How To Read A Revelation: Interpretation and Commentary in Classical China

Over the first few centuries of the common era, a complex set of debates developed in China around the art of interpretation – how to interpret the past and how to interpret texts from the past. The goal of this paper will be to explore these debates concerning the theory and practice of interpretation and to discuss their larger implications. I will focus in particular on the emergence of claims of divine revelation during this period. I will discuss how and why this occurred and how such claims affected the debates concerning interpretation.

Michael Puett is the Walter C. Klein Professor of Chinese History and Anthropology and the Director of the Asia Center at Harvard University. His interests are focused on the inter-relations between history, religion, philosophy, and anthropology, with the hope of bringing the study of China into larger historical and comparative frameworks.