Early China

Early China

Welcome to the Early China Website, the internet home of the Society for the Study of Early China (SSEC), hosted by the University of Chicago Library. The overall mission of this site is to foster scholarly exchange and communication among all people interested in the culture and civilization of China from earliest times down to and including the period of the Han dynasty (A.D. 220). We hope that the site will be more than just a place to publicize the activities and publications of the SSEC, but that it can be a home to various types of research projects small and large that are more suitable to online rather than traditional print publication. We also hope to publicize the news, events, and scholarly activities and interests of people in the field, much as the Society’s newsletter, Early China News, once did before it ceased publication in 1998.

Database of Early Chinese Manuscripts

By Enno Giele (Copyright, 2001)

Last update: 09.01.2000

The Database of Early Chinese Manuscripts consists of two HTML files, one a list of 158 SITES that have yielded manuscript materials, the other a list of 287 MANUSCRIPTS (mss.htm). When you enter the database, you will first see SITES. Clicking on a serial number in SITES will bring you to the manuscript(s) associated with that site in MANUSCRIPTS. All manuscripts from a given site bear the same serial number as the site itself. Clicking on a serial number in MANUSCRIPTS will take you back to the corresponding site in SITES.

Bibliographies

• A Bibliography of Materials Pertaining to the Kuo-tien and Shanghai Museum Manuscripts, compiled by Paul R. Goldin.
  
• Ancient Chinese Civilization: Bibliography of Materials in Western Languages, compiled by Paul R. Goldin.
  
• Early China 30 (2005) annual bibliography, compiled by Margaret Wee-Siang Ng
• Early China 29 (2004) annual bibliography, compiled by Kuan-yun Huang.
• Early China 28 (2003) annual bibliography, compiled by Paul Fischer.
• Early China 26-27 (2001-02) annual bibliography, compiled by Paul Fischer.

Oriental Institute Museum Photo Archives Database

Oriental Institute Museum Photo Archives Database [Enter as "guest"]

The Oriental Institute Museum Archives Photographic Database is now available for public access. As of February 2010, there are more than 70,000 entries from our photo catalogue in the database, 35,000 of which have an image scanned and attached.

Click on the link that says 'Oriental Institute Museum Photographic Database.' At the login page, click the 'Guest Account' radio button and then click 'Login.' Use the left and right hand buttons on the screen to scroll through the database, or use the magnifying glass to search.

For a complete and up to date list of all Oriental Institute publications available online, including born digital resources and the ca. two hundred and sixty five volumes of Oriental Institute publications which aso apear on paper see AWOL - The Ancient World Online - 2: The Oriental Institute Electronic Publications Initiative.

The Early Buddhist Manuscripts Project

The Early Buddhist Manuscripts Project

The Early Buddhist Manuscripts Project was founded at the University of Washington in September 1996 to promote the study, edition and publication of twenty‐seven unique birch‐bark scrolls, written in the Kharoṣṭhī script and the Gāndhārī language, that had been acquired by the British Library in 1994. Further discoveries have greatly increased the number of known Gāndhārī manuscripts, and the EBMP is currently involved in the study of seventy‐six birch‐bark scrolls (primarily in the British Library, the Senior Collection, the University of Washington Libraries and the Library of Congress) as well as numerous smaller manuscript fragments (in the Schøyen Collection, the Hirayama Collection, the Hayashidera Collection and the Bibliothèque nationale de France). These manuscripts date from the first century BCE to the third century CE, and as such are the oldest surviving Buddhist manuscripts as well as the oldest manuscripts from South Asia. They provide unprecedented insights into the early history of Buddhism in South Asia as well as its transmission to Central Asia and China. The Gāndhārī Dictionary Project supports the work of the EBMP through its comprehensive database of Gāndhārī material (including inscriptions, administrative documents and coin legends in addition to the birch‐bark manuscripts) and by compiling the first dictionary and grammar of the Gāndhārī language. The research results of the EBMP and GDP and translations of the manuscripts are published by the University of Washington Press.

Gāndhārī Dictionary Project

• Gāndhārī Word Index
• Monier Monier‐Williams, A Sanskrit‐English Dictionary
• Franklin Edgerton, Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Dictionary
• Boris Oguibénine, “Materials for the Lexicography of Buddhist Sanskrit of the Mahāsāṃghika-Lokottaravādins”
• Ernst Waldschmidt, Sanskrit‐Wörterbuch der buddhistischen Texte aus den Turfan‐Funden
• Staff and Support

Gāndhārī Texts and Tools

• Catalog of Kharoṣṭhī Manuscripts
• Catalog of Kharoṣṭhī Inscriptions
• Catalog of Kharoṣṭhī Coin Legends
• Catalog of Niya Documents
• List of Abbreviations
• Bibliography of Gāndhārī Studies
• Transcription System

HESTIA: the Herodotus Encoded Space-Text-Imaging Archive

HESTIA: the Herodotus Encoded Space-Text-Imaging Archive

In the fifth book of his History, Herodotus describes a meeting between Cleomenes, king of Sparta, and Aristagoras, tyrant of Miletus, who has come to Lacedaemon to solicit support for a revolt of Ionian Greeks from Persian control. Having brought with him 'a bronze tablet on which a chart of the whole land was engraved' (5.49) and to which he repeatedly referred, Aristagoras was doing well until Cleomenes asked how many days' journey the proposed expedition would take his army from the sea. When the response came back 'three months', Cleomenes bade his Milesian guest depart Sparta before sunset.

The story raises several key issues relevant to the representation and conception of space in Herodotus' History. First, the example presents a decentred world: though the dialogue takes place in the Spartan heartland of Greece, the reader is invited to imagine a land far distant even from the Greek settlements in Asia Minor. Second, that distance is conceived in terms of a journey, three months from the sea; that is, space is portrayed as a phenomenon which is experienced rather an abstract notion. Third, the idea of space as something lived and relative lays emphasis on human agents as focalisers: the arguments of the worldly Aristagoras (tyrant of a city at the hub of trade routes on the margins of the Persian empire) fall on the deaf ears of the king of a land-bound people (whose very territory, the Peloponnesos, signifies an 'island'): different peoples have different conceptions of space. Fourth, in spite of the rival spatial perceptions of the two characters, Herodotus represents a horizon of networks, by virtue of which decisions made in one place reverberate through the whole region. Lastly, the role of the narrator in the construction of space introduces the issue of narrativity, particularly since Herodotus glosses Aristagoras' visual display of space with his own discursive representation of that space (5.52-4)...

... HESTIA intends to rely on the latest geo-referencing techniques in the e-resource Classics community, while contributing to their efforts to disseminate the latest research to a broader audience. The importance of space and time, and their representation, has emerged as a key area in the so-called 'arts and humanities e-science' agenda, co-ordinated by the Arts and Humanities e-Science Support Centre at King's College, London. The 'mashupping' technique, pioneered by the Pleiades project at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill offers a methodology and potential collaboration for the digitalisation of spatial data in Herodotus.

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All of the Oriental Institute's Egyptological Publications Are Now Online

On March 5, 2010, The Oriental Institute published digital editions of four more volumes of Egyptological scholarship. The full Egyptological backlist is now available:

As part of its Electronic Publications Initiative and with the generous support of Misty and Lewis Gruber, the Oriental Institute Publications Office announces the Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) publication of:

• The Temple of King Sethos I at Abydos, Volume I: The Chapels of Osiris, Isis and Horus. Copied by Amice M. Calverley, with the assistance of Myrtle F. Broome, and edited by Alan H. Gardiner. Originally published in 1933.
• The Temple of King Sethos I at Abydos, Volume II: The Chapels of Amen-Re', Re'-Harakhti, Ptah, and King Sethos. Copied by Amice M. Calverley, with the assistance of Myrtle F. Broome, and edited by Alan H. Gardiner. Originally published in 1935.
• The Temple of King Sethos I at Abydos, Volume III: The Osiris Complex. Copied by Amice M. Calverley, with the assistance of Myrtle F. Broome, and edited by Alan H. Gardiner. Originally published in 1938.
• The Temple of King Sethos I at Abydos, Volume IV: The Second Hypostyle Hall. Copied by Amice M. Calverley, with the assistance of Myrtle F. Broome, and edited by Alan H. Gardiner. Originally published in 1958.

For a complete and up to date list of all of the ca. two hundred and sixty five volumes of Oriental Institute publications available online see AWOL - The Ancient World Online - 2: The Oriental Institute Electronic Publications Initiative.

Audio of Antiquities Wars: A conversation about loot and legitimacy

Audio recordings of this meeting are now available online courtesy of Kimberly Alderman and The Cultural Property and Archaeology Law Blog:

Download Antiquities Wars Part I: ~80 minutes, ~70mb, .mp3 format.

Download Antiquities Wars Part II: ~20 minutes, ~20mb, .mp3 format.

The New York Institute for the Humanities at NYU presents

Antiquities Wars

A conversation about loot and legitimacy

Wednesday, November 19th, 7 pm

NYU’s Hemmerdinger Hall
Silver Center for Arts and Science
100 Washington Square East

with

James Cuno
Director, The Art Institute of Chicago
Author, Who Owns Antiquity?

Sharon Waxman
Formerly of The New York Times
Author, Loot: The Battle over the Stolen Treasures of the Ancient World

Kwame Anthony Appiah
Philosopher, Princeton University
Author, Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers

Daniel Shapiro
International Cultural Property Society
President Emeritus

This event is free and open to the public.

“Shall we empty the great museums of the world because one source country after another seeks the return of treasures past? Are there solutions to this raging conflict? Sometimes it seems not. There is an ethical betrayal in displaying an artifact in a museum that has consorted with smugglers to possess it. But the viewing public loses when museums react out of fear of prosecution, or when donors cease lending their works to museums because of the risk of legal jeopardy. There may be justice in returning plundered pieces that are sought. On the other hand, there is no benefit to returning a priceless artifact to a country that is not prepared to care for it.”

With these words from the conclusion of her new book Loot: The Battle over the Stolen Treasures of the Ancient World, former New York Times correspondent Sharon Waxman summons just some of the issues that will form the basis for a spirited evening of conversation in one of the NY Institute for the Humanities’ most timely symposia yet.

The event, on Wednesday evening, November 19th, at 7:00 pm, at NYU’s Hemmerdinger Hall, 100 Washington Square East (just south of Waverly), will be free and open to the public.

For more information, please contact the New York Institute for the Humanities at 212.998.2101 or nyih.info@nyu.edu.

The New York Institute for the Humanities at NYU was established in 1976 for promoting the exchange of ideas between academics, professionals, politicians, diplomats, writers, journalists, musicians, painters, and other artists in New York City—and between all of them and the city. It currently comprises 220 fellows. Throughout the year, the NYIH organizes numerous public events and symposia.

Ten more volumes of Egyptology from the Oriental Institute

On March 1, 2010, The Oriental Institute published digital editions of ten more volumes of Egyptological scholarship:

As part of its Electronic Publications Initiative and with the generous support of Misty and Lewis Gruber, the Oriental Institute Publications Office announces the Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) publication of:

• OIMP 23. Ancient Egypt: Treasures from the Collection of the Oriental Institute. By Emily Teeter. Originally published in 2003.
• OINE 10. Excavations at Serra East, Parts 1-5: A-Group, C-Group, Pan Grave, New Kingdom, and X-Group Remains from Cemeteries A-G and Rock Shelters. By B. B. Williams. Originally published in 1993.
• OINE 9. Excavations Between Abu Simbel and the Sudan Frontier, Part 9: Noubadian X-Group Remains from Royal Complexes in Cemeteries Q and 219 and Private Cemeteries Q, R, V, W, B, J, and M at Qustul and Ballana. By B. B. Williams. Originally published in 1991.
• OINE 8. Excavations Between Abu Simbel and the Sudan Frontier, Part 8: Meroitic Remains from Qustul Cemetery Q, Ballana Cemetery B, and a Ballana Settlement. By B. B. Williams, et. al. Originally published in 1991.
• OINE 7. Excavations Between Abu Simbel and the Sudan Frontier, Part 7: Twenty-Fifth Dynasty and Napatan Remains at Qustul Cemeteries W and V. By B. B. Williams. Originally published in 1990.
• OINE 4. Excavations Between Abu Simbel and the Sudan Frontier, Parts 2, 3, and 4: Neolithic, A-Group, and Post A-Group Remains from Cemeteries W, V, S, Q, T, and a Cave East of Cemetery K. By B. B. Williams. Originally published in 1989.
• OINE 3. Excavations Between Abu Simbel and the Sudan Frontier, Part 1: The A-Group Royal Cemetery at Qustul, Cemetery L. By B. B. Williams. Originally published in 1986.
• OINE 5. Excavations Between Abu Simbel and the Sudan Frontier, Part 5: C-Group, Pan Grave, and Kerma Remains at Adindan Cemeteries T, K, U, and J. By B. B. Williams. Originally published in 1983.
• OINE 1. The Beit el-Wali Temple of Ramesses II. By Herbert Ricke, George R. Hughes, and Edward F. Wente. Originally published in 1967.
• SAOC 53. Glass from Quseir al-Qadim and the Indian Ocean Trade. By Carol Meyer. Originally published in 1992.

For an up to date list of all of the ca. two hundred and sixty volumes of Oriental Institute publications available online see AWOL - The Ancient World Online - 2: The Oriental Institute Electronic Publications Initiative.