Unlocking potential with the best learning and research solutions

I want this title to be available as an eBook

Divination, Mythology and Monarchy in Han China

Part of University of Cambridge Oriental Publications

Author: Michael Loewe, University of Cambridge

Date Published: September 1994
availability: Available
format: Hardback
isbn: 9780521454667

Rate & review

Hardback

Add to wishlist

Other available formats:
Paperback

Looking for an inspection copy?

This title is not currently available for inspection. However, if you are interested in the title for your course we can consider offering an inspection copy. To register your interest please contact [email protected] providing details of the course you are teaching.

Description

Contents

Resources

Courses

About the Authors

Chinese empires were established by force of arms, but sustained by religious rites and intellectual theory. The four centuries from 206 BC to AD 220 witnessed major changes in the state cults and the concepts of monarchy, while various techniques of divination were used to forecast the future or to solve immediate problems. Michael Loewe examines these changes and the links between religion and statecraft. While both mythology and the traditions nurtured by the learned affected the concept and practice of monarchy throughout the period, the political and social weaknesses of the last century of Han rule bring into question the success that was achieved by the imperial ideal. Nevertheless, that ideal and its institutions were of prime importance for the understanding of Han times and for the influence they exercised on China's later dynasties.
- An original study on the types of divination and the concept of sovereignty in the Han dynasty
- An interdisciplinary potential: oriental studies, religious studies, anthropology
- Michael Loewe is a distinguished scholar in the field who has published several times with the Press
Read more
Customer reviews

Not yet reviewed
Be the first to review

Log in to review

Review was not posted due to profanity
×

, create a review

(If you're not , sign out)

Please enter the right captcha value

Please enter a star rating.

Your review must be a minimum of 12 words.

How do you rate this item?

Reviews must contain at least 12 words about the product.

×

Product details
- Date Published: September 1994
- format: Hardback
- isbn: 9780521454667
- length: 376 pages
- dimensions: 235 x 152 x 28 mm
- weight: 0.639kg
- contains: 18 b/w illus.
- availability: Available
Table of Contents
List of figures
Preface
Acknowledgements
List of abbreviations
Introduction: the history of the early empires
1. Man and beast: the hybrid in early Chinese art and literature
2. Water, earth and fire: the symbols of the Han dynasty
3. The Han view of comets
4. The authority of the emperors of Ch'in and Han
5. The term K'an-yü and the choice of the moment
6. Imperial sovereignty: Tung Chung-shu's contribution and his predecessors
7. The cult of the dragon and the invocation for rain
8. Divination by shells, bones and stalks during the Han period
9. The oracles of the clouds and the winds
10. The Almanacs (Jih-shu) from Shui-hu-ti: a preliminary survey
11. The Chüeh-ti games: a re-enactment of the battle between Ch'ih-yu and Hsüan-yüan?
12. The failure of the Confucian ethic in Later Han times
13. The imperial tombs of the Former Han dynasty and their shrines
List of Han emperors
Glossary
Bibliography
Index.
Look Inside
Author
Michael Loewe, University of Cambridge