Although Zhou texts have been extensively commented upon for nearly 2,500 years, recent events have fundamentally altered the way these texts are understood. These events include the still-influential Doubting Antiquity movement, discovery of  previously unknown manuscripts during excavations, archaeology of material culture that expands our knowledge of Zhou life, and new phonetic restorations of ancient Chinese. In present day China, some early texts have been adapted into popular culture — the Confucian scholar Yu Dan has become a celebrity based on her charismatic presentation of the Lunyu.

I am seeking close analyses of how these pre-Qin texts are read in ways that are historically novel and alter conceptions of Chinese intellectual history. My own paper will be The Zhouyi in the Light of Recently Excavated Texts.

While early China scholars often complain that AAS ignores their field, they tell me that for this reason they do not submit proposals, making this self-fulfilling. I am hoping a panel can be put together to disprove this pessimism and communicate to a broad audience of Asian scholars the current dynamism of early China studies.

At this point all I need only a few sentences on possible papers. If there is enough interest I will then need abstracts of no more than 250 words by August 3rd in order for me to submit the final proposal to AAS by August 8th.

Thank you!

Geoffrey Redmond
Independent scholar
New York City
GPRedmond@aol.com