Texts, historicity and metaphor in early China: reading "Tang Resides Near the Mound of Tang" (Tang Chuyu Tangqiu 湯處於湯丘) in the Tsinghua Collection of the Warring States (475–221 BCE) Bamboo Manuscripts

Studies of Chinese philosophical texts have mainly focused on “what” was said, rather than “how” it was said and “why” it was said the way it was. Many pre-Qin texts offer compelling evidence of identifiable formulations of the language of persuasive discourse. These texts used various rhetorical devices to convey the (semi-)hidden or complex meanings of philosophical or political messages. This paper focuses on the text Tang Resides Near the Mound of Tang (Tang chuyu Tangqiu 湯處於湯丘) in the Tsinghua collection of the Warring States (475–221 BCE) bamboo manuscripts as an example of the use of historicity and metaphor in pre-Qin writings. The use of historicity and metaphor is a rhetorical discourse that present a holistic approach to understanding the world, temporally and spatially ⸺ the human realm is seen as part of the cosmic order and, across time and space we live with the same universal principle(s).