Shen Gua's Empiricism
豆瓣
Ya Zuo
简介
Shen Gua (1031-1095) is a household name in China, known as a distinguished renaissance man and the author of Brush Talks from Dream Brook, an old text whose remarkable “scientific” discoveries make it appear curiously ahead of its time. In this first book-length study of Shen in English, Ya Zuo reveals the connection between Shen’s life as an active statesman and his ideas, specifically the empirical stance manifested through his wide-ranging inquiries. She places Shen on the broad horizon of premodern Chinese thought, and presents his empiricism within an extensive narrative of Chinese epistemology.
Relying on Shen as a searchlight, Zuo focuses in on how an individual thinker summoned conditions and concepts from the vast Chinese intellectual tradition to build a singular way of knowing. Moreover, her study of Shen provides insights into the complex dynamics in play at the dawn of the age of Neo-Confucianism and compels readers to achieve a deeper appreciation of the diversity in Chinese thinking.
目录
List of Tables and Figures*
Acknowledgments
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
1. Peripateting the World (1051–1063)
2. Envisioning Learning
3. Measuring the World (1063–1075)
4. Individuating Things
5. Reforming the World (1071–1075)
6. Buffeted by the World (1075–1085)
7. In the System (and Then Out)
8. Brushtalking the World (1085–1095)
9. Building a Nonsystem
10. Farewell to System
11. Reverberating in the World (1100–1800)
Appendix 1. Major Editions of Brush Talks from Dream Brook
Appendix 2. Shen Gua’s Other Writings
Appendix 3. A Selection of Shen Gua’s Writings in Translation 1 (online**)
Notes
Bibliography
Index
* Tables and Figures
Tables
1. Structure of the Modern Standard Edition of Brush Talks
2. Major Editions of Brush Talks
3. Major Editions of Supplement to Brush Talks
4. Major Editions of Sequel to Brush Talks
5. The Five Processes and the Heavenly Stems 14 (online**)
6. The Five Notes and Their Correspondences 19 (online**)
Figures
1. Shen Gua Examines a Meteorite
2. Water-Level, Sighting Board, and Graduated Pole
3. Gnomon
4. Triple-Gnomon System
5. Clepsydra
** Appendix 3, which includes Tables 5 and 6, is available online at https://www.zuoya.org/book or https://bit.ly/2Kh1nH1