The Ancestors' Instructions Must Not Change: Political Discourse and Practice in the Song Period (Brill's Humanities in China Library, 14)

This book offers an account of how ‘ancestors’ instructions’ were used and abused in the Song period. It digs deeply into abundant resources to tease apart the complex and versatile relationship between the meaning and the truth of the Song discourse of ancestors’ instructions. "This book offers an account of the development and transformations of the discourse of ancestors' instructions in the Song period. It explains how rulers selected words and deeds of ancestors in tandem with changes in current affairs, and how they gave them different meanings to create not only an image of the ancestors that were suitable for emulation but also a talisman to safeguard their administration. Using abundant resources, exercising an economy of words and academic rigor, the author digs deep to tease apart the complex and versatile relationship between the meaning and the truth of the Song discourse on ancestors' instructions"-- Provided by publisher