Seo Bok-gwan: History of Western and Korean Thought 1 (Part 2)

History of Thought in the Two Han Dynasties is a masterpiece completed through roughly 15 years of wholehearted work, from Xu Fuguan’s age 63 to 77. In his later years, when his scholarly experience had fully matured, he poured the essence of his thought into this work. Xu wrote many books on ancient Chinese thought, but it is no exaggeration to say that all his previous research and writing laid the groundwork for this book. It condenses his scholarship and thought and represents his life’s work. The central theme running through History of Thought in the Two Han Dynasties is, naturally, opposition to autocracy. The thinkers Xu devoted particular attention to were Dong Zhongshu and Sima Qian. One of their main points in common was that they inwardly opposed and strongly criticized Emperor Wu of Han, who established China’s “typical autocratic rule.” Unlike them, the Eastern Han historian Ban Gu and his father made establishing the supreme, unquestionable status of the autocratic ruler the foremost task of intellectuals. In an essay comparing Sima Qian and Ban Gu, Xu disparages Ban Gu’s historical writing as an insult to and distortion of history. His criticism also extends to Yang Xiong, a late Western Han intellectual who wrote Fayan and Taixuanjing, and Wang Chong of the Eastern Han, who wrote Lunheng. A defining feature of History of Thought in the Two Han Dynasties is that it uses support for or opposition to autocracy, and the presence or absence of a critical spirit willing to confront it and point out its abuses, as the primary standard for comparing and evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of different thinkers and their ideas.

Korean title: 양한사상사 1(하)

Korean author: 서복관

Korean publisher: 세창출판사

ISBN-13: 9791166840913