File Download
There are no files associated with this item.
Links for fulltext
(May Require Subscription)
- Publisher Website: 10.1017/S0041977X17001446
- Scopus: eid_2-s2.0-85054138990
- WOS: WOS:000440280500006
- Find via
Supplementary
- Citations:
- Appears in Collections:
Article: Headhunting in ancient China: The history of violence and denial of knowledge
Title | Headhunting in ancient China: The history of violence and denial of knowledge |
---|---|
Authors | |
Keywords | China Emperor Wu of Han Han dynasty Headhunting History of violence Oracle bones |
Issue Date | 2018 |
Citation | Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 2018, v. 81, n. 1, p. 103-120 How to Cite? |
Abstract | Headhunting has a long and well-documented history in China, but most people are today unaware of this practice, first recorded in Shang oracle bones and regularly mentioned in ancient Chinese texts until the Han dynasty. This ignorance is because headhunting subsequently came to be seen as a barbaric practice and knowledge concerning its long history was destroyed: this was achieved by inventing a new character, guo, which means to cut the ear of a dead enemy combatant and using this to replace (and thus confuse meanings with) an older character guo, which refers specifically to headhunting. Ancient texts in which headhunting practices are documented have been misunderstood and misrepresented by imperial era scholars to prevent anyone from seeing that ancient China was a headhunting culture. This study shows how dominant cultural norms can impact on the way in which texts are read. |
Persistent Identifier | http://hdl.handle.net/10722/313619 |
ISSN | 2023 Impact Factor: 0.3 2023 SCImago Journal Rankings: 0.155 |
ISI Accession Number ID |
DC Field | Value | Language |
---|---|---|
dc.contributor.author | Milburn, Olivia | - |
dc.date.accessioned | 2022-06-23T01:18:46Z | - |
dc.date.available | 2022-06-23T01:18:46Z | - |
dc.date.issued | 2018 | - |
dc.identifier.citation | Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 2018, v. 81, n. 1, p. 103-120 | - |
dc.identifier.issn | 0041-977X | - |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10722/313619 | - |
dc.description.abstract | Headhunting has a long and well-documented history in China, but most people are today unaware of this practice, first recorded in Shang oracle bones and regularly mentioned in ancient Chinese texts until the Han dynasty. This ignorance is because headhunting subsequently came to be seen as a barbaric practice and knowledge concerning its long history was destroyed: this was achieved by inventing a new character, guo, which means to cut the ear of a dead enemy combatant and using this to replace (and thus confuse meanings with) an older character guo, which refers specifically to headhunting. Ancient texts in which headhunting practices are documented have been misunderstood and misrepresented by imperial era scholars to prevent anyone from seeing that ancient China was a headhunting culture. This study shows how dominant cultural norms can impact on the way in which texts are read. | - |
dc.language | eng | - |
dc.relation.ispartof | Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies | - |
dc.subject | China | - |
dc.subject | Emperor Wu of Han | - |
dc.subject | Han dynasty | - |
dc.subject | Headhunting | - |
dc.subject | History of violence | - |
dc.subject | Oracle bones | - |
dc.title | Headhunting in ancient China: The history of violence and denial of knowledge | - |
dc.type | Article | - |
dc.description.nature | link_to_subscribed_fulltext | - |
dc.identifier.doi | 10.1017/S0041977X17001446 | - |
dc.identifier.scopus | eid_2-s2.0-85054138990 | - |
dc.identifier.volume | 81 | - |
dc.identifier.issue | 1 | - |
dc.identifier.spage | 103 | - |
dc.identifier.epage | 120 | - |
dc.identifier.eissn | 1474-0699 | - |
dc.identifier.isi | WOS:000440280500006 | - |