UC San Diego

Unity and Variety is a study of the relationship between language and culture in pre-modern China. Language here is understood as both speech and writing. In fact, the written form of Classical Chinese is the focus of the current project. The dissertation argues that there is a clear affinity between the Chinese language and diverse cultural expressions, including philosophy, literature, particular ways of theorization, historiography, etc. The Chinese written character and its consequences on the grammatical level have far-reaching influences on the perceptual modes and expressive strategies of ancient Chinese people. Therefore, an adequate understanding of the language, including the writing system, is essential for the proper understanding the culture. "Unity and Variety" in the title means through the single most essential feature of the language we may find the key to understanding a variety of cultural issues. The key I identify in this dissertation is xiang, or image, an idea systematically introduced in I Ching, the Book of Changes, and later embodied in the Chinese writing system. The dissertation is divided into four chapters. Chapter One, "Introduction," propounds the thesis of the dissertation, defines key terms in the title, and discusses the scope, methodology, structure, and possible contributions of the dissertation. Chapter Two, titled "Xiang, Chinese Character, and Imaged Thought in Chinese Literature and Culture," is a systematic investigation of the idea of xiang, or image, its embodiment in the Chinese writing system, and its manifestations in various domains of Chinese culture. Chapter Three, titled "Syntax and Chinese Historiography: Reconsidering the Form of Shiji, annals- biography, based on linguistic analyses. Chapter Four "Conclusion" summarizes the main points of the dissertation and points to possible directions for future research