Harmony and Concord

AnonymousBashu Publishing House · ChinaJul 2024

2.2

Word count: 952 words
Chapters: 2

Summary

Harmony and unity. "Guanzi, Wufu": "When actions are proper, the people are harmonious and united; when the people are harmonious and united, achievements and fame are established." "Huainanzi, Benjing Xun": "In an age without disaster, even the gods have no place to display their virtue; when superiors and subordinates are harmonious and united, even the worthy have no place to establish their merit." Tang Bai Juyi, "Edict Appointing Li Xun as Governor of Jingzhao": "Wherever authority and benevolence reach, none fail to be harmonious and united." Song Ye Shi, "Record of Repairing the Walls of Jiangling Prefecture": "Afterwards officials grew lax and followed precedent, thinking that relying on the people's harmony and unity was enough to sit and govern."

Editor's review

This book centers on the classical term heji, gathering instances of its use from historical texts including the Guanzi, the Huainanzi, and writings by Bai Juyi, Ye Shi, and others, revealing the multiple faces of the meaning “harmonious unity” across the classics, histories, philosophical works, and belles-lettres as well as in official documents and prefatory writings. Its value lies not in lengthy argumentation but in using a keyword as a thread, allowing readers to see directly the differences in expression and the semantic stability of one concept across different genres and contexts. Its strength is the broad span of selections, from pre-Qin political discourse to Tang and Song edicts and Song local records, serving both the need to trace the origins of Old Chinese vocabulary and the study of traditional political ethics and local governance. It is suited for use as a small tool-like desk reference rather than a monograph to be read straight through. For writers concerned with classical terms, institutional culture, and local history and gazetteers, it can serve as a reference for lookup and citation; for general readers, it offers a glimpse through one word into how the ancients thought about superior-subordinate relations and group order.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Students of Old Chinese and classical literature, for tracing key vocabulary and checking usage examples
Scholars of traditional political ethics or local governance, as a corpus reference
Writers of history and literature who need allusions and source citations related to heji
Advanced readers interested in the language of texts from the pre-Qin through Tang and Song

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking systematic theoretical exposition or a long monograph
Beginners who only want modern Chinese definitions and do not care about textual sources
Casual readers expecting novel-like narrative or light essays

Reading tips

First read each cited source, noting its era and genre, then compare the subtle differences in the meaning of heji.
Read alongside the relevant chapters of the Guanzi and Huainanzi to avoid taking passages out of context.
Use it as a desk reference, dipping in as needed for writing or checking, rather than reading it all at once.
One may keep index cards recording the context and usage of each example for later retrieval.

About the publisher

Bashu Publishing House China · Founded in 1983

Bashu Publishing House is a publisher centered on collating and publishing classical Chinese cultural texts, with its main publishing areas covering classical literature, Eastern philosophy, ancient poetry, and educational classics. Its library currently holds 1,075 titles, including representative works such as Dream of the Red Chamber, the Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Gathering, Renjian Cihua, and Out to the Frontier, involving authors such as Cao Xueqin, Wang Xizhi, Wang Guowei, Wang Changling, Liu Xie, and Yan Yu. These reflect the publisher's focus on literary classics, poetry criticism, and philosophical readings. Its publishing character lies in working around ancient texts and canonical works, with attention to textual collation and presentation. Public information on its more detailed publishing background and series plans is limited; this introduction is based only on the library's book information.

版权信息
卷十和辑

FAQ

What is the core meaning of the term heji?

According to the materials gathered in this book, heji chiefly means harmonious unity, emphasizing coordinated relations within a group and peace between superiors and subordinates. It can describe relations among common people as well as among rulers and ministers, superiors and subordinates, or local social order, and carries a certain political-ethical coloring.

Is this book a monograph or a compilation of materials?

In content it consists mainly of collected instances of heji from historical texts, and is closer to a keyword sourcebook than a systematic monograph. Readers should treat it as a tool for checking corpus material and comparing usages.

Can someone without a foundation in Old Chinese read it?

It can be browsed, but depth of understanding will be limited. Most quotations are in classical Chinese; without basic reading ability in Old Chinese, it is advisable first to use annotated editions or reference works to clarify the meaning, then to focus on the differences in how heji is used in different contexts.

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About the author

Anonymous Author

Anonymous is not a real personal name but a general Chinese designation for authors whose names are unknown, lost, or unsigned. Neither nationality nor dates of birth and death can be verified, and available public information is limited, so the works attributed to this name are the only basis for description. The collection holds 2,078 works under Anonymous, spanning medicine, classics, historical readings, ancient poetry, classical literature, and philosophy. Representative works include The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon: Lingshu, Mencius, The Book of Documents, Nineteen Old Poems, Complete Song Ci, and The Peacock Flies Southeast. Most of these works took shape through long transmission and editing, emerging either from collective folk creation or from authors whose names were lost over time. In ancient China, the Book of Songs, the Great Learning, and many popular storybooks and plays were signed Anonymous because their authors could not be traced. Anonymous works cross the classics, histories, philosophical writings, medical texts, and poetry; their subjects are broad, and their styles vary from archaic simplicity to clear naturalness, making them important and influential sources for understanding ancient Chinese thought, medicine, and literature.