Contents

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgments

Foreword to the Original Chinese Edition

Translators’ Preface

Chapter 1 Written on Bamboo and Silk

The Rise and Decline of Bamboo and Silk Manuscripts in Early China

Bamboo Strip Discoveries in Korea and Japan

Chapter 2 Kongbi and Jizhong: Discoveries of Bamboo-Strip Manuscripts in Early China

An Overview of Discoveries of Bamboo-Strip Manuscriptsin Early China

The Startling Discoveries of Kongbi and Jizhong

Chapter 3 A Century of New Bamboo and Silk Manuscript Discoveries

Discoveries of Bamboo and Silk Manuscripts in the First Half of the 20th Century

Discoveries of Bamboo and Silk Manuscripts in the Latter Half of the 20th Century

Rapid Development of “Bamboo and Silk Studies” as a Discipline

Chapter 4 Preservation of the Tsinghua Strips

Acquisition of the Tsinghua Strips

Preservation of the Tsinghua Strips

Preliminary Observations on the Tsinghua Strips’ Content

Chapter 5 Authentication and Photography of the Tsinghua Strips

Authentication of the Tsinghua Strips

Surveying Other Institutions’ Handling of Bamboo-Strip Manuscript Collections

Photography of the Tsinghua Strips

Chapter 6 Editing the Tsinghua Strips

Initial Read-Through of the Tsinghua Strips

Preliminary Publications on the Tsinghua Strips’ Content

Compiling Individual Texts from the Tsinghua Strips

Composing the First Volume to the Tsinghua Strips

Chapter 7 Unraveling the Mysteries of the Shangshu

Compilation of the Shangshu

The Transmission of the Shangshu and the Authenticity of the Ancient-Script Edition

On the Search for an Ancient Edition of the Shangshu

Significance of the Tsinghua Shangshu

Chapter 8 King Wen’s Testament

Content of Baoxun

Baoxun on King Wen’s Declaration of Kingship

Baoxun on King Wen Serving the Shang

The Meaning of ‘Zhong 中’ in Baoxun

Chapter 9 Tsinghua’s Jinteng and the Duke of Zhou’s “Stay” in the East

Questions Raised about the Authenticity of Jinteng

Debates Concerning the Line “the Duke of Zhou Stayed in the East” (周公居東) in Jinteng

Tsinghua’s Jinteng on “the Duke of Zhou Stayed in the East” (周公居東)

Chapter 10 Prescient Dreams: King Wen’s Reception of the Mandate and Tsinghua’s Chengwu

Dream Prognostication in Early China

Chengwu and King Wen’s Reception of the Mandate

Chengwu and “Jiu gao”

Chapter 11 Only the Beginning

Academic Value of the Tsinghua Strips

The Tsinghua Strips: A Field of Future Scholarship

Suggested Reading

Timeline of Major Events in the Researchof the Tsinghua Strips

Index