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

Xiaonan Deng

ISBN 10: 9004472622 / ISBN 13: 9789004472624

Published by Brill, NL, 2021

About this Item

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.

Seller Inventory # LU-9789004472624

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Ancestors' Instructions Must Not Change: Political Discourse and Practice in the Song Period
• Publisher: Brill, NL
• Publication Date: 2021
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 9004472622
• ISBN 13: 9789004472624
• Binding: Hardback
• Condition: New
• Dimensions: 15.5W x 4.9H x 23.5D centimeters 15.5 centimeters width by 4.9 centimeters height by 23.5 centimeters depth
• Weight: 1266 grams

About this title

Synopsis

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.

About the Author

Deng Xiaonan, M.A. (1985), Peking University, is Professor of history at that university. She has published monographs and more than a hundred articles on Chinese history, including Personnel Administration of Civil Service in Song China (1993, 2021).

Wee Kek Koon, M.A., The Chinese University of Hong Kong, B.A. (Hons), National University of Singapore, is a translator and writer who has published English translations of academic and literary works that are written in the Chinese language.