Background
Nivison, David Shepherd was born on January 17, 1923 in Farmingdale, Maine, United States. Son of William and Ruth (Robinson) Nivison.
(This book is the result of discoveries made by Nivison be...)
This book is the result of discoveries made by Nivison beginning in 1979. It uses critically (without superseding) his monographs from 1983 through 2002, combined with his discoveries through 2009. Its main thrust is to show that the methods and results of the PRC "Three Dynasties Project" are invalid, and that recovering chronology before 841 BCE can be solved only by using the supposedly spurious Jinben Zhushu Jinian ("Modern Text" Bamboo Annals), combined with the hypothesis that reign lengths of record were normally the years after completion of mourning for the preceding king. Part One presents resulting exact dates from the beginning of Xia, confirmed by discoveries in astronomy by D. W. Pankenier and Kevin Pang. Part Two criticizes the Three Dynasties Project and argues for the post-mourning hypothesis and the high antiquity of the three-years mourning institution. In Part Three, applying a discovery by E. L. Shaughnessy, the author reconstructs the first 303 bamboo strips of the original Bamboo Annals text (perhaps five-sevenths of the whole). In so doing he shows that the entire chronology in the Zhushu jinian is the product of Warring States manipulation of the true chronology; therefore any attempt to recover accurate dates must begin by analyzing the "Modern Text" Zhushu jinian - which the Project ignored completely. Appendices present more data and analysis, notably (Appendix 4) pinpointing the source of the Project's errors in dating late Shang events.
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Nivison, David Shepherd was born on January 17, 1923 in Farmingdale, Maine, United States. Son of William and Ruth (Robinson) Nivison.
Bachelor of Arts summa cum laude, Harvard University, 1946; Master of Arts, Harvard University, 1948; Doctor of Philosophy, Harvard University, 1953.
Instructor Chinese, Stanford University, 1948-1952; Ford Foundation faculty fellow, Stanford University, 1952-1953; instructor Chinese and philosophy, Stanford University, 1953-1954; Fulbright research scholar, Kyoto, Japan, 1954-1955; lecturer philosophy, Stanford University, 1955-1958; assistant professor Chinese and philosophy, Stanford University, 1958-1959; associate professor, Stanford University, 1959-1966; professor, Stanford University, 1966-1988; Walter Y. Evans-Wentz professor Oriental Philosophies, Religions and Ethics, Stanford University, 1983-1988; department chairman philosophy, Stanford University, 1969-1972, 75-76; acting department chairman Asian languages, Stanford University, 1985-1986; emeritus, Stanford University, since 1988.
(Confucianism is one of the most influential philosophical...)
(Confucianism is one of the most influential philosophical...)
(This book is the result of discoveries made by Nivison be...)
Served with Army of the United States, 1943-1946. Member Association Asian Studies, American Philosophical Association (Vice-President Pacific division 1978-1979, president 1979-1980), American Oriental Society (Western branch vice president 1964-1965, secretary 1965-1970, president 1971-1972), American Association of University Professors (president Northern California Conference 1964-1966), International Academy Chinese Culture (Beijing, Peoples Republic of China), Phi Beta Kappa.
Married Cornelia Green, September 11, 1944(deceased June 19, 2008). Children: Louise, Helen Thom, David Gregory, James Nicholas.