Beyond the classics: exegetical schools as vectors of scientific knowledge
Résumé
Starting in the Han, the biographies of ru 儒 ('classicists' or 'Confucians') emphasize the concepts of jiafa 家法 (lineage methods), shifa 師法 (master's methods), as well as the person from whom the subject 'received' (shou 受) these methods and those to whom they were 'given' (shou 授) or 'transmitted' (chuan 傳). Often, the subject of the biography is described as 'going to' (jiu 就) a master to 'follow' (cong 從), 'serve' (shi 事), or listen to their 'lectures' (jiang 講), implying a necessarily oral and in-person transmission. In the biography, these details serve as qualifications, since an individual's academic authority primarily rests on that of the community from which he originates, and their recurrence is such that, collectively, they enable scholars like Ye Chunfang 葉純芳 to map detailed transmission networks across generations. This interpersonal infrastructure, initially designed for classical studies, is not limited to this function alone. In this presentation, I will discuss how exegetical transmission networks served as a foundation for the dissemination of the exact sciences, and how the jia 家 of these sciences derive from classicist schools.
Domaines
| Origine | Fichiers produits par l'(les) auteur(s) |
|---|---|
| Licence |