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Acknowledgments
This thesis would not have been completed without the
encouragement and
support of many people.
First and foremost, I wish to thank my supervisor Dr. Lo Yuet
Keung for granting
me an opportunity to study under him. He instilled curiosity in
me, guided my studies
with generosity and taught me lessons in life. Without which I
would not have come so
far. Under his patience and guidance, not only did I learn how
to study, I have also come
to understand the joy of learning. This has also been a process
of getting to know myself
better, something which I did not expect.
I also wish to thank Dr. Ong Chang Woei for his encouragement to
undertake this
course of study, his suggestions on several occasions, his
confidence in me, as well as his
concern shown over this period of time. I am also grateful for
Dr. Alan Chans comments,
for these have been enlightening moments. I also wish to express
my gratitude to the
many teachers who have taught me these years, for they had
stimulated my interest in
many subjects.
To my group of study mates Chee Lin, Fu Rong, Jinjing, Yin Hoe
and Zhaohui, I
wish to say that it has been a fruitful learning experience and
journey we shared during
our discussion sessions; these are truly memorable days of my
university life. I learnt
much during these sessions and I value the friendship that has
developed. I am
immensely grateful to my two seniors Wue Hiong and Joo Kiow who
have discussed
with me freely about many topics and offered me their opinions;
their passion for
scholarly pursuits has been a constant motivating source for me
and I have regarded them
as role models.
Finally, I am grateful for the support of Keh Hoe, Ken, Peici,
Peiling and Shumei,
close friends who have stood by me these years, I really
appreciate their efforts to pull me
out for non-study related activities.
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Abstract
Since theAnalects, observation and evaluation of human character
had focused on
a persons interior moral qualities. Confucian texts from the
Warring States and early
Han periods such as the Wenwang guanren chapter in the Da Dai
Liji (Book of Rites
according to Elder Dai) and excavated bamboo texts continued
this tradition. Despite
significant variations in these later texts, the emphasis on
inner virtues remained. A
change in focus did not become apparent until Liu Shaos Renwu
zhi in the early third
century.
This study shows that observation and evaluation of human
character tend to gear
toward a person exterior talents and abilities in the Renwu zhi
where human behavior is
analyzed and classified in a new taxonomy of technical skills
and capabilities. Viewed
against the historical circumstances in late Han and early
Wei-Jin times, when exemplary
and peculiar behavior such as conversational skills and
excessive mourning over ones
parent attracted much public attention, as this study argues,
theRenwu zhi is indeed a text
that was informed by and reflected the actual practices and
ethos of its time in putting a
premium on the exteriority of human character.
Keywords:Analects, Liu Shao,Da Dai Liji,Renwu zhi, observation
and evaluation
of human character, interior and exterior
