Writing and Community in 300 BCE China: The Canonical Poems (Shi) at the Chu Capital of Ying

Writing and Community in 300 BCE China is the first study to examine the anthology of the canonical Poems (Shi 詩) within their social and interpretive community at the ancient capital of Chu. Based on archaeological data and the analysis of recently discovered bamboo manuscripts, it identifies the Poems and other literary texts as the teaching tools of a class of low-ranking intellectuals who served the Chu royal court. From the manuscripts’ visual and literary features it reconstructs the procedures of writing, reading, and teaching at a single time and place: the court of Chu around 300 BCE.