Whatelevatesamerewordtothestatusofkeyword?Whatdoesitmeantotranslateakeywordandmapitsmeaningagainstotherlanguages?
Likeeverymajorculture,Chinesehasitssetof“keywords”:pivotaltermsofpolitical,ethical,literaryandphilosophicaldiscourse.Tracingtheorigins,development,polysemy,andusagesofkeywordsisoneofthebestwaystochartculturalandhistoricalchanges.Thisvolumeanalyzessomeofthesekeywordsfromdifferentdisciplinaryandtemporalperspectives,offeringanewintegrativestudyoftheirsemanticrichness,developmenttrajectory,anddistinctusagesinChineseculture.
Theauthorsofthevolumeexploredifferentkeywordsandfocusondifferentperiodsandgenres,rangingfromphilosophicalandhistoricaltextsoftheWarringStatesperiod(453–221BCE)tolateimperial(ca.16th–18thcenturiesCE)literatureandphilosophy.Theyareguidedbyasimilarsetofquestions:Whatelevatesamerewordtothestatusof“keyword”?Whatsortofresonanceandreverberationsdoweexpectakeywordtohave?Howmuchdoesthesemanticrangeofakeywordexplainitssignificance?Whatkindsofargumentsdoesitgenerate?Whatarethestoriestoldtoillustrateitsmeanings?Whatarethepoliticalandintellectualimplicationsofthekeyword’sreevaluation?Whatdoesitmeantotranslateakeywordandmapitsmeaningagainstotherlanguages?
ThroughoutChinesehistory,newideasandnewapproachesoftenmeanreinterpretingimportantwords;rupture,continuities,andinflectionpointsareinseparablefromthelinguistichistoryofspecificterms.Thepremiseofthisbookisthattakingthelongviewandencompassingdifferentdisciplinesyieldnewinsightsandunexpectedconnections
KEYWORD CHINESE development CA
