Anecdote, Network, Gossip, Performance : : Essays on the Shishuo Xinyu / / Jack W. Chen.

• Superior document: Harvard-Yenching Institute Monograph Series ; Volume 124
• VerfasserIn: Chen, Jack Wei,
• Place / Publishing House: Cambridge, Massachusetts : : Harvard University Asia Center,, [2021]; ©2021
• Year of Publication: 2021
• Edition: First edition.
• Language: English
• Series: Harvard-Yenching Institute monograph series ; Volume 124.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (300 pages):; color illustrations

"This book is a study of the Shishuo xinyu, the most important anecdotal collection of medieval China-and arguably of the entire traditional era. In a set of interconnected essays, Jack W. Chen offers new readings of the Shishuo xinyu that draw upon social network analysis, performance studies, theories of ritual and mourning, and concepts of gossip and reputation to illuminate how the anecdotes of the collection imagine and represent a political and cultural elite. Whereas most accounts of the Shishuo have taken a historical approach, Chen argues that the work should be understood in literary terms. Thus, the central concern of Anecdote, Network, Gossip, Performance is an extended meditation on the very nature of the anecdote form, both what the anecdote affords in terms of representing a social community and how it provides a space for the rehearsal of certain longstanding philosophical and cultural arguments. Although each of the chapters may be read separately as an essay in its own right, when taken together, they present a comprehensive account of the Shishuo in all of its literary complexity"-- Provided by publisher.

Table of Contents

Introduction -- The title of the text -- The structure and composition of the text -- Andecdote and history -- Individualism and typology -- The Shishuo and "pure conversation" -- Overview of chapters -- 1. A textual history of the Shishuo xinyu -- The Shi Jingyin and Liu Ziaobiao commentaries -- Liu Yiqing's biography -- The Shishuo in the bibliographic treatises of the official histories -- The Shishuo in the Tang dynasty -- The Shishuo in Song dynasty encyclopedias and bibliographic writings -- Wang Zao (1079-1154) on the Shishuo -- The Dong Fen, Lu You, and Yuan Jiong editions -- Modern editions of the Shishuo -- Conclusion : On medieval textuality -- 2. On social networks -- The Shishuo as network -- Six degrees of separation, or a walk through the network -- First degree : Xu Zhi and Chen Fan -- Second degree : Chen Fan, Li Ying, and Cai Yong -- Third degree : Cai Yong, Sun Chuo, and Wang Xizhi -- Fourth degree : Wang Xizhi and Xie An -- Fifth degree : Xie An, Wang Xianzhi, Liu Jin, and Huan Xuan -- Sixth degree : Huan Xiu, and Madame Yu -- Conclusion : Network and andecdote -- 3. 0n gossip and reputation -- Defining gossip and reputation -- Gossip and anecdote : Four stories about Hua Xin -- Knowing others and being known : Chu Pou's silence -- The Mingshi or "gentlemen of repute" -- Conclusion : The anxiety of the second-rate -- 4. On performance, praise, and insult -- On praise and appraisal -- The politics of praise -- Virtuosity, aptness, and inadequacy -- Theories of insult -- Taking liberties with pronouns -- Three stories about Sun Chuo -- Unintended offense -- Conclusion : The economy of reputation -- 5. On competition and composure -- Three stories about Zhong Hui -- Conversation on social competition -- The aesthetics of composure -- Xie An : Calling back the recluse -- Xie An keeps his cool -- Conclusion : Wang Dun goes to the bathroom -- 6. On ritual and mourning -- Mourning and sincerity in the Li ji -- The sincerity of mourning -- Friendship and mourning -- A coda -- Conclusion : The view from across the river.