“What Need is There of Words?” The Rhetoric of Lű's Annals (Lűshi chunqiu)
Abstract
This essay introduces Lű's Annals (Lűshi chunqiu), a classical Chinese text with a wealth of material on rhetoric. Not only does the text evaluate numerous examples of persuasion and sophistry, it also lays out a system of rhetorical precepts grounded in a distinctive ontology, that of correlative cosmology. After outlining the cosmology, epistemology, and theory of language of Lű's Annals, I trace how these shape its rhetorical theory and practices. I then consider how the text itself works as a persuasive artifact in the light of its own strictures. The essay closes with some reflections on why this valuable resource for Classical Chinese rhetoric has been neglected.
- Journal
- Rhetorica
- Published
- 2012-11-01
- DOI
- 10.1525/rh.2012.30.4.354
- CompPile
- Search in CompPile ↗
- Open Access
- Closed
- Topics
- Export
- BibTeX RIS
Citation Context
Cited by in this index (0)
No articles in this index cite this work.
Cites in this index (0)
No references match articles in this index.
Related Articles
-
Poroi Feb 2026Using Stasis Theory as a Heuristic for Examining Epistemological Dilemmas in a Post-Truth Landscape ↗Bruce Bowles
-
Res Rhetorica Jan 2026Ethos – between <i>vir bonus</i> and VIA: Virtue ethics in contemporary rhetorical education ↗Agnieszka Budzyńska-Daca
-
Rhetoric of Health and Medicine Dec 2025Dorthea Roe; Jens Kjeldsen
-
Philosophy & Rhetoric Oct 2025Reingard Nethersole
-
Philosophy & Rhetoric Oct 2025The Intellectual and Cultural Origins of Chaïm Perelman and Lucie Olbrechts-Tyteca’s New Rhetoric Project: Commentaries on and Translations of Seven Foundational Articles, 1933–1958 ↗Christopher W. Tindale