Wen and wu
Wén (Chinese: 文) and wǔ (Chinese: 武) are a conceptual pair in Chinese philosophy and political culture describing opposition and complementarity of civil and military realms of government. Differentiation between wen and wu was engaged in discussions on criminal punishment, administrative control, creation and reproduction of social order, education and moral transformation.[1]
The concept was formed during the
History of the terms
Attested in Shang dynasty oracle bones, the earliest uses were in the posthumous epithets of certain Shang ancestors, the first recorded – conveniently, for both – being Wen Wu Ding.[4] The most common use case of wen in the epigraphic record is in appellations to dead ancestors, where it shared semantic space of general positive eulogy with precisely the words huáng (皇) and liè (烈). Any bases for why one was selected over another are not apparent.[5]
The posthumous names of the Zhou dynasty (1046–256 BCE) founders, King Wen and King Wu, represent the two terms as standing in the "father-and-son" relationship.[6] Wen and Wu became the most popular posthumous names of regional lords during the Zhou dynasty, but Wen in particular saw no usage until nearly the end of the Western Zhou, when central power was significantly weakened, suggesting the possibility of royal exclusivity akin to a ritual trademark.[7]
The first archaeologically attested use of wen and wu as common terms outside of posthumous epithets or as synecdoche for the Zhou founders dates to the Spring and Autumn period, where a ruler of the state of
King Cheng enfeoffed Bo Qin [the Duke of Zhou's son] as the Duke of Lu. Summoning him, he addressed him, saying: "Do you know the Way of acting as the ruler over the people? ... Should you possess wen but lack wu, you will have no means to awe those below. Should you possess wu but lack wen, the people will fear you but not draw close. If wen and wu are implemented together, then your awe-inspiring virtue will be achieved."[10]
See also
References
- ^ McNeal (2012), p. 8.
- ^ McNeal (2012), pp. 1–6.
- ^ Yuan-kang Wang, Harmony and war: Confucian culture and Chinese power politics. Columbia University Press, 2011:14. Quote from John K. Fairbank, "Varieties of the Chinese Military Experience," in Chinese Ways in Warfare, ed. Frank A. Kierman Jr. and John K. Fairbank (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1974), 7–9.
- ^ Falkenhausen (1996), p. 11.
- ^ Falkenhausen (1996), pp. 6–7.
- ^ McNeal (2012), pp. 13–14.
- ^ Falkenhausen (1996), pp. 8, 15.
- ^ Falkenhausen (1996), p. 5.
- ^ Falkenhausen (1996), pp. 2, 19.
- ^ McNeal 2012, p. 15, translating from Jundao chapter of the Shuoyuan. The source translates wen and wu respectively as "the civil" and "the martial". The words are returned to original here to clarify the interaction of the terms without overloading them with additional meaning.
Bibliography
- Falkenhausen, Lothar von (1996). "The Concept of Wen in the Ancient Chinese Ancestral Cult". Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews (CLEAR). 18: 1–22. JSTOR 495623.
- McNeal, Robin (2012). Conquer and Govern: Early Chinese Military Texts from the Yi Zhou shu. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press.
Further reading
- Kern, Martin (2001). "Ritual, Text, and the Formation of the Canon: Historical Transitions of "Wen" in Early China". T'oung Pao. 87 (1/3). Leiden: Brill: 43–91. JSTOR 4528866.