Page 171 - 2022(1) International Confusion Studies

164 C. Bei

As a collection of writings devoted to research on Chinese classical studies
throughout the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1616–1911) dynasties, Elman places
his essay, “Nietzsche and Buddhism,” as the opening chapter of Selected Works,
which seems oddly irrelevant to the theme. For that paper is an inquiry into both
Nietzsche and Buddhism, pertaining to nothing of Chinese the Imperial Civil
Examination System. However, it could serve as a thematic outline of the whole
book. As Elman points out, the treatise not only discloses the various mistaken
notions about Buddhism by Arthur Schopenhauer and Nietzsche from their per-
spectives of Western discourse, but reiterates that a reinterpretation of Eastern
philosophies may bring about a deeper understanding of Western thought as well
as renew our philosophical insights.
He has persistently adhered to this concern and tries to use more suitable
methods to approach ancient Chinese thought in the subsequent study of Confu-
cian classics and the Imperial Civil Examination System in the Ming and Qing
dynasties. He gives an account of how the stories of the Duke of Zhou (周公 dates
unkown), regent of the Western Zhou Dynasty (1046 B.C.E.–771 B.C.E.) for the
young king Cheng (成王 1055 B.C.E.–1021 B.C.E.), have been interpreted, reinter-
preted, and exploited in the historical context of the Ming. Such analysis is kept in
the historical setting of the time, reveals the varied concepts of “classicism” and
“power” by scholars of different eras, and grasps the major clues that inform the
shifts of classical studies and dynastic changes in Chinese history.
The most brilliant chapters which shine through Elman’s contextualization
approach form the kernel of Selected Works, namely, his copious treatises on
textology and the Imperial Civil Examination System. His attention to the context
of Chinese history enables him to shed light on the great significance of many
hitherto neglected materials marginalized by historians. These materials have
brought into focus and sharpened the features that characterize classicism and the
Imperial Civil Examination System during the Ming–Qing periods. Starting with
these, Elman reevaluates the role of Confucian classics and the Imperial Civil
Examination System in the process of ancient and modern changes in China from a
broader perspective of cultural history.

2 Debates on Han Learning and Song Learning,
with Respect to the Turn of a Civilization

Since Jiang Fan (江藩 1761–1830) and Fang Dongshu (方东树 1772–1851) began a
debate on the comparative merits of “Han Learning versus Song Learning,” the
event has been regarded as a dividing line of the bifurcating schools of Qing