Dialogues in the Dark

Interpreting "Heavenly Questions" Across Two Millennia
Erscheinungsjahr 2025
ISBN: 978-0-674-29999-3
Verlag: Harvard University Press

Buch, Englisch, Band 146, 400 Seiten, Format (B × H): 162 mm x 236 mm, Gewicht: 653 g

Reihe: Harvard-Yenching Institute Monograph Series

Dialogues in the Dark traces how Chinese readers and scholars since the Han dynasty have variously interpreted the ancient poem “Heavenly Questions” (Tianwen), an enigmatic work attributed to Qu Yuan (fl. ca. 300 BCE). The poem, composed entirely in the form of questions, is an extended inquiry into early Chinese cosmology and history. Over centuries, readers of the poem came to radically different understandings, each providing a unique perspective on its meaning. The poem’s reception history comprises three main stages: first, the commentary compiled by Han scholar Wang Yi (ca. 89–ca. 158); second, the response by Tang poet Liu Zongyuan (773–819); and third, the interpretations developed subsequently by late imperial and modern scholars. Nicholas Morrow Williams analyzes how the poem’s meaning evolved in different time periods and provides three new translations of “Heavenly Questions” to represent the three stages, respectively. The ultimate thesis of this study, inspired by the hermeneutics of Hans-Georg Gadamer, is that this poem is best understood in light of the different interpretations supplied by readers over time in lively dialogues that continue even now.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Williams, Nicholas Morrow

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literaturwissenschaft: Lyrik und Dichter
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literaturen sonstiger Sprachräume Ost- & Südostasiatische Literatur
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Klassische Literaturwissenschaft

Über Autor(innen)

Williams, Nicholas Morrow
Nicholas Morrow Williams is Professor of Chinese at Arizona State University.