An Academic History of China’s Han Dynasty: Volume II Brilliant Academic Achievements

By: Tieji Xiong

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Synopsis: This book examines the academic legacy of the Han dynasty. It explicates the line between the explaining of a classical text (训诂) and the study of classical texts and their interpretation (训诂学). The study of hermeneutics was developed already, including the Chinese specific figure, meaning, sound, interpretation, and rites and systems. It details analyses of the Confucian School, Daoist School, Yin-Yang School, Legalist School, Terminologist School, Mohist School, Political Strategist School, Syncretist School, Agriculturalist School, and Literalist School. Among important classical works of the Han Dynasty examined throughout the book Shiji, Hanshu and Hanji are deeply analysed. Referring to various works during the Earlier and Later Han Dynasty, the author details categories of historiographical writing, i.e., the category of classical, official, and miscellaneous history, and different branches of analysis and interpretation.The book expatiates chapters on astronomy, mathematics, geography, agriculture, and medicine. Among these are the three theories on sky, the mathematics, map drawing, ox-plowing, an agricultural treatise, water project examinations, and the process of knowledge transfer and advancement in medicine during the Han Dynasty.