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Argumentation through Anecdotes: On the Rhetorical Function and Cultural Significance of Anecdotes in Early Chinese Thought
FunderNetherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO)
Duration15 Jun 2010 - 26 Feb 2014
Project code275-63-002
Open Access mandatePublications: NoResearch data: No
Identifiers
Project timeline100%
Description
This project is the first comprehensive study of a wealth of ancient Chinese anecdotes that urgently require systematic scholarly analysis. Defining anecdotes as short, freestanding accounts of events in Chinese history - "true" or invented - it draws on The Annals of Lü Buwei, Han Feizi, Han Yings Illustration of the Odes and Huainanzi as four representative texts from the formative stages of Chinese imperial culture (circa 240-120 BCE), to determine the rhetorical function and cultural significance of anecdotes in early Chinese thought. The use of anecdotes in China emerged when Confucius and other thinkers criticized rulers, explained canonical scriptures, and competed with rival thinkers through their mastery of anecdotes. Notably, they reinforced their argumentative writings by including collections of anecdotes. As such, whereas in Western philosophy anecdotes play a relatively marginal role, in China they formed an integral part of rhetorical strategies. This raises the following, central question: What is the rhetorical function and cultural significance of anecdotes in early Chinese thought? Sub-questions include: Why do Chinese thinkers make such extensive use of anecdotes in argumentation? How were anecdotes collected? How were collections concretely incorporated in argumentative texts? Why are (near-)identical anecdotes used in different texts, to support different, sometimes incompatible views? What is the lasting influence of anecdotes in their philosophical context on Chinese culture? Whence the marked difference with Western philosophy? As the first comprehensive study of ancient Chinese anecdotes, this project reveals complex and creative yet hitherto understudied rhetorical strategies. It sheds light on political argumentation in a formative period in Chinese history, and advances the study of rhetoric in early Chinese thought. Finally, given the relatively marginal role of anecdotes in Western philosophy, it prompts reflection on rhetoric in East and West.
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This project is the first comprehensive study of a wealth of ancient Chinese anecdotes that urgently require systematic scholarly analysis. Defining anecdotes as short, freestanding accounts of events in Chinese history - "true" or invented - it draws on The Annals of Lü Buwei, Han Feizi, Han Yings Illustration of the Odes and Huainanzi as four representative texts from the formative stages of Chinese imperial culture (circa 240-120 BCE), to determine the rhetorical function and cultural significance of anecdotes in early Chinese thought. The use of anecdotes in China emerged when Confucius and other thinkers criticized rulers, explained canonical scriptures, and competed with rival thinkers through their mastery of anecdotes. Notably, they reinforced their argumentative writings by including collections of anecdotes. As such, whereas in Western philosophy anecdotes play a relatively marginal role, in China they formed an integral part of rhetorical strategies. This raises the following, central question: What is the rhetorical function and cultural significance of anecdotes in early Chinese thought? Sub-questions include: Why do Chinese thinkers make such extensive use of anecdotes in argumentation? How were anecdotes collected? How were collections concretely incorporated in argumentative texts? Why are (near-)identical anecdotes used in different texts, to support different, sometimes incompatible views? What is the lasting influence of anecdotes in their philosophical context on Chinese culture? Whence the marked difference with Western philosophy? As the first comprehensive study of ancient Chinese anecdotes, this project reveals complex and creative yet hitherto understudied rhetorical strategies. It sheds light on political argumentation in a formative period in Chinese history, and advances the study of rhetoric in early Chinese thought. Finally, given the relatively marginal role of anecdotes in Western philosophy, it prompts reflection on rhetoric in East and West.
