The Odes Before Anthologization: A Study of the Anhui University Bamboo Manuscripts Volume One

Abstract

This dissertation examines the first two groups of the fifty-seven poems preserved in Anhui University Bamboo Manuscripts Volume One, a Warring States period corpus whose contents correspond to poems found in several “Guó fēng” (“Airs of the States”) sections of the received Shī jīng (Book of Odes). Through a detailed study of textual variants, manuscript graphs, xiéshēng series (phonetic series), and recensional differences, the dissertation investigates the relationship between graphic variation, phonetic compatibility, and textual transmission in early China. It argues that manuscript variants constitute historically meaningful evidence for understanding the development of Old Chinese phonology, the transmission of poetic texts, and the interpretation of early Chinese writing. Drawing upon methods from paleography, historical phonology, textual criticism, and manuscript studies, the dissertation provides a comprehensive textual and philological analysis of the manuscript materials while situating them within the broader history of the Odes tradition. Particular attention is given to cases in which manuscript readings diverge from the received Máo recension and preserve phonological information obscured by later textual standardization. The study demonstrates that excavated manuscripts frequently retain linguistic strata older than those reflected in transmitted texts, allowing aspects of sound change, graphic reinterpretation, and textual stabilization to be reconstructed with greater precision. In addition to providing a detailed textual study of the selected manuscript poems, the dissertation presents a series of case studies that reassess traditional interpretations, explore the role of phonological evidence in textual criticism, and examine broader questions concerning the transmission of early Chinese poetry. The findings underscore the importance of integrating paleographic and phonological evidence in the study of excavated texts and support the view that unearthed manuscripts are essential sources for reconstructing the history of early Chinese language, literature, and textual culture.