Hulsewé, A. F. P.

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BOOK REVIEWS 325work is yet another example of wrongheadedSinocentric acceptance of the official Chineserecord while slighting the non-Han peoples andtheir contributions to Chinese culture. It isprobably true that a reader of Hucker will hearthe pages rustle ever so slightly in applause asthey report how the Chinese gain dominionover Turkestan, establish a strong central gov-ernment, or assimilate a "barbarian" people.While Hucker might take some quiet delight indescribing the indigenous nature of Chinese cul-tural development, Eberhard is obviously outgunning for such Han pretensions from thestart.As in the earlier editions, Eberhard's bookstrongly suggests that much of ancient Chinesethought—Legalism, Taoism, Five Elements andYin Yang, and even later folktales—was derivedfrom or heavily influenced by India. He devotessixty pages to the Six Dynasties (which were notHan-dominated), and only twenty to the T'ang.He mentions architecture twice, almost solely topoint out Mongol and Tibetan influence. Exceptwhere he can give some hint of non-Han influ-ence or make some sociological observation, histreatment of the arts and literature tends to readlike a laundry list.In this new edition, he has changed about 8percent of the text, adding some new chaptertitles and material on such trendy topics as ecol-ogy, women, recent Chinese praise of Ch'inShih Huang-ti and the anti-Confucius campaign.Although there are some ten new pages on con-temporary China, as a whole the sections onmodern China are embarrassingly weak and be-tray no familiarity with the historical scholarshipof the last twenty years.Unlike Hucker's book, Eberhard's is a highlypersonal one. It is overflowing with problem-atical hypotheses and suppositions Eberhardthinks are worth considering or stressing. Rangeand coverage also tend to follow the author'sproclivities. Eberhard is, for example, interestedin fairy tales. Therefore, although we are toldpractically nothing about, say, Chu Hsi's philo-sophical thought, we are told in two differentplaces that animals never .talk to each other inChinese fairy tales as they do in Indian ones. Itis also noteworthy that the book contains not asingle map of post-T'ang China.As this book is not very balanced or compre-hensive, it is not very useful as a survey text-book. However, with its emphasis on internalsociological evolution and external contacts withcontingent cultures, it might serve as a usefulsupplement to other texts for students alreadyacquainted with Chinese history. Its value lies inits scattered but striking insights into and inter-esting hypotheses upon the connection betweensocial forces and political-economic-intellectualdevelopments. These and Eberhard's sometimesarresting anthropologically inspired observa-tions are the considerable rewards the readerwill reap.GUY S. ALITTOThe University of AkronMelanges de sinologie offerts a MonsieurPaul Demi6ville, II. Paris: Bibliothequede l'lnstitut des Hautes Etudes Chinoises(vol. XX), 1974. x, 470 pp. n.p.l.Nearly ten years after the first volume (pub-lished in 1966) comes this second collection ofarticles dedicated to the dean of French sinolo-gists. The quality of the contributions (in Eng-lish and in French) is very high, and the papersare of great interest. I wish to express my grat-itude to my Leiden colleagues, W. L. Idema andE. Ziircher, for having contributed the materialfor numbers 3, 11-14, 16, and 21 in the follow-ing alphabetical listing of the articles.(1) Jean Deauvilliers, "Les armeniens enChine et en Asie Centrale au Moyen Age" is acollection of snippets of information from West-ern and Near Eastern sources, arranged chrono-logically. (2) Louis Hambis, "Survivance detoponymes de l'epoque mongole en HauteAsie" discusses a number of names of rivers,lakes, etc., in Mongolia (mainly taken from Chi-nese sources) still in current use. Hambis be-lieves that most of these go back to earlier peri-ods, before either Mongolian or Turkish wereused in these regions.(3) In "Le Hong leou mong, roman symboliste,"David Hawkes demonstrates the insufficiency ofboth the autobiographical and the Marxist ap-proaches to interpreting this famous novel, andstresses the consistent use of symbols (e.g., themirror) and the omnipresence of the super-natural. He sees as the main theme of the novelthe gradual awakening of the chief figure, PaoYii, to the illusory nature of this world. (4) "Lavaleur relative des textes de Che ki et du Hanchou" is a truly epoch-making study. By meansof a meticulous analysis of chapters 117 in theShih chi and 57 in the Han shu (the biography ofavailable at https:/www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.2307/2054176Downloaded from https:/www.cambridge.org/core. University of Basel Library, on 11 Jul 2017 at 07:43:37, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use,326the poet Ssu-ma Hsiang-ju), Yves Hervouetshows that, contrary to the traditional view, theSC chapter is a late reconstruction based on thetext of the HS. I arrived at the same conclusionregarding SC 123 and HS 61 (see T'oung Pao 61[i975])- (5) In "Les premiers vers penta-syllabiques date's dans la poesie chinoise," Don-ald Holzmann discusses and translates, with de-tailed comments, a number of datable early five-syllable poems. He stresses the popular originof this new type of poetry, while also discussingthe poets' quest for a new form.(6) In my "Quelques remarques sur le com-merce de la soie au temps de la dynastie desHan," I combat the view that the Chinese ex-pansion into Central Asia during the Han periodwas the result of commercial pressure; I main-tain that the primary motive was military: theelimination of the Hsiung-nu. I am convincedthat the origin of the East-West silk trade can befully explained by the ever-increasing qualitiesof silk dispatched by the Chinese government tothe nomadic peoples on China's northwesternborder and to the rulers of the statelets in Cen-tral Asia, as part of the Chinese appeasementpolicy.(7) Although J. W. de Jong, "A propos duNidanasamyukta" starts as a critical review of arecent attempt to reconstruct a lost Sanskritoriginal (Turfan ms. S 474), the main part of thiscontribution consists of a discussion of the virtu-al impossibility of restoring a "common ances-tor" of a Buddhist scripture. This is due to thefact that the extant versions are late representa-tives of divergent oral traditions, each beingprofoundly altered by textual accretion and—coming as they do from different languages—bylinguistic factors. The Tibetan translation of thePratityasamutpadadivibhanganirdesa is includedin an appendix. (8) Max Kaltenmark presents anannotated translation of Taoist texts concerningmagical mirrors in "Miroirs magiques."(9) In his "Sie Ling-yun et le Che-chouo sin-yu," Kawakatsu Yoshio suggests that, in thiscompilation of anecdotes—which Kawakatsusees as a nostalgic memorial of the times whenthe cultured aristocrats were in power—the po-et Hsieh Ling-yiin (385-433) symbolizes theopposition against the military upstarts. He be-lieves the main author of the Sbih-shuo hsin-yuto have been not Liu I-ch'ing (as tradition has it)but Ho Ch'ang-yii, a scholar in the service of theformer. (10) Daniel Leslie discusses "LesJOURNAL OF ASIAN STUDIEStheories de Wang Tch'ong sur la causaliteV'Wang Ch'ung assumed that effects are broughtabout by mutual contact of the ch'i of two sub-stances, but he also operates with a parallelismbrought about by fate.(11) In "Le probleme de la date et del'authenticite' du receuil de contes anciens in-titule 'King-pen t'ong-sou siao-chouo,' " Andr£LeVy gives a summary of different opinions inthe matter, and then concludes that the collec-tion of short stories entitled Ching-pen t'ung-suhsiao-shuo, discovered and published in 1915 byMiao Ch'iian-sun, is a twentieth-century for-gery. (12) Walter Liebenthal's contribution "Ngo[wo, "I"], Variations of Meaning" wrongly as-sumes that the use of wo in Seng Chao's Chaolun to denote "the Cosmic Sage" is of Buddhistorigin; it is undoubtedly Taoist. (13) Arthur E.Link's highly important contribution "The In-troduction to Dhyanaparamita in the Liu-tu chi-cking" is a copiously annotated translation ofone of the most important documents of the ec-lectic type of third-century Chinese Buddhism.But it is also a meticulous study of early ChineseBuddhist terminology of two different levels,viz., archaic and "early Buddhist wen-yen."(14) Liu Ts'un-yan's highly erudite "Surl'authenticite' des romans historiques de LoGuanzhong" is an unsuccessful attempt to creditLo Kuan-chung with the authorship not only ofthe San-kuo chih yen-i (which has never beenquestioned), but also of the lost prototype of theTa Tang Ch'in-wang tz'u-hua, the section onthe northern campaigns in the 115-chapterShui-hu chuan, and probably also of the SuiT'ang chih chuan and the Ts'an Tang Wu-taishih. The author's argument rests on the closecorrespondence between certain passages, but itis not conclusive and might be used to argueagainst Lo's authorship. The value of the articlelies in its demonstration of the numerous inter-relationships among sixteenth-century novels.(15) Ferenc Tokei's "Textes prosodiqueschinois au d6but du vie siecle" discusses earlyChinese prosodic theories, and gives trans-lations of essays by Shen Yueh and his contem-poraries. Tokei refutes the view that Shen Yueh"discovered" the four tones and their impor-tance for poetry. (16) In "Une satire du mouve-ment novateur a la fin des Ts'ing: Le Kouan-tch'ang wei-sin ki," L£on Vandermeersch pro-vides a useful summary of the short novel Kuan-ch'ang wei-hsin chi and shows how this novelavailable at https:/www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.2307/2054176Downloaded from https:/www.cambridge.org/core. University of Basel Library, on 11 Jul 2017 at 07:43:37, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use,BOOK REVIEWS 327provides an interesting picture of China's firstattempts at modernization—often hampered bythe tendency of the "modernized officials" tousurp existing enterprises.(17) The late Arthur Wright gives a scintillat-ing description of the Sui-T'ang capital in"Tch'ang-an, 583-904—esquisse historique."(18) The late Mary Wright adduces good rea-sons for the necessity of studying nineteenth-century China in "Pourquoi 6tudier l'histoire duxixe siecle chinois." (A separate note informsthe reader that attribution of this paper to Ar-thur Wright was due to a slip of the pen.) (19)"Deux fragments du Tchou-ying tsi, une anthol-ogie de poemes des T'ang retrouv£e a Touen-hoang," by Wu Chi-yu, identifies the extantTun-huang fragments of the Chu-ying chi an-thology, and provides biographical informationconcerning both the editor and the individualpoets. Fourteen of the poems are translated andannotated; the article is accompanied by photo-graphs of the Tun-huang text.(20) Luciano Petech provides some additionalnotes to the paper " 'Description des Pays del'Occident' par Che Tao-ngan," which was pub-lished in the first volume of these Melanges. (21)Arthur E. Link contributes another paper, writ-ten in collaboration with Leon Hurvitz, entitled"Three Prajndpdramitd Prefaces of Tao-an."These prefaces are the only remains of a moreextensive literature that was lost onceKumarajlva and his school had produced a moreauthentic picture of the Mahayana doctrine ofUniversal Emptiness. The profusely annotatedtranslation allows an insight into Tao-an's partic-ular type of hsuan-hsiiehlpdramitd thought, animportant phase in the reception and absorptionof the doctrine of Emptiness and its amalgama-tion with fourth-century hsiian-hsiieh specula-tions. Link and Hurvitz's summary, in whichthey systematically arrange the essential ideas,introduces coherence and lucidity into the ob-scurity that stems from Tao-an's completely dif-ferent way of thought.A. F. P. HULSEWERomont, SwitzerlandEtudes Song: Sung Studies in MemoriamEtienne Balazs. EDITED BY FRAN^OISEAUBIN. Series 1 (History and Institu-tions), Vol. Ill, pp. 185-300. The Hague:Mouton, 1976. Folio Map. FF 38.00Series 2 (Civilization), Vol. I. The Hague:Mouton, 1973. 92 pp. FF 24.00Like many similar volumes, this festschrift forEtienne Balazs (1905-1963) is not organizedaround precisely defined, correlative themes.The diverse contributions (in English andFrench) from prominent specialists in the Eastand the West are broadly divided into two sec-tions: one in history and institutions (Series I);and another on civilization—which includesthought, literature, language, art, and science(Series 2). In the two current installments (vol-ume ill of Series 1, and volume 1 of Series 2) ofthis commemorative series begun in 1970, a fewof the nine articles do coincidentally address re-lated topics; but for the most part, the essaysstand independently and must be so evaluated.Taken as a whole, they partially reflect the rangeof Balazs's scholarly interests; at the same time,they demonstrate the breadth and depth of mod-ern Sung studies, which Balazs stimulated sosignificantly.Chu Hsi is the subject of two articles: onedealing with his career as a local official, the oth-er describing his philosophy. In a lucid narrative(1 .ill), Conrad Schirokauer highlights Chu's ac-tivities in six provincial and county posts heldsporadically over forty years. Not only does thisessay add a seldom-seen dimension to Chu, butit also contributes to the growing number ofWestern studies about Sung local government.As might be expected, Chu was especially con-cerned with educational and ritual matters, aswell as with ways to improve the economic wel-fare of the people. He served in an upright andconscientious manner (perhaps excessively so inthe eyes of some less principled colleagues), buthis official career cannot be considered particu-larly noteworthy. Even his most energetic ef-forts to effect an equitable redistribution oflandholdings met with failure.Wing-tsit Chan, in his article on Chu's com-pletion of Neo-Confucian philosophy (2.1), pen-etratingly yet succinctly describes the philo-sophical achievements of this master. Anabridged version of the article was previouslypublished in Chinese; in its now vastly expandedform, it can be considered one of the best essaysin English outlining Chu's thought. The first andlongest section analyzes the various philosophi-cal impulses of the Northern Sung and explains1 how Chu creatively synthesized these. Chan alsoavailable at https:/www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.2307/2054176Downloaded from https:/www.cambridge.org/core. University of Basel Library, on 11 Jul 2017 at 07:43:37, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use,

Book Review: Mèlanges de sinologie offerts à Monsieur Paul Demiéville, II: Mèlanges de sinologie offerts à Monsieur Paul Demiéville, II. Paris: Bibliothèque de l'Institut des Hautes Etudes Chinoises (vol. XX), 1974. x, 470 pp. n.p.l

Book Review: Mèlanges de sinologie offerts à Monsieur Paul Demiéville, II: Mèlanges de sinologie offerts à Monsieur Paul Demiéville, II. Paris: Bibliothèque de l'Institut des Hautes Etudes Chinoises (vol. XX), 1974. x, 470 pp. n.p.l

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