Some aspects of Shang administration : a survey based solely on the evidence available in the oracle bone texts
Date
1968
Authors
Chou, Hung-hsiang
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Abstract
Although this survey is particularly concerned with
aspects of administration in Shang times and is essentially
historical in scope, it has nevertheless become
considerably involved with problems of presentation, not
the least of which is the rendering in English both the
content of the oracular texts and notes on individual
characters and phrases. It is the first attempt in
English or in any other Western language substantial
number of oracle bone texts in translation. Accordingly,
the first problem - which has been found an especially
difficult one - concerns the transcription of the archaic
graph into a modern character equivalent or into a modern
character form. To the Chinese or Japanese reader this is
not regarded as a particularly important matter, but once
it becomes necessary to render archaic text into an
entirely different language, transcription becomes an
unexpectedly significant matter - of this there will be
more to discuss shortly. Secondly, meanings must be
carefully investigated and especial care taken when they
are to be expressed in an alien language - when writing in
his own language a Chinese and also a Japanese, can sometimes side-step a problem because there exists an
intrinsic element of a partial understanding - an
emotional assessment - but one which perhaps does not
always really amount to an actual understanding. Only
when the precision required in translation arises do we
come to appreciate that the problem has unconsciously been
side-stepped. For one who has, at one stage or another
during the compilation of this survey, had to reconsider
various long accepted view-points then to revise a longcherished
understanding of them, it has necessitated
considerable readjustment in interpretation.
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