Cosmology and Political Culture in Early China

This book traces the central role played by cosmology in the formation of China's early empires.

Aihe Wang (Author)

9780521624206, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 8 May 2000

256 pages, 15 b/w illus. 2 maps 10 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.9 cm, 0.55 kg

"This is an excellent book, valuable for its deft use of previous scholarship to describe the interaction of politics and religion. Cosmology and Political Culture in Early China succeeds both as an attack on essentialism and as a description of relationships between political ideals and cosmologies in pre-imperial and early imperial times. It clearly conveys its central message that Chinese cosmology changed over time in conjunction with political changes...Wang provides the most elegant and accurate descriptions that have yet been offered in English of certain fundamental structures. For this reason alone this book should receive wide circulation." Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies

This radical reinterpretation of the formative stages of Chinese culture and history traces the central role played by cosmology in the formation of China's early empires. It crosses the disciplines of history, social anthropology, archaeology and philosophy to illustrate how cosmological systems, particularly the Five Elements, shaped political culture. By focusing on dynamic change in early cosmology, the book undermines the notion that Chinese cosmology was homogeneous and unchanging. By arguing that cosmology was intrinsic to power relations, it also challenges prevailing theories of political and intellectual history.

List of illustrations
List of tables
Acknowledgements
1. Introduction
2. Sifang and the center: the cosmology of the ruling clan
3. Wuxing: cosmology in historical transition
4. Moralizing cosmology and transforming imperial sovereignty
5. Contesting emperorship: the center of the cosmos and pivot of power
Conclusion: cosmology and power reconsidered
List of abbreviations
Works cited
Index.

Subject Areas: Anthropology [JHM], Ancient history: to c 500 CE [HBLA], Asian history [HBJF]