic in the ancient saying “The ruler is the heart, and the people are like the limbs”.

Dr. Cai Liang

Dr. Wicky Wai Kit Tze of the Chinese University of Hong Kong gave a presentation entitled “Quantifying Accomplishments, Rewarding Performance—Military Bounties in Early Imperial China”. The talk traced the developments from the Western Zhou Dynasty to the Qin and Han Dynasties, exploring the transformation of the reward system oriented towards status in early China. Based on materials such as the Zhangjiashan Han bamboo slips, it discussed the changes in the military meritocracy system from the Qin state to the Han Dynasty. Following the Qin unification, the Rebellion of the Seven States, and wars against the Xiongnu and Qiang people, the system of military bounties in the Qin and Han periods quantified military achievements, and a “military labor” market was formed, which became an important part of border security measures.

Dr. Wicky Wai Kit Tze

Dr. Liu Liang of Beijing Normal University gave a presentation entitled “Life and Pleasure in Lüshi chunqiu's Doctrine of Self-cultivation”. The study argued that the doctrine of self-cultivation in LSCQ has two different tendencies: “life is the most precious” and “a tortured life is worse than death”. These two views provide ideological support for the conflicting governing suggestions in LSCQ. In the framework that contains two conflicting scenarios, LSCQ does not clearly tell readers under what conditions the former or the latter should prevail, which allows policymakers to decide based on their personal preferences. This explains why it has not become an applicable and systematic doctrine to restrain rulers but rather a reference book for people with different ideological preferences, especially rulers, to prove the correctness of their actions and justify decisions with sensible reasons.

Dr. Liu Liang

Professor Olivia Milburn of the University of Hong Kong gave a presentation entitled “Real Men and Good Women: Gender Ideology in Han Dynasty Confucian Thought”. The presentation reviewed the image and concept of the “great man” 大丈夫 in Han Dynasty literature such as Dongguan Hanji and Hou Hanshu, emphasizing their lofty pursuit of ambition and discussing the masculine positioning of gender concepts reflected in texts such as Chunqiu fanlu. By analyzing the description of the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationship in the Han bamboo slip Wangji fu 妄稽赋and the image of the good woman in “Longxi Xing” 陇西行 from Yutai xinyong 玉台新咏, Professor Milburn examined the image and requirements of good women from the Qin to the Han Dynasties.

Professor Olivia Milburn

Dr. Yegor Grebnev of UIC gave a presentation entitled “Banning of Books or Banning of Discourses? Revisiting the First Emperor's Bibliocaust”. The presentation revisited the story about the First Emperor's “burning of books” as a paradigmatic narrative. By analyzing the cause of the event, the apparent conflicts, and the targets, it argued that the narrative, despite probably containing fictional elements, highlighted the conflict between the emerging centralized power and the communities perpetuating earlier authoritative discourses. Dr. Grebnev invited to reconsider the “banning of books” as a historical process spanning hundreds of years, which had a profound impact on the structure of Chinese authority.

Dr. Yegor Grebnev

Dr. Laetitia Chhiv of the East Asian Civilizations Research Centre  (CRCAO) in Paris, France, gave a presentation entitled “A Pre-Qin Literary Genre: A Comparison of Confucius's Words in Excavated and Transmitted Texts”. By examining the presentation of Confucius's sayings in ancient texts, the presentation argued that it constitutes a literary genre. Through the analysis of its definition, formal characteristics, stylistic features (such as parallelism, antithesis, anadiplosis, sorites, and other rhetorical devices), and thematic features, Dr. Chhiv suggests that Confucius's sayings had already formed a genre with unique form, style, and themes during the Warring States period, and remained basically stable in later generations.

Dr. Laetitia Chhiv

Professor Sun Wenbo of Renmin University of China gave a presentation entitled “Zhou-Qin Revolution vs. Qin and Han Model”. The presentation discussed the connotations of the “Zhou-Qin Revolution” and compares it with the “Tang-Song Transformation”; it then defined the concept of the “Qin and Han Model” and explored its manifestations from aspects such as the county and canton systems, the merit and recommendation systems, the legal system, the equal emphasis on civil and military affairs and universal conscription, and administrative techniques and knowledge systems. Some contents of the “Qin and Han Model” were continued by later regimes, while others gradually disappeared and were forgotten.

Professor Sun Wenbo

Dr. Ben Tsang Wing Ma of Hong Kong Polytechnic University gave a presentation entitled “On Zhong Wei of Early Han”. Based on materials such as the Han bamboo slips of the Gongling 功令 from Zhangjiashan and the Qin bamboo slips of the Zhili lü 置吏律 from Yueyang, the presentation provided an in-depth investigation of the official post zhongwei 中尉 recorded in texts such as the Hanshu, exploring its duties, powers, and its connections with the political and military circumstances of the early Han Dynasty. Dr. Ma argued that the zhongwei of the early Han Dynasty commanded troops and held power over military officers, subordinate officials, subordinate counties, and local metropolitan officials, which needs to be understood in the context of the military threats faced by the early Han Dynasty.

Dr. Ben Tsang Wing Ma

Dr. Lu Jialiang of Wuhan University gave a presentation entitled “Revisit the Writing Form Changes of Qian Ce Manuscripts from Jiang and Han Basin during the Warring States, Qin and Han Dynasties and their Causes”. The presentation introduced the scope and publication status of qiance 遣策 (inventories or registers) seen in bamboo and wooden slips of the Warring States, Qin, and Han periods. It analyzed the developments that accompanied the use of bamboo and wooden slips for the writing of qiance; the evolution of copying methods from continuous writing on multiple slips to one item per slip; the attachment of appendices to qiance in the early Western Han Dynasty and their relationship with gaodishu 告地书 (reports to the earth). The presentation argued that the Qin Dynasty played a significant role in the evolution of qiance.

Dr. Lu Jialiang

On December 22, Professor Lai Guolong of Westlake University presented a paper “Confucianism and Han Dynasty Art”. The talk reviewed the history and the current state of research in Han Dynasty art, pointing out problems in research methods, understanding of the nature of archaeological materials, and material limitations. It explored the role of Confucianism in the development of Han Dynasty painting, analyzed the ritual layout of the unified Qin and Han empires promoted by Confucianism, and argued that Confucianism played a decisive and important role in the development of Han Dynasty art.

Professor Lai Guolong

Professor Chen Kanli of Peking University gave a presentation entitled “The Regionalization of Xiang and its Influence”. The presentation traced the emergence of xiang bu 乡部 (township divisions), further exploring the change in the positioning of xiang 乡 (township) from settlements to administrative regions. Evidence from Qin and Han bamboo slips from Shuihudi, Liye and Zhangjiashan shows that xiang sefu 乡啬夫 (township heads) emerged from within guan sefu 官啬夫 (official heads) and evolved into xiang bu sefu 乡部啬夫with territorial jurisdiction. The presentation explored the purpose of dividing township-level administrative regions and argued that it produced an effect contrary to its purpose, triggering the emergence of trans-settlement communities xiangli societies 乡里社会 and prompting changes in the form of township rule.

Professor Chen Kanli

Dr. Chen Jianing of UIC gave a presentation entitled “From Yao and Shun to Wang Mang: The Thought and Practice of Crown Abdication in Warring States, Qin and Han Dynasties”. The presentation discussed the prevalence of abdication thought during the Warring States period, with the appearance of abdication practices such as King Kuai of Yan 燕王哙abdicating the throne to Zizhi 子之, all of which ended in failure. The social conditions of the late Warring States period led to a temporary shattering of the abdication myth. Abdication thought almost disappeared in the Qin Dynasty, but revived in the Western Han with the rise of Confucianism. Due to intensifying social contradictions, Wang Mang's usurpation and the establishment of the Xin Dynasty symbolized the peak of abdication practice for the entire period from the Warring States to the Western Han.

Dr. Chen Jianing

Professor Zhang Zhaoyang of Shanghai Jiao Tong University gave a presentation entitled “On 'Nine Markets' in Linxiang of Eastern Han Dynasty: Based on Recent Excavated Manuscripts”. Based on Western Han bamboo slips from Zoumalou, Changsha, the presentation described the situation of the Linxiang 临湘 market in the Western Han Dynasty, and based on Eastern Han bamboo slips from Wuyi Square, it explored the situation of the Linxiang market in the Eastern Han Dynasty. The presentation argued that shi 市  refers to a specific trading place, exploring textual examples for the West Market 西式, East Gate Market 东门市, Small Market 小市, Pavilion Market 亭市, and Water Market 水上市. It also analyzed the market distribution patterns, arguing that their locations relied on transportation hubs.

Professor Zhang Zhaoyang

Dr. Guo Weitao of Tsinghua University gave a presentation entitled “Historical Sources and Historical Facts: Analysis of Lost Records on Cai Lun's Invention of Papermaking in Dongguan Han Ji”. The presentation juxtaposed the traditional view expressed in the Hou Hanshu that Cai Lun 蔡伦 invented “Marquis Cai paper” 蔡侯纸 with ancient paper artifacts unearthed in Northwest China. It systematically traced the sources of citations from the Dongguan Han Ji concerning Cai Lun preserved in different texts. It argued that there are problems with the records regarding Cai Lun's invention of papermaking, which is related to the emergence of the character zhi 帋 and its misinterpretation.

Dr. Guo Weitao

Finally, Dr. Cai Liang gave a concluding speech and expressed gratitude to the participating experts and scholars, as well as the organizers and the host. On the afternoon of the 22nd, Dr. Chen Jianing accompanied the participants on a visit to Zhan Garden 詹园 in Zhongshan to celebrate the successful conclusion of the symposium.

 

Translated by Yegor Grebnev

Photos provided by MPRO

Reported and edited by Jianing Chen