Abstract
The paper examines the development of the concept of "author" in ancient China from the pre-Qin to the Han-Wei Period. The trajectory can be found from Confucius's "explicating without writing down" to the claim that "the authors are too holy to be named" in The Book of Rites, and down to Cao Pi's "Jiayi could be named as a real author [on the basis that] his 'On the Qin's Governance' evaluated Zhou and Qin's merits and demerits, explicated the uninterpreted phenomena, exemplified with the mores from the past three dynasties and illuminated with the sages' teaching." This process, from the perspective of historical reason, was closely related to the literati's changing consciousness of existential context and social status. From the perspective of result, this process is closely associated with the change of literary evaluation criteria and stylistic awareness. The history of the concept of author in ancient China shows that the designation of "author" is a concept constructed in different cultural contexts with extremely rich cultural connotations.
First Page
87
Last Page
94
Recommended Citation
Li, Chunqing. 2013. "The Gestation, Evolution and Cultural Implication of the Concept of "Author" in Ancient China." Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art 33, (5): pp.87-94. https://tsla.researchcommons.org/journal/vol33/iss5/20
