Ancestors, Kings, and the Dao
Ancestors, Kings, and the Dao outlines the evolution of musical performance in early China, first within and then ultimately away from the socio-religious context of ancestor worship. Examining newly discovered bamboo texts from the Warring States period, Constance A. Cook compares the rhetoric of Western Zhou (1046–771 BCE) and Spring and Autumn (770–481 BCE) bronze inscriptions with later occurrences of similar terms in which ritual music began to be used as a form of self-cultivation and education. Cook’s analysis links the creation of such classics as the Book of Odes with the ascendance of the individual practitioner, further connecting the social actors in three types of ritual: boys coming of age, heirs promoted into ancestral government positions, and the philosophical stages of transcendence experienced in self-cultivation.

The focus of this study is on excavated texts; it is the first to use both bronze and bamboo narratives to show the evolution of a single ritual practice. By viewing the ancient inscribed materials and the transmitted classics from this new perspective, Cook uncovers new linkages in terms of how the materials were shaped and reshaped over time and illuminates the development of eulogy and song in changing ritual contexts.

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Ancestors, Kings, and the Dao
Ancestors, Kings, and the Dao outlines the evolution of musical performance in early China, first within and then ultimately away from the socio-religious context of ancestor worship. Examining newly discovered bamboo texts from the Warring States period, Constance A. Cook compares the rhetoric of Western Zhou (1046–771 BCE) and Spring and Autumn (770–481 BCE) bronze inscriptions with later occurrences of similar terms in which ritual music began to be used as a form of self-cultivation and education. Cook’s analysis links the creation of such classics as the Book of Odes with the ascendance of the individual practitioner, further connecting the social actors in three types of ritual: boys coming of age, heirs promoted into ancestral government positions, and the philosophical stages of transcendence experienced in self-cultivation.

The focus of this study is on excavated texts; it is the first to use both bronze and bamboo narratives to show the evolution of a single ritual practice. By viewing the ancient inscribed materials and the transmitted classics from this new perspective, Cook uncovers new linkages in terms of how the materials were shaped and reshaped over time and illuminates the development of eulogy and song in changing ritual contexts.

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Ancestors, Kings, and the Dao

Ancestors, Kings, and the Dao

by Constance A. Cook
Ancestors, Kings, and the Dao

Ancestors, Kings, and the Dao

by Constance A. Cook

Hardcover

$49.95 
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Overview

Ancestors, Kings, and the Dao outlines the evolution of musical performance in early China, first within and then ultimately away from the socio-religious context of ancestor worship. Examining newly discovered bamboo texts from the Warring States period, Constance A. Cook compares the rhetoric of Western Zhou (1046–771 BCE) and Spring and Autumn (770–481 BCE) bronze inscriptions with later occurrences of similar terms in which ritual music began to be used as a form of self-cultivation and education. Cook’s analysis links the creation of such classics as the Book of Odes with the ascendance of the individual practitioner, further connecting the social actors in three types of ritual: boys coming of age, heirs promoted into ancestral government positions, and the philosophical stages of transcendence experienced in self-cultivation.

The focus of this study is on excavated texts; it is the first to use both bronze and bamboo narratives to show the evolution of a single ritual practice. By viewing the ancient inscribed materials and the transmitted classics from this new perspective, Cook uncovers new linkages in terms of how the materials were shaped and reshaped over time and illuminates the development of eulogy and song in changing ritual contexts.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780674976955
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Publication date: 10/02/2017
Series: Harvard-Yenching Institute Monograph Series , #107
Pages: 348
Product dimensions: 6.30(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Constance A. Cook is Professor in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures at Lehigh University.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vii

Conventions ix

Introduction 1

Part I Establishing the Zhou Tradition 7

1 Memorial Feasts and the Rise of Eulogy to Zhou Kings 9

Memorial Feasts and Founder Sacrifices 12

Zhou Founder Kings: A Case of King Wen, the Ancestor, and King Wu, the Son 16

Creating the Nation 28

Divine Models 42

Ancestors and the Hunt 48

Summary 50

2 Kings, Ancestors, and the Transmission of De 52

Transitions and Setting the Pattern 55

The Founder King as Earth Deity 87

Summary 89

3 Songs of Heirs 91

Royal Inscriptions: The King as Heir 116

Regional Heirs Control the Sacred Narrative 120

Lengthy Bronze Narratives and the Role of the King 127

Summary 140

4 Eulogy and the Rise of the Musical Performance 144

Training the Xiaozi 146

The Ancient Eulogy or Praise Song 149

Eulogy in Ritual Performance 157

Summary 163

Part II The Zhou Way After the Zhou 165

5 Transitions and Bronze Inscriptions 167

Archaic Rings 168

Western 173

Northern 179

Southern 184

Northeastern 188

Summary 194

6 The New Old Zhou Way 196

Notes on the Transmission of Odes and a Song of King Wen 197

Summary 203

7 From Ancestor Worship to Inner Cultivation 204

Notes on the Bamboo Text The Lute Dance of Zhou Gong 208

Musical Performance and Textual Production 219

Reexamining the Great Preface 222

Inner Feeling, Outer Decorum 226

The Odes as Dao: Cultivating the Intention 231

Summary 240

8 Coming-of-Age Rituals 242

Performing the Capping Ritual 243

Ritual and Music as a Method for "Completion" 247

Coming-of-Age Narratives in the Eastern Zhou 250

Remnants of Promotion Narratives in Warring States Texts 254

Summary 260

Conclusion 261

Bibliography 263

Index 323

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