Speech, Writing, and Poetry in Early China (Volume A)

Chinese Writing System

• 3,200-year history• Shang Dynasty• logographic• “brush talk”

Confucius

• moral education• analects• Daoism• Classic of Poetry• “think no evil”• “poor yet cheerful,

rich yet considerate”

Classic of Poetry

• poetry and self-expression

• feng (wind, customs, influence, criticism)

• inside intention/ outside manifestation

• qi (vital breath)• mirror of poet’s

culture• Ya (proper)

Zhuangzi

• Daoism• anecdote• dangers of

persuasion• necessity of language

• veneration of the written word• oral persuasion• applicable knowledge • “The difficult thing about persuasion is to know the

mind of the person one is trying to persuade and to be able to fit one’s words to it” (p. 1428).

• “learn how to play up the aspects that the person you are talking to is proud of, and play down aspects he is ashamed of” (p. 1429).

• “Praise other men whose deeds are like those of the person you are talking too; commend actions of which are based upon the same policies as his” (p. 1429)

Han Feizi

To what degree is the proper and/or beautiful use of language considered an art in these texts, and to what degree is it considered a natural talent? What important distinctions ought to be made regarding this question?

Discussion Questions

Is there an essential element of the poetic that all cultures acknowledge? Does the common appreciation of poetry across cultures indicate anything important about human nature?

Discussion Questions

Would Han Feizi’s tips on persuading others work successfully in your culture? Why or why not?

Discussion Questions

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