The “King”: The Identity Construction of Duke of Zhou in Jinteng in the Pre-imperial Period
Abstract
The Jinteng (金縢) is a famous chapter in the Shangshu. In addition to the Shangshu, the bamboo slips in the collection of Qinghua University also contain a text about Zhou Wu Wang You Ji Sou Zi Yi Dai Xian Wang Zhi Zhi, and the overall plot is similar to the Shangshu Jinteng. This paper pays particular attention to the depictions of rituals in the two versions of the Jinteng of the pre-imperial period. With the help of the principle of sympathetic magic proposed by Frazer, it is concluded from the analysis of the ritual depictions and specific texts in the Jinteng that the identity of Zhou Gong may be constructed as an obscure “King”. However clarifying the changes in the construction of the identity of the Duke of Zhou, it is also possible to understand and expand the ideologies of different political systems behind the texts.
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