On Discourse
Tags
Summary
Editor's review
Who it's for
A good fit for
- University students studying ancient literary theory or courses on Wenxin Diaolong
- Readers interested in the ancient discourse and persuasion genres and the tradition of argumentation
- Language teachers and writers who need to understand traditional norms of discursive writing
Not a good fit for
- Readers seeking to read the whole of Wenxin Diaolong; a single chapter cannot replace the complete work
- Beginners without a foundation in classical Chinese who need vernacular translation and annotation
Reading tips
- First understand the overall chapter structure of Wenxin Diaolong, then locate this chapter's place within its genre theory
- Work through Liu Xie's definitions of the lun and shuo genres paragraph by paragraph, distinguishing the different writing requirements of the two
- Read alongside famous discourse and persuasion works from the pre-Qin through the Han and Wei to test the applicability of the chapter's views
About the publisher
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.
Contents
- 版权信息
- 正文一
- 正文二
- 正文三
- 正文四
- 正文五
FAQ
Can I understand Wenxin Diaolong by reading only this chapter?
Does "shuo" in this chapter mean conversational technique?
Comments
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About the 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.
