A new hermeneutical approach to early Chinese texts: The case of the analects

Abstract

This is a study in textual hermeneutics in which I propose a new strategy towards the interpretation of early texts. The proposal is premised on distinguishing between two senses of textual meaning: historical and scriptural. I argue that the distinction between historical meaning and scriptural meaning affords us a useful strategy by which to limit willful interpretation and unlimited semiosis. I further argue that this distinction is a hermeneutical expedient and that even if the historical meaning of a text were ‘recovered’, there would be no criteria by which it could be distinguished from scriptural meaning. The study is developed with particular reference to the interpretation of the Analects, but the principles identified could apply to a range of similar texts.