A Review Of Research On The Bamboo-Written Laozi Of The Western Han Dynasty Collected In Peking University

Being stored at the library of Peking University,the Bamboo-written Laozi of the Han Dynasty is regarded as another existing version of Laozi,discovered after fabric-written one unearthed in the Mawangdui Tomb in Changsha and the Bamboo-written one in the Chu Tomb in Guodian,Jingmen.It is of great value in the Laozi studies,the studies of different versions of Laozi,the textual explication of Laozi,the ideas of Laozi,and the evolution of Chinese characters.Since its appearance,it has been widely and ardently studied by numerous critics.This thesis intends to recapitulate and analyze the Bamboo-written Laozi of the Han Dynasty.by discussing it from three sections: introduction,main contents and appendix.The first section briefly introduces the circulation of different versions of Laozi,its research focus,different versions of it unearthed since the twentieth century,their research contributions,and the reasons for choosing the topic of this thesis and the research methods applied in it.In the part of main contents,some representative research and personal comments will be given priority.Besides,personal opinions will be discussed.This part is further divided into three chapters.Chapter one presents a summary of the Bamboo-written Laozi of the Han Dynasty from a philological point of view,including the divergence on the authenticity of it,the year of transcription,textual explication,discourse structure and so on.Chapter two discusses a general overview of literature review of it by presenting its wording,calligraphy and so forth.In the last chapter,its ideas and cultural elements will be centered on.In this chapter,on the one hand,the focus will be its keywords,words,phrases and so on;on the other hand,the focus will be the whole text.Furthermore,the appendix of this thesis demonstrates related monographs,dissertations and papers on the study of the Bamboo-written Laozi of the Han Dynasty.Innovatively,this thesis comprehensively reviews the research achievements of the Bamboowritten Laozi of the Han Dynasty,discusses its new findings,presents some drawbacks on the research ideas and methodology,analyzes some controversial issues,and further reveals the significance of the Bamboo-written Laozi of the Han Dynasty in the study of Laozi.