A Study of Chinese Characters and Excavated Documents in China

This two-volume set is a collection of the author's scholarly articles on Chinese ancient characters and unearthed literature. The first volume focuses on the evolution of Chinese characters, analyzing the composition system and its transformation, the motivation and mechanisms behind the evolution, as well as the methodology of ancient characters studies. It also offers a novel understanding of the core issues related to Shuowen Jiezi, a significant work in the tradition of Chinese paleography. The second volume scrutinizes manuscripts unearthed from archaeological findings, including silk books and bamboo slips discovered in ancient tombs that date back to the Warring States period and the Qin and Han dynasties, as well as Turfan manuscripts. Through textual analysis of these newly excavated documents, the author reinterprets the texts and resolves some knotty problems in Chinese paleography. The set will appeal to students and scholars of sinology, Chinese philology and paleography, and also Chinese characters and unearthed manuscripts.