Methods of the Way: Early Chinese Ethical Thought

In the second century B.C. the Chinese political philosopher Jia Yi allegedly composed his Daoshu (Methods of the way). In this work he describes the early development of terms for proper comportment, and it would eventually turn out to be an important source for our knowledge of the early development of Chinese ethical thought. The author of this new study, Rune Svarverud, defines a set of 112 key terms of early Chinese ethics in the text Daoshu. The second part is devoted to an annotated translation of the Daoshu chapter, followed by a detailed analysis of the development of these ethical terms. In the first part the author deals with the textual authenticity and transmission. This work is an important contribution to our understanding of the roles of ethics in early China.