Self as the Intersection of Traditions
The Autobiographical Writings of Ssu-ma Ch'ien
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3960631 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Stephen Durrant (0000-0002-9244-9715, corresponding author), Stephen W Durrant |
| Year | 1986 |
| Volume | 106 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 33 |
| Publication date | 1986-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of the American Oriental Society (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0003-0279 • E-ISSN: 2169-2289 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/602361 |
| OpenAlex | W2324793688 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
SINCE GEORG MISCH's MONUMENTAL STUDY of Western autobiographical writing began appearing in 1907, autobiography has been increasingly drawn into the circle of literary study.' Unfortunately, little of this recent research has considered non-Western autobiographical writing, and one scholar has even argued that autobiography has an exclusively Western origin.2 Such a claim is curiously ethnocentric, for China, the non-Western culture of concern here, has abundant writings that fall within the domain of autobiography, at least as Misch has drawn the boundaries of that domain.3 The study of the Chinese material, still in its infancy,4 may both enhance our understanding of the Chinese world and also clarify the uniqueness and peculiarity of the Western tradition itself. It is the purpose of this paper to present several ideas concerning the autobiographical writings of one of China's most important early writers, the great historian Ssu-ma Ch'ien i=1 ,NJ j (145-90? B.C.). For the classical period of Chinese civilization, which shall be defined here somewhat arbitrarily as the Eastern Chou dynasty (771-221 B.C.), the gleanings for a study of Chinese autobiography are meager. A number of Chou philosophers, particularly Confucius, make statements about themselves, but usually these are brief and reveal little of the author's self-conception. Confucius' famous description of his journey through life is one of the more poignant of these
Art · Cartography · Geography · Intersection (aeronautics) · Literature · Chinese history and philosophy · History · Japanese History and Culture · Philosophy · Psychology
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,14 |
| Citation span | 1998 - 2026 (29) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |