One of the key concepts in the Heng Xian is the concept of creation, as expressed through a process of spontaneous arising and spontaneous generation. This article analyzes the mechanics of spontaneous creation in terms of the cosmogony that is prominent in the text. I also show how psychomorphic descriptions of the cosmos—associated with the process of cosmogenesis—provide an explanation for change and movement in the cosmos as well as a template for idealized human action in the world. Lastly, I (...) suggest a possible cultural context in which such descriptions of creation became prominent in the late Warring States period. (shrink)

Literary Forms of Argument in Early China examines the functions of rhetorical markers and devices as well as the patterns and larger modes structuring various styles of early Chinese argumentation. The nine contributors to the volume each present tight analyses of specific compositional or literary aspects of persuasion, hoping to demonstrate how an unabashed focus on the formal elements of philosophical writing might come to the aid of, or even more drastically alter and transform, philosophical interpretation. The volume includes essays (...) by the following nine scholars, who are at once a mixture of philologists, textual and literary specialists, and intellectual historians: Rudolph Wagner, Andrew Plaks, David... (shrink)