LEADER 03855nam 2200577Ia 450 001 9910811005303321 005 20200520144314.0 010 $a0-7914-9338-5 010 $a0-585-39929-8 035 $a(CKB)111056486598050 035 $a(OCoLC)49851582 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebrary10587220 035 $a(SSID)ssj0000131695 035 $a(PQKBManifestationID)11159930 035 $a(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000131695 035 $a(PQKBWorkID)10028392 035 $a(PQKB)11028969 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC3408021 035 $a(MdBmJHUP)muse12778 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL3408021 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebr10587220 035 $a(DE-B1597)684066 035 $a(DE-B1597)9780791493380 035 $a(EXLCZ)99111056486598050 100 $a19990712d2000 ub 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aurcn||||||||| 181 $ctxt 182 $cc 183 $acr 200 14$aThe craft of a Chinese commentator $eWang Bi on the Laozi /$fRudolf G. Wagner 210 $aAlbany, NY $cState University of New York Press$dc2000 215 $a1 online resource (374 p.) 225 0$aSUNY series in Chinese philosophy and culture 300 $aBibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph 311 $a0-7914-4395-7 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references (p. [337]-350) and index. 327 $tFront Matter -- $tContents -- $tPreface -- $tIntroduction -- $tWang Bi -- $tThe System of the Classics -- $tTechnique and the Philosophy of Structure -- $tDeconstructing and Constructing Meaning -- $tThe Craft of Wang Bi's Commentary -- $tNotes -- $tBibliography -- $tIndex 330 $aThe Laozi has been translated into Western languages hundreds of times over the past two hundred years. It has become the book of Chinese philosophy most widely appreciated for its philosophical depth and lyrical form. Nevertheless, very little attention has been paid to the way in which this book was read in China. This book introduces the reader to a highly sophisticated Chinese way of reading this Taoist classic, a way that differs greatly from the many translations of the Laozi available in the West.The most famous among the Chinese commentators on the Laozi?a man appreciated even by his opponents for the sheer brilliance of his analysis?is Wang Bi (226?249). Born into a short period of intellectual ferment and freedom after the collapse of the Han dynasty, this self-assured genius, in the short twenty-three years of his life, dashed off two of the most enduring works of Chinese philosophy, a commentary on the Laozi and another on the Book of Changes.By carefully reconstructing Wang Bi's Laozi text as well as his commentary, this book explores Wang Bi's craft as a scholarly commentator who is also a philosopher in his own right. By situating his work within the context of other competing commentaries and extracting their way of reading the Laozi, this book shows how the Laozi has been approached in many different ways, ranging from a philosophical underpinning for a particular theory of political rule to a guide to techniques of life-prolongation. Amidst his competitors, however, Wang Bi stands out through a literary and philosophical analysis of the Laozi that manages to "use the Laozi to explain the Laozi," rather than imposing an agenda on the text. Through a critical adaptation of several hundred years of commentaries on the classics, Wang Bi reaches a scholarly level in the art of understanding that is unmatched anywhere else in the world. 517 3 $aWang Bi on the Laozi 606 $aTaoism 615 0$aTaoism. 676 $a299/.51482 700 $aWagner$b Rudolf G$0647259 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910811005303321 996 $aThe craft of a Chinese commentator$93971297 997 $aUNINA