Early Confucianism: A study of the Guodian confucian Texts

Abstract

A discovery unearthed in Jingmen of Hubei province in 1993 has surprised all the students of ancient China studies. A bundle of bamboo manuscripts, which include Taoist and Confucian texts, provides valuable sources for us to reshape our knowledge of the intellectual background and development in the fourth century B.C. In my research, I chose four Confucian texts, Lu Mugong wen zisi, Qiongda yi shi, Tang yu zhi dao and Zhongxin zhi dao, from these Guodian manuscripts as the objects of my studies. I argue that these four texts each has its individual origin rather than all four texts being from a single tradition. These four texts transcribed on two individual rolls can be divided into two units. Lu Mugong wen zisi and Qiongda yi shi form one unit as the ethical guidance for the tomb occupant; while Tang yu zhi dao and Zhongxin zhi dao form another unit as the tomb owner’s personal favorite philosophical writings. It is believed that Tang yu zhi dao was a study derived from remote antiquityand the genealogy of ancient emperors. Zhongxin zhi dao was a learning of Confucius’ disciple, Zizhang. Both texts were closely related to the ritual documents of the Warring States period. Using the fresh unearthed evidence and ritual documents from Liji and Dadai liji, my research explores the early Confucianism from the death of Confucius to before Mencius.